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Estimation of soil erosion risk within an important agricultural sub-watershed in Bursa, Turkey, in relation to rapid urbanization

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Abstract

This paper integrates the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) with a GIS model to investigate the spatial distribution of annual soil loss and identify areas of soil erosion risk in the Uluabat sub-watershed, an important agricultural site in Bursa Province, Turkey. The total soil loss from water erosion was 473,274 Mg year−1. Accordingly, 60.3 % of the surveyed area was classified into a very low erosion risk class while 25.7 % was found to be in high and severe erosion risk classes. Soil loss had a close relationship with land use and topography. The most severe erosion risk typically occurs on ridges and steep slopes where agriculture, degraded forest, and shrubs are the main land uses and cover types. Another goal of this study was to use GIS to reveal the multi-year urbanization status caused by rapid urbanization that constitutes another soil erosion risk in this area. Urbanization has increased by 57.7 % and the most areal change was determined in class I lands at a rate of 80 % over 25 years. Urbanization was identified as one of the causes of excessive soil loss in the study area.

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Acknowledgments

The Scientific Research Projects Unit of Uludag University (Grant No. YDP (Z)-2010/5) supported this research. Some parts of this research were carried out at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA with funds provided by Uludag University. The results of this study provide useful data to decision makers of the Bursa, Turkey metropolitan area.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Uludag University, Gorukle Campus, 16059 Nilufer, Bursa, Turkey

    Gokhan Ozsoy & Ertugrul Aksoy

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  1. Gokhan Ozsoy
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  2. Ertugrul Aksoy
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Correspondence to Gokhan Ozsoy.

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Ozsoy, G., Aksoy, E. Estimation of soil erosion risk within an important agricultural sub-watershed in Bursa, Turkey, in relation to rapid urbanization. Environ Monit Assess 187, 419 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4653-9

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