Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)

The Peruvian Amazon faces an increasing threat of soil erosion, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and accelerated deforestation. In Neshuya (Ucayali region), agricultural activity has intensified since 2014, but the effect on soil erosion is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate...

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Main Authors: Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo, Padilla Castro, Cesar, Riveros Lizana, Chistian Alonso, Hermoza Espezúa, Rosa María, Solórzano Acosta, Richard Andi
Format: Artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12955/2644
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15010015
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author Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo
Padilla Castro, Cesar
Riveros Lizana, Chistian Alonso
Hermoza Espezúa, Rosa María
Solórzano Acosta, Richard Andi
author_browse Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo
Hermoza Espezúa, Rosa María
Padilla Castro, Cesar
Riveros Lizana, Chistian Alonso
Solórzano Acosta, Richard Andi
author_facet Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo
Padilla Castro, Cesar
Riveros Lizana, Chistian Alonso
Hermoza Espezúa, Rosa María
Solórzano Acosta, Richard Andi
author_sort Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo
collection Repositorio INIA
description The Peruvian Amazon faces an increasing threat of soil erosion, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and accelerated deforestation. In Neshuya (Ucayali region), agricultural activity has intensified since 2014, but the effect on soil erosion is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the increase in erosion levels, at a subbasin of the central–eastern Amazon of Peru, in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model was used for assessing the effect of vegetation cover change from 2016 to 2022. In the Neshuya sub-basin (973.4 km2 ), the average erosion increased from 3.87 to 4.55 t ha−1 year−1 , on average. In addition, there is great spatial variability in the values. In addition, 7.65% of the study area (74.52 km2 ) exceeds the soil loss tolerance limit (15 t ha−1 year−1 ). The deforestation rate was 17.99 km2 year−1 and by 2022 the forested area reached 237.65 km2 . In conclusion, the transition from forest to farmland was related to the most critical erosion values. Unsustainable soil management practices can be the underlying explanation of changes in soil chemical and physical properties. Also, social dynamic changes and differences in landscape patterns play a role.
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spelling INIA26442025-09-18T20:33:17Z Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo Padilla Castro, Cesar Riveros Lizana, Chistian Alonso Hermoza Espezúa, Rosa María Solórzano Acosta, Richard Andi Degraded tropical soils Amazonian biome Remote sensing PISCO SENAMHI MapBiomass Peru https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#4.01.04 Agricultura The Peruvian Amazon faces an increasing threat of soil erosion, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and accelerated deforestation. In Neshuya (Ucayali region), agricultural activity has intensified since 2014, but the effect on soil erosion is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the increase in erosion levels, at a subbasin of the central–eastern Amazon of Peru, in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model was used for assessing the effect of vegetation cover change from 2016 to 2022. In the Neshuya sub-basin (973.4 km2 ), the average erosion increased from 3.87 to 4.55 t ha−1 year−1 , on average. In addition, there is great spatial variability in the values. In addition, 7.65% of the study area (74.52 km2 ) exceeds the soil loss tolerance limit (15 t ha−1 year−1 ). The deforestation rate was 17.99 km2 year−1 and by 2022 the forested area reached 237.65 km2 . In conclusion, the transition from forest to farmland was related to the most critical erosion values. Unsustainable soil management practices can be the underlying explanation of changes in soil chemical and physical properties. Also, social dynamic changes and differences in landscape patterns play a role. This research was funded by the INIA project “Mejoramiento de los servicios de investigación y transferencia tecnológica en el manejo y recuperación de suelos agrícolas degradados y aguas para riego en la pequeña y mediana agricultura en los departamentos de Lima, Áncash, San Martín, Cajamarca, Lambayeque, Junín, Ayacucho, Arequipa, Puno y Ucayali” CUI 2487112. Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge the collaborators of the EEA Pucallpa for giving us the necessary help to finish this work 2025-02-28T05:14:22Z 2025-02-28T05:14:22Z 2025-01-06 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Ascencio-Sanchez, M.; Padilla-Castro, C.; Riveros-Lizana, C.; Hermoza-Espezúa, R. M.; Atalluz-Ganoza, D.; & Solórzano-Acosta, R. (2025). Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022). Geosciences, 15(1), 15. doi: 10.3390/geosciences15010015 2076-3263 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12955/2644 https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15010015 eng uri:issn:2076-3263 Geosciences info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf application/pdf MDPI CH Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria Repositorio Institucional - INIA
spellingShingle Degraded tropical soils
Amazonian biome
Remote sensing
PISCO SENAMHI
MapBiomass Peru
https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#4.01.04
Agricultura
Asencio Sanchez, Moises Leonardo
Padilla Castro, Cesar
Riveros Lizana, Chistian Alonso
Hermoza Espezúa, Rosa María
Solórzano Acosta, Richard Andi
Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
title Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
title_full Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
title_fullStr Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
title_short Impacts of land use on soil erosion: RUSLE analysis in a sub-basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
title_sort impacts of land use on soil erosion rusle analysis in a sub basin of the peruvian amazon 2016 2022
topic Degraded tropical soils
Amazonian biome
Remote sensing
PISCO SENAMHI
MapBiomass Peru
https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#4.01.04
Agricultura
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12955/2644
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15010015
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