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.
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Subproject ‘Soil Erosion’
‘Mechanisms and control factors of soil erosion by water in the Three Gorges Dam ecosystem’
The subproject ‘Soil Erosion’, situated at the University of Tübingen, aims at a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and control factors of soil erosion by water in highly dynamic mountainous ecosystems. The study site is a small catchment (4.2 km²) close to Badong at the Yangtze River in the western Hubei province. The catchment is characterized by a mountainous relief and a steep sloping complex topography. Land-use is mainly characterized by farming on typically on more or less terraced farmland with contour cultivation. A specific modeling approach by means of monitoring, field investigations, the application of sampling designs, digital soil mapping (DSM), and digital terrain analysis will be developed in order to predict soil loss on the steep sloping land and the subsequent sediment pathways under changing land use and climate. In a second step the soil erosion risk potential will be analyzed for the reservoir area of the TGD towards Chongqing (30,000 km²). Worldwide in mountainous regions, terracing serves as key technology for suitable land management. Terrace maintenance and conditions control their functioning with respect to soil loss and food production. Therefore, new methods to incorporate terracing in soil erosion modeling serve as important tool for environmental and resource planning aiming at suitable land management. |
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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.
| Overview | |
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| Project | YANGTZE-GEO (main project page) |
| Subproject | Soil Erosion |
| Start/End | 2012-2015 |
| Funding | BMBF |
| Keywords | Soil erosion, DSM, Soil erosion modeling, erosion risk assessment, Yangtze River, YANGTZE-GEO |
| Contact | Felix Stumpf, Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt, Karsten Schmidt, Thomas Scholten |
| Press | YANGTZE GEO beim Matariki-Workshop "Disaster Preparedness, Response and Resilience" an der Universität Durham, Newsletter "Uni Tübingen aktuell" 02/2013 [Link; pdf] Tübinger Forscher koordinieren geowissenschaftliche Forschungen am Yangtze, Beitrag im FORUM Geoökologie, Ausgabe 24, Heft 1 / 2013 [pdf] SWR2-Impuls Beitrag zum Yangtze Projekt [mp3; 9,46MB]
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