Mapping Soil Erosion and Ecosystem Service Loss: Integrating RUSLE and NDVI Metrics to Support Conservation in El Cajas National Park, Ecuador

Mountain protected areas in the tropical Andes experience localized yet severe soil erosion that threatens erosion-regulating services and downstream water–energy security. We mapped soil loss at 30 m using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and quantified the erosion-control service in El Cajas National Park, Ecuador (28,544 ha) using an NDVI-based index. Replacing categorical land cover C factors with a continuous NDVI surface increased the park-wide soil loss estimate by ∼58%, yielding an area-weighted mean of 5.3 t ha−1 yr−1 and local maxima of 120 t ha−1 yr−1 on steep and sparsely vegetated escarpments. Relative to a bare soil scenario, existing páramo grasslands, shrub mosaics, and scattered Polylepis woodlots avert 95% of potential erosion, quantifying the service supplied by vegetation. Between 2023 and 2024, a ∼60% rise in mean NDVI more than doubled the area delivering moderate-to-high erosion control. A hot-spot analysis further identified ∼30 km2 (≈5% of the park) where high modeled soil loss coincides with low protection; these clusters generate ∼80% of predicted sediment and constitute priority targets for restoration or visitor use regulation. The integrated RUSLE–NDVI–EC approach provides a concise and transferable screening tool for aligning conservation investments with Ecuador’s restoration pledges and for safeguarding critical hydrological services in Andean protected areas.