EDAFOLOGÍA, Vol. 12 (2), pp. 153-161, 2005
CARTOGRAFÍA SEMICUANTITATIVA DEL RIESGO DE EROSIÓN HÍDRICA EN LA CUENCA DEL RÍO HOZGARGANTA (SUR DE ESPAÑA)
L. MARTÍNEZ-ZAVALA, A. JORDÁN, M. ANAYA-ROMERO, N. BELLINFANTE
Departamento de Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola. Facultad de Química (Universidad de Sevilla). C/Profesor García González, 1.CP: 41012-Sevilla. lorena@us.es
Erosion mapping is essential for the knowledge of the distribution and geography of ero- sive processes as well as for its quantitative characterization. The methodology used in this paper is a basis for identifying areas with high erosion risk. It also makes possible to study the impact of future changes in environmental conditions.In this paper, the general qualitative scheme proposed by PAP/RAC (1997) is ap- plied, modified by adding the evaluation of rainfall erosivity. Possible future changes in land cover have been considered, analysing three different situations. The results show that a great part of the studied area presents a high erosion risk due to the relief. However, the protection by vegetation is high enough to protect soil from rainfall erosion. Wrong decisions in forest management might lead to increasing potential erosion problems in the area.
Keywords: Erosion risk mapping; Mediterranean; geographical information system; rainfall erosion.