YU Siwen, HE Wen, DI Baofeng, ZENG Wen, LUO Jun, ZHAN Menglai, QIAO Yu, LI Pingfeng. 2025: Drought impact on water-induced erosion: spatiotemporal pattern in typical areas of the southern Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Mountain Science, 22(9): 3344-3356. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-024-8935-y
Citation: YU Siwen, HE Wen, DI Baofeng, ZENG Wen, LUO Jun, ZHAN Menglai, QIAO Yu, LI Pingfeng. 2025: Drought impact on water-induced erosion: spatiotemporal pattern in typical areas of the southern Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Mountain Science, 22(9): 3344-3356. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-024-8935-y

Drought impact on water-induced erosion: spatiotemporal pattern in typical areas of the southern Tibetan Plateau

  • The southern Tibetan Plateau has undergone accelerated warming that exceeds the global average, which has intensified surface hydrological processes. However, the mechanisms underlying drought effects on water-driven erosion under current climate change remain poorly understood. This paper aims to reveal the spatiotemporal changes in water-induced erosion in typical areas of the southern Tibetan Plateau using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Additionally, it seeks to identify the driving forces through the threshold segmentation method based on multi-timescale Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) data. The results showed that the average soil erosion in the study area from 2001 to 2019 was 46.90 t ha-1 a-1, with an overall significant decreasing trend (p < 0.05). Significant decreases were observed in 40.86% of the areas. The relationship between soil erosion and SPEI was predominantly positive, with the strongest correlation observed between soil erosion and meteorological and agricultural drought. Areas experiencing significant decreases in soil erosion driven by intensified drought accounted for 24.55% of the total area, followed by 10.51% attributed to multiple factors and 6.66% influenced predominantly by human activities. Conversely, abnormal increases in soil erosion were noted in 1.02% of the total area. These findings underscore the impact of drought changes on soil erosion in typical areas of the southern Tibetan Plateau, offering insights for future research on the relationship between soil erosion and climate variability in fragile ecosystems.
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