The Relationship between the Sensitivity to Rill Erosion and Soil Physical Degradability Due to the Land Use Change in Semi-Arid Pastures

Water erosion can be affected by land use change and soil degradation by agricultural activities. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of land use change in poor pastures on soil physical degradation and water erosion in semi-arid regions. Experiments were performed in 42 soil samples taken from seven areas covering the two land uses: poor pasture and rainfed agriculture, which have different soil textures (clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, silt loam, loam, sandy loam, and sandy loam). The physical characteristics of soils were measured in the samples of both types of land use and its changes were expressed as physical degradation of the soil. The soil's susceptibility to water erosion was measured under simulated rainfall with 50 mm h-1 intensity for 60 min. The results showed that the land use change in pastures leads to the physical deterioration of soils; so bulk density, porosity, macropore, field capacity, saturated point, aggregate size, and aggregate stability were degraded with a rate of 28, 22, 41, 11, 5, 62, and 63 percentages. The structural characteristics of soil (aggregate size and stability) had the highest physical deterioration due to the land use change in the pastures. The change in land use change greatly increased the sensitivity of soils to water erosion. A significant relationship was found between the susceptibility of water erosion and the soil's physical degradation. The soils with coarser and more stable aggregates have higher physical degradation by the land use change and in consequence show more susceptibility to water erosion.