Land use/land cover change and soil erosion risk mapping in Shebedino woreda, Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Soil erosion is one of the major environmental problems that threaten sustainable agricultural production. Estimates of soil erosion risks and changes in the land use land cover will assist effective and sustainable land management and soil and water conservation (SWC) measures implementations. This study reported assessments of Land use/land cover changes between periods of 1973 and 2014 using GIS and Remote Sensing technique of Shebedino woreda. The study also attempted to map soil erosion risk by water and estimated the rate of soil erosion using Universal Soil Loss Equation in combination with GIS and Remote Sensing applications. Two satellite imageries (Landsat MSS 1973 and Landsat ETM+2014) have been used for change detection. Ethiopia soil map and soil survey data, 23 years rainfall data, a digital elevation model image, and land cover map for the year of 2014 have been used to estimate rate of soil erosion. Subsequently, land use/land cover map of the year 1973 and 2014, and soil erosion risk map of the study area have been produced. The study revealed that in the last four decades significant changes have been detected on LULCC. Forest cover and grazing land significantly decreased at a rate of 184.22 ha/yr and 38.08 ha/yr respectively; on the other hand cultivated land has shown increment in area at a rate of 179.91 ha/yr; and settlement has shown increment as well. The soil erosion risk analysis result shows that the woreda exhibited soil erosion rate of between 0 to 50 tonnes per hectare per year. The total annual soil loss in the study area was about 77200.50 tonnes, with 3.92 tonnes per hectare per year of mean annual rate of soil loss. A significant increment (159 %) in total annual soil loss has been observed. The total annual soil loss amount increased to 77200.50 tonnes in 2014 compared to 31076.05 tonnes 1973 situation. Based on the finding of this study, it was concluded that there were significant land use/ land cover change happened in the woreda. Part of the worda is prone to soil erosion risks. Therefore, all woreda level actors should give emphases to the situation and devise appropriate interventions measures for better and effective management of land recourses