RESPONSE OF SOIL EROSION IN A MOUNTAINOUS CATCHMENT TO TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TRENDS

This study is an attempt to assess the effects of temperature and precipitation variability to soil erosion in mountainous catchments. In order to achieve this goal, long-term meteorological time series (1961-2011) of Pertouli meteorological station was processed and analyzed. The Mann-Kendall non parametric statistical test was applied to detect trends in the mean annual temperature and precipitation. The results of the Mann-Kendall test indicate statistical decreasing trend for precipitation and statistical significant increasing trend for temperature. Moreover, the beginning of the change is associated to 1985 in case of precipitation and 1990 for temperature. Based on the Mann - Kendal test results, the study period was divided to two sub-periods, namely: 1961-1985 and 1986-2011. Finally, the erosion prediction model of Gavrilovic was used to quantify the effect of those trends on soil erosion. The comparison of the results showed that the value of mean annual soil erosion decreased by 2.8 t ha(-1) yr(-1) during 1986-2011 when precipitation decreased by 15% and temperature increased by 5%.