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Evaluating the Scale Effect of Soil Erosion Using Landscape Pattern Metrics and Information Entropy: A Case Study in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, China

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  • Qiuping Huang

    (Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Jiejun Huang

    (Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Xining Yang

    (Department of Geography and Geology and Institute for Geospatial Research and Education, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA)

  • Lemeng Ren

    (Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Cong Tang

    (Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Lixue Zhao

    (Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)

Abstract

The regular patterns of soil erosion tend to change at different scales of observation, affecting the mechanism of soil erosion and its evolution characteristics. This phenomenon has essential scientific significance for the rational allocation of land resources and for studies on sustainable ecosystems. As an important agricultural area in China, Danjiangkou reservoir is threatened by severe soil erosion. In this study, we selected four kinds of landscape pattern metrics, including patch density, fractal dimension, Shannon diversity index, and connectivity, to analyze soil erosion intensity in the Danjiangkou reservoir area at different scales based on landscape ecological principles. In addition, we determine the optimum research scale of the experimental area by calculating the information entropy value of soil patches at different scales. The findings suggest that: (1) the landscape pattern of soil erosion in the experimental area is obviously scale-dependent, and the responses to scale differ from index to index; (2) as the scale of observation increases, the fragmentation of soil patches is weakened, the stability of different landscape components is enhanced, and the soil becomes less vulnerable to erosion; and (3) based on information entropy theory, 60 m is confirmed to be the optimum scale of this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiuping Huang & Jiejun Huang & Xining Yang & Lemeng Ren & Cong Tang & Lixue Zhao, 2017. "Evaluating the Scale Effect of Soil Erosion Using Landscape Pattern Metrics and Information Entropy: A Case Study in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:7:p:1243-:d:104855
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wei, Linhong & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Mingzhu, 2007. "Effects of antecedent soil moisture on runoff and soil erosion in alley cropping systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-3), pages 54-62, December.
    2. Stelios Bekiros, 2014. "Timescale Analysis with an Entropy-Based Shift-Invariant Discrete Wavelet Transform," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 44(2), pages 231-251, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zifeng Liang & Manli Zhang & Qingduo Mao & Bingxin Yu & Ben Ma, 2018. "Improvement of Eco-Efficiency in China: A Comparison of Mandatory and Hybrid Environmental Policy Instruments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Pietro Piana & Francesco Faccini & Fabio Luino & Guido Paliaga & Alessandro Sacchini & Charles Watkins, 2019. "Geomorphological Landscape Research and Flood Management in a Heavily Modified Tyrrhenian Catchment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-22, August.

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