Sino-German BMBF collaborative research project

The Three Gorges Dam (TGD) is among the most prominent human-induced examples for large-scale environmental impacts. Due to the flooding alongside the Yangtze River and its main tributaries, the region is largely characterized by an enormous boost of typical geo-risks such as soil erosion, mass movements, and diffuse matter inputs. Within the immediate reservoir area, the uphill-movement of farmers to the steep sloping uphill sites can result in a high conflict potential between the available and suitable land. Combined with a very steep topography, subtropical monsoon climate, and fragile soils, the population pressure and rapid ecosystem changes till foster the ecological and geological consequences and environmental risks of the TGD.
Within the framework of the BMBF funded project YANGTZE GEO (2008 – 2015), German and Chinese scientists jointly focus on those risks. Together with their partners from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, five German research groups conduct collaborative studies on soil erosion, mass movements, diffuse matter inputs, and sediment pathways. An integrative approach was set up in order to combine multi-scale investigation method and state-of-the-art techniques from soil science, geology, hydrology, geophysics, geodesy, remote sensing, and data survey and monitoring.

Subproject ‘Soil Erosion’

‘Mechanisms and control factors of soil erosion by water in the Three Gorges Dam ecosystem’

The study will serve as basis for management and conservation decisions in order to reduce soil erosion. Against the background of global change and increasing land-use dynamics the results can be transferred to other regions in China and beyond.