Soil erosion assessment of the various vegetation cover in Mt. Musuan, Philippines
Paper Details
Soil erosion assessment of the various vegetation cover in Mt. Musuan, Philippines
Abstract
Soil erosion is one of the main causes of land degradation. This is very prominent in developing countries where large tracts of forest land are converted to other land uses. Mt. Musuan, a land mark of Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon, is not spared in this phenomenon. This study is conducted to assess and quantify soil erosion rates of the various land cover across the landscape of the mountain. These include the forest area, grassland and the agro-ecosystem components. Soil erosion plots were established in various slope gradients of the three vegetative/land cover. Erosion bar method was used in measuring the soil erosion rates and the micro-infiltrometer was used to determine infiltration rates. Findings show that agro-ecosystem had the highest soil losses at 41.43 ton ha-1 yr-1 followed by grassland with 26.39 ton ha-1 yr-1 while the forest area had the least with 13.98 ton ha-1 yr-1. In terms of slope gradient, though non-significant, the slope greater than 20 % had the highest soil loss of 35.37 ton ha-1 yr-1 followed slope gradient between 10% to 20% with 29.17 ton ha-1 yr-1. The slope less than 10 % had the least soil losses with 17.35 ton ha-1 yr-1. In terms of infiltration rate, the forest area is highest with 94.67 mm hr-1. Agro-ecosystem and grassland ecosystem had infiltration rates of 52.44 mm hr-1and 54.89 mm hr-1, respectively. The soil erosion rates of Mt. Musuan are beyond the tolerable limit and need immediate actions particularly in the agro-ecosystem. Rehabilitation like planting of perennial crops in these areas needs to be prioritized.
Bakker MM, Govers G, Kosmas C, Vanacker V, Oost C, Van Rounsevell M. 2005.Soil erosion as a driver of land-use change. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.105(3), 467-481.
Cerda A. 1997. Soil erosion after land abandonment in a semiarid environment of southeastern Spain. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation 11(2), 163-176.
Gyssels G, Poesen G. 2003. The importance of plant root characteristics in controlling concentrated flow erosion rates. Earth surface processes and landforms 28(4), 371-384.
Jimènez CC, Tejedor M, Morillas G, Neris J. 2006. Infiltration rate in Andisols: Effect of changes in vegetation cover (Tenerife, Spain) Journal of Soil and Water Conservation .61(3).153-158.
Lal R. 2001. Land Degradation and Environment. Volume 12(6), Pages 487–576.
Koulouri M, Giourga C. 2007. Land abandonment and slope gradient as key factors of soil erosion in Mediterranean terraced lands. Catena 69(3), 274–281.
Lal R, Stewart BA. 1990. Soil degradation. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Loch RJ. 2000. Effects of vegetation cover on runoff and erosion under simulated rain and overland flow on a rehabilitated site on the Meandu Mine, Tarong, Queensland. Australian Journal of Soil Research 38(2), 299 – 312.
Marin RA, Jamis CV. 2016. Soil erosion status of the three sub-watersheds in Bukidnon Province, Philippines. Advances in Environmental Sciences – International Journal of the Bioflux Society 8(2), 194-204.
Mohammad AG, Adam MA. 2010. The impact of vegetative cover type on runoff and soil erosion under different land uses. Catena 81(2), 97-103.
PCAARRD. 2009. CMU researchers study Mt. Musuan’s potential. Science and Technology Highlights.
Pimentel D, Harvey C, Resosudarmo P, Sinclair K, Kurz D, McNair M, Crist S, Sphpritz L, Fitton L, Saffouri R, Blair R. 1995. Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science (Washington DC) 267:1117–23.213.
Ritter JP. 2012. Soil Erosion-Causes and Effects. Fact Sheet. Order No. 87-040. Ontorio, Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. (retrieved: November 10, 2014). www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/12-053.htm
Sánchez LA, Ataroff M, López R. 2002. Soil erosion under different vegetation covers in the Venezuelan Andes. Environmentalist 22(2).161–172.
Shi ZH, Fang NF, Wu FG, Wang L, Yue BJ, Wu GL. 2012. Soil erosion processes and sediment sorting associated with transport mechanisms on steep slopes. Journal of Hydrology 454-455(6), 123-130.
Wei W, Chena L, Fua B, Huangc Z, Wud D, Guid L. 2007. The effect of land uses and rainfall regimes on runoff and soil erosion in the semi-arid loess hilly area, China. Journal of Hydrology 335(3-4), 247-258.
Ziadat FM, Taimeh AY. 2013. Effect of Rainfall Intensity, Slope, Land Use and Antecedent Soil Moisture on Soil Erosion in an Arid Environment. Land Degradation and Environment 24(6), 582-590.
Rico A. Marin, Jupiter V. Casas, 2017. Soil erosion assessment of the various vegetation cover in Mt. Musuan, Philippines. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 11(1), 105-113.
Copyright © 2017 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.