A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia

Land and water degradation due to on-site soil/nutrient loss and off-site pollution/sedimentation are serious environmental problems. Landscape planning and management tools are essential to implement best management practices targeted at locations where they are needed most. Although many soil/wate...

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Main Authors: Tamene, Lulseged D., Bao Le Quang, Vlek, Paul L.G.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Springer 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42159
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author Tamene, Lulseged D.
Bao Le Quang
Vlek, Paul L.G.
author_browse Bao Le Quang
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Vlek, Paul L.G.
author_facet Tamene, Lulseged D.
Bao Le Quang
Vlek, Paul L.G.
author_sort Tamene, Lulseged D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Land and water degradation due to on-site soil/nutrient loss and off-site pollution/sedimentation are serious environmental problems. Landscape planning and management tools are essential to implement best management practices targeted at locations where they are needed most. Although many soil/water-landscape studies have been published in the last 2 decades, progress in developing operational tools for supporting landscape planning to minimize land and water degradation in developing regions is still modest. Some of the existing tools are data demanding and/or complicated to be useful to data scarce regions. Some require detailed understanding of the hydrological and modelling processes and thus less applicable to local stakeholders involved in land use planning and management. A user-friendly LAndscape Planning and MAnagement Tool (LAPMAT) developed to facilitate land management decision-making. LAPMAT is a menu-oriented interactive graphical user interface that can aid decision makers identify hotspot areas of soil erosion and evaluate the effects of alternative land use management practices at a catchment scale. The modelling framework and its interfaces are designed to guide the user through a series of menus that: 1) allow input model parameters, adjusting coefficients, visualizing input parameters and executing the model; 2) enable changing land use and management practices and re-evaluating potential consequences; 3) allow viewing results in tabular, graphical or map form side-by-side; and 4) (re)-evaluating the respective impacts of management/conservation options. The framework has been applied to assess the severity of soil erosion and simulate the impact of different land management practices using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) adjusted for sediment delivery ratio in an example catchment of northern Ethiopia. The results showed average sediment yield rate of 55 t ha−1 y−1. Conservation measures targeted at high soil loss areas and gullies gave the maximum reduction in sediment yield by about 80 %. Since LAPMAT allows users handle the selection of management/planning options and provide fast and responsive outputs, it can assist in effective multi-stakeholder negotiations over land-use planning where the minimization of land/water degradation is the ultimate goal.
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spelling CGSpace421592025-03-13T09:43:58Z A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia Tamene, Lulseged D. Bao Le Quang Vlek, Paul L.G. land degradation water conservation erosion watersheds models degradación de tierras conservación de aguas erosión cuencas hidrográficas modelos Land and water degradation due to on-site soil/nutrient loss and off-site pollution/sedimentation are serious environmental problems. Landscape planning and management tools are essential to implement best management practices targeted at locations where they are needed most. Although many soil/water-landscape studies have been published in the last 2 decades, progress in developing operational tools for supporting landscape planning to minimize land and water degradation in developing regions is still modest. Some of the existing tools are data demanding and/or complicated to be useful to data scarce regions. Some require detailed understanding of the hydrological and modelling processes and thus less applicable to local stakeholders involved in land use planning and management. A user-friendly LAndscape Planning and MAnagement Tool (LAPMAT) developed to facilitate land management decision-making. LAPMAT is a menu-oriented interactive graphical user interface that can aid decision makers identify hotspot areas of soil erosion and evaluate the effects of alternative land use management practices at a catchment scale. The modelling framework and its interfaces are designed to guide the user through a series of menus that: 1) allow input model parameters, adjusting coefficients, visualizing input parameters and executing the model; 2) enable changing land use and management practices and re-evaluating potential consequences; 3) allow viewing results in tabular, graphical or map form side-by-side; and 4) (re)-evaluating the respective impacts of management/conservation options. The framework has been applied to assess the severity of soil erosion and simulate the impact of different land management practices using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) adjusted for sediment delivery ratio in an example catchment of northern Ethiopia. The results showed average sediment yield rate of 55 t ha−1 y−1. Conservation measures targeted at high soil loss areas and gullies gave the maximum reduction in sediment yield by about 80 %. Since LAPMAT allows users handle the selection of management/planning options and provide fast and responsive outputs, it can assist in effective multi-stakeholder negotiations over land-use planning where the minimization of land/water degradation is the ultimate goal. 2014-01 2014-08-19T11:25:54Z 2014-08-19T11:25:54Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42159 en Limited Access Springer Tamene L, Bao Le Q, Vlek PLG. 2014. A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia. Water Resources Management 28 (2): 407-424
spellingShingle land degradation
water conservation
erosion
watersheds
models
degradación de tierras
conservación de aguas
erosión
cuencas hidrográficas
modelos
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Bao Le Quang
Vlek, Paul L.G.
A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia
title A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia
title_full A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia
title_fullStr A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia
title_short A landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management: an example application in northern Ethiopia
title_sort landscape planning and management tool for land and water resources management an example application in northern ethiopia
topic land degradation
water conservation
erosion
watersheds
models
degradación de tierras
conservación de aguas
erosión
cuencas hidrográficas
modelos
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42159
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