Soil Erosion in Agricultural Landscapes of Donbas

摘要

The use of topographic surveys performed in different years for the assessment of soil erosion is discussed. The estimates of soil erosion in 56 years within a gully catchment in the Donbass region are compared with the experimental data on soil erosion induced by the snowmelt runoff and with the model prediction of soil erosion induced by rainfall of 10% probability. The Donetsk Ridge with a strongly dissected topography is the dominant relief formation in the Donbass region. A considerable part ofthe agricultural fields in this region occupy slopes of different steepness and aspects, and about 20% of the eroded soils of Ukraine occur in the Donbass region. The loss in crop yields from soil erosion in the Donbass region is estimated at 10 to 60%.The recent land reforms and the policy of land privatization have changed the agroindustrial complex. After the disaffirmation of a moratorium on land sale in Ukraine, new land use patterns are to be established within the agricultural areas. It is important to ensure their sustainable functioning in compliance with soil conservation strategies. For this purpose, it is necessary to have quantitative estimates of the major processes of soil degradation, including, first of all, soil erosion. Our work isaimed at a quantitative assessment of the soil erosion in the Donbass region in the past, present, and future by the example of a catchment of a large gully.