Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #247889
Title: Water Erosion Modeling in a Watershed Under Forest Cultivation Through the USLE Model

Author
item DA SILVA, MAYESSE - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item NAVES SILVA, MARX - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item CURI, NILTON - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item Norton, Lloyd
item AVANZI, JUNIOR - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item OLIVEIRA, ANNA - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item LIMA, GABRIELA - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item LEITE, FERNANDO - Celulose Nipo Brasileira Sa(CENIBRA)

Submitted to: World Congress of Soil Science
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2010
Publication Date: 8/1/2010
Citation: Da Silva, M., Naves Silva, M.L., Curi, N., Norton, L.D., Avanzi, J.C., Oliveira, A.H., Lima, G.C., Leite, F.P. 2010. Water Erosion Modeling in a Watershed Under Forest Cultivation Through the USLE Model. In: Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science. DVD. International Union of Soil Science, Brisbane, Australia. p. 173-176.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The modeling of erosion processes integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS) has been an important tool to assess erosion by water. The objective of this study was to deterimine the spatial distribution of water erosion in forest ecosystems and generate soil loss prediction maps according to different land use scenarios. The study was conducted in a watershed occupied by Eucalyptus cultivation located in Belo Oriente, in the Rio Doce river valley, Central-East region of Minas Gerais state – Brazil. For the spatial distribution modeling of soil loss for the watershed, the USLE model was coupled with Geographical Information System (GIS). The lowest soil loss, among the scenarios evaluated, was predicted for the land use of Eucalyptus with conservation practices. We also found the vegetative cover, expressed by the USLE-C factor, controlled the degree of soil erosion in the study watershed. This research showed that the combination of USLE and GIS technologies can be used to assess land use and conservation practices in the watershed scale.