Evaluation of the EUROSEM model for predicting water erosion on steeplands in the Three Gorges Reservoir areas, China

Abstract

Because of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China, many farmers in the Three Gorges Reservoir areas will resettle in surrounding mountain areas and have to cultivate deep slopelands. Hence, a tool for assessing the risk of soil erosion, predicting runoff and erosion rates, and designing and evaluating the soil protection strategies in this area is needed. The European Soil Erosion Model (EUROSEM), a process-based model simulating erosion on an event basis for fields and small catchments, was tested using data from an experiment on steeplands in the Three Gorges Reservoir areas. This experiment included treatments of uncultivated slope, cultivated slope, hedgerows and fertilized-hedgerows. Results showed that EUROSEM predicted runoff reasonably well. It could be used to determine soil erosion in steeplands, especially for assessing the impact of land use change.