The contribution of agricultural erosion to reservoir sedimentation in the Dominican Republic |
| |
| Institution: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China;2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China;1. Centre for Environmental Studies, Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa;2. Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Mauritius;3. Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Mauritius;4. Department of Geography, University of South Africa, Florida 1710, South Africa;5. University of Mauritius, Mauritius;6. Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa |
| |
| Abstract: | It is often assumed that the main cause of contemporary erosion and dam sedimentation in tropical watersheds is the cultivation of steep slopes. This study, using fallout 137Cs to estimate net sediment loss since 1963 found erosion in the Nizao watershed of the Dominican Republic to be much lower than often reported for steep tropical hillsides. Because only 17% of the sediment moving into the reservoirs can be attributed to surface agricultural erosion, policies to eliminate upland agriculture will have limited benefits if the principal sources are of natural origin or associated with construction of the dams, and rural roads and trails. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
