Landscape changes and its consequences on soil erosion in Baro river basin, Ethiopia

In this study, land use/land cover (LULC) changes were quantified in the Baro river basin, a sub-basin of Baro-Akobo basin in Ethiopia. Further, LULC change impacts on soil erosion were estimated in the Geba watershed (sub-watershed of Baro river basin) using geospatial techniques and Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The results revealed a significant increment of disturbed high forest, intensive cultivation, woodland and wetland by 65.73, 45.93, 12.99 and 45.65% while decrement of dense mixed high forest, perennial cultivation, grassland, lowland bamboo and riparian woodland by 19.25, 63.40, 6.08, 34.70 and 25.18%, respectively. These changes have implications for environmental degradation in the form of soil erosion in the Baro river basin. The soil erosion was found to be 12.85, 14.38 and 14.89 tonnes/hectare/year (t/ha/year) in the year 1984, 2001 and 2010, respectively. The estimated soil erosion was validated using the measured and statistically analyzed sediment data and it was found reasonably in good agreement. Therefore, this study can help decision makers to identify soil erosion-prone areas accurately and will help in solving complex problems related to natural hazards in the Baro river basin in Ethiopia. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.