Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest

In many parts of Africa, soil erosion is an important problem, which is evident from high sediment yields in tropical montane streams. Previous studies in Kenya pointed to a large contribution from catchments cultivated by smallholder farmers. This led to the hypothesis that unpaved tracks and gulli...

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Autores principales: Stenfert Kroese, J., Batista, P.V.G., Jacobs, S.R., Breuer, Lutz, Quinton, J.N., Rufino, Mariana C.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114403
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author Stenfert Kroese, J.
Batista, P.V.G.
Jacobs, S.R.
Breuer, Lutz
Quinton, J.N.
Rufino, Mariana C.
author_browse Batista, P.V.G.
Breuer, Lutz
Jacobs, S.R.
Quinton, J.N.
Rufino, Mariana C.
Stenfert Kroese, J.
author_facet Stenfert Kroese, J.
Batista, P.V.G.
Jacobs, S.R.
Breuer, Lutz
Quinton, J.N.
Rufino, Mariana C.
author_sort Stenfert Kroese, J.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In many parts of Africa, soil erosion is an important problem, which is evident from high sediment yields in tropical montane streams. Previous studies in Kenya pointed to a large contribution from catchments cultivated by smallholder farmers. This led to the hypothesis that unpaved tracks and gullies are the main sediment sources in smallholder agriculture catchments of the highlands of Kenya. The aim of this study was to investigate the sediment sources with sediment fingerprinting to generate the knowledge base to improve land management and to reduce sediment yields. Four main sediment sources (agricultural land, unpaved tracks, gullies and channel banks) and suspended sediments were analysed for biogeochemical elements as potential tracers. To apportion the catchments target sediment to different sources, we applied the MixSIAR un-mixing modelling under a Bayesian framework. Surprisingly, the fingerprinting analysis showed that agricultural land accounted for 75% (95% confidence interval 63–86%) of the total sediment. Channel banks contributed 21% (8–32%), while the smallest contributions to sediment were generated by the unpaved tracks and gullies with 3% (0–12%) and 1% (0–4%), respectively. Erosion management strategies should target agricultural lands with an emphasis on disconnecting unpaved tracks form hillslope source areas to reduce sediment yields to Lake Victoria.
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spelling CGSpace1144032025-12-08T09:54:28Z Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest Stenfert Kroese, J. Batista, P.V.G. Jacobs, S.R. Breuer, Lutz Quinton, J.N. Rufino, Mariana C. agricultural land mountain areas catchment hydrology In many parts of Africa, soil erosion is an important problem, which is evident from high sediment yields in tropical montane streams. Previous studies in Kenya pointed to a large contribution from catchments cultivated by smallholder farmers. This led to the hypothesis that unpaved tracks and gullies are the main sediment sources in smallholder agriculture catchments of the highlands of Kenya. The aim of this study was to investigate the sediment sources with sediment fingerprinting to generate the knowledge base to improve land management and to reduce sediment yields. Four main sediment sources (agricultural land, unpaved tracks, gullies and channel banks) and suspended sediments were analysed for biogeochemical elements as potential tracers. To apportion the catchments target sediment to different sources, we applied the MixSIAR un-mixing modelling under a Bayesian framework. Surprisingly, the fingerprinting analysis showed that agricultural land accounted for 75% (95% confidence interval 63–86%) of the total sediment. Channel banks contributed 21% (8–32%), while the smallest contributions to sediment were generated by the unpaved tracks and gullies with 3% (0–12%) and 1% (0–4%), respectively. Erosion management strategies should target agricultural lands with an emphasis on disconnecting unpaved tracks form hillslope source areas to reduce sediment yields to Lake Victoria. 2020-09-30 2020-10-27T09:22:13Z 2020-10-27T09:22:13Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114403 en Open Access Springer Kroese, J.S., Batista, P.V., Jacobs, S.R., Breuer, L., Quinton, J.N. and Rufino, M.C., 2020. Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest. Scientific reports, 10(1), 14827. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71924-9
spellingShingle agricultural land
mountain areas
catchment hydrology
Stenfert Kroese, J.
Batista, P.V.G.
Jacobs, S.R.
Breuer, Lutz
Quinton, J.N.
Rufino, Mariana C.
Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest
title Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest
title_full Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest
title_fullStr Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest
title_full_unstemmed Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest
title_short Agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an African montane forest
title_sort agricultural land is the main source of stream sediments after conversion of an african montane forest
topic agricultural land
mountain areas
catchment hydrology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114403
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