Modeling Alternative Agricultural Scenarios Using Rusle and GIS to Determine Erosion Risk in the Chippewa River Watershed, Minnestota

Modeling;Erosion;Agriculture;Natural Resources and Environment

Doucet-Beer, ElenaVondracek, Bruce ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Modeling;    Erosion;    Agriculture;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/88166/EDoucetBeer_MS_Practicum_Final.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

The Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization, is working toquantify water quality, wildlife habitat, economic, and other benefits from working farmlands.Several approaches are being tested in this multi-disciplinary effort to further the growingdemand for improved environmental outcomes from agriculture. From these analyses LSP canmake recommendations for conservation program implementation and performance-basedpolicies at the state and national level. At the core of this project is modeling research thatpredicts the benefits that could be produced by farming systems that aim to reduce erosion intonearby streams, which is a significant problem in the United States.LSP identified the need for a straightforward yet effective model to predict soil loss undervarying agricultural scenarios. For this project, an assessment of the Revised Universal Soil LossEquation (RUSLE) within ArcGIS was conducted as a means to predict erosion risk withinMinnesota’s Chippewa River Watershed from nearby agricultural lands. Four alternativeagricultural scenarios were developed to predict changes in erosion. Results show that increasingagricultural lands under conservation tillage, planting cover crops in cultivated areas, increasingthe area under grassland, adding vegetated buffers along streams, and restoring wetlands resultedin the most dramatic decrease in erosion in the Chippewa River study area. A manual detailingdata preparation, scenario development, and running the model was developed for LSP. Overall,the use of RUSLE within ArcGIS is an appropriate strategy for LSP’s work to identify erosionpotential in agricultural areas and to identify and enhance various environmental and economicbenefits from agriculture. Beyond modeling soil loss, LSP can use ArcGIS to identify andprioritize areas for monitoring, restoration, and for education and outreach programs.