Responses of storm-based soil erosion processes to land use changes in the upper Huaihe River basin, China

Better understanding the impacts of land use changes on storm-based sedigraphs in semi-humid and humid regions is critical for their soil erosion control. Based on the LULC, soil, precipitation, evaporation, flow and sediment data in the 1990 s to 2000 s from the Dapoling catchment of the upper Huaihe river basin, land use changes from the 1990 s to 2000 s were examined, storm-based sedigraphs under two decades’ land use patterns were simulated using a water-sediment model, which was built by coupling the Xin’anjiang model and the newly developed soil erosion model and calibrated, respectively, in the 1990 s and 2000 s, the impacts of land use changes on the storm-based sedigraphs were investigated, and the role of storm-based sediment load in its annual total and the relationship between storm rainfall and storm-based sediment load were discussed. The results revealed: land use pattern in the Dapoling catchment significantly changed from the 1990 s to 2000 s and the changes benefited soil erosion reduction; storm-based sedigraphs were well simulated by the water-sediment model and apparently affected by land use changes in term of total storm soil loss, the pattern of sedigraph over time, the size and timing of peak discharges of water and sediment; the storm-based sediment load in wet seasons play a dominant role in annual total, and good relationship existed between storm rainfall and storm-based sediment load but varied with land use patterns. The outputs of this paper could provide a scientific basis for sustainable utilization of land resources and soil erosion control in the Huaihe River basin.