Jeong, Ara Dorn, Ronald, I Seong, Yeong-Bae Yu, Byung-Yong 2024-01-19T14:02:38Z 2024-01-19T14:02:38Z 2022-01-25 2021-08 2073-445X https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/116609 Land use changes often lead to soil erosion, land degradation, and environmental deterioration. However, little is known about just how much humans accelerate erosion compared to natural background rates in non-agricultural settings, despite its importance to knowing the magnitude of soil degradation. The lack of understanding of anthropogenic acceleration is especially true for arid regions. Thus, we used Be-10 catchment averaged denudation rates (CADRs) to obtain natural rates of soil erosion in and around the Phoenix metropolitan region, Arizona, United States. We then measured the acceleration of soil erosion by grazing, wildfire, and urban construction by comparing CADRs to erosion rates for the same watersheds, finding that: (i) grazing sometimes can increase sediment yields by up to 2.3-2.6x, (ii) human-set wildfires increased sediment yields by up to 9.7-10.4x, (iii) after some post-fire vegetation recovered, sediment yield was then up to 4.2-4.5x the background yield, (iv) construction increased sediment yields by up to 5.0-5.6x, and (v) the sealing of urban surfaces led to one-tenth to one-half of the background sediment yields. The acceleration of erosion at the urban-rural interface in arid lands highlights the need for sustainable management of arid-region soils. English MDPI Acceleration of Soil Erosion by Different Land Uses in Arid Lands above Be-10 Natural Background Rates: Case Study in the Sonoran Desert, USA Article 10.3390/land10080834 1 LAND, v.10, no.8 LAND 10 8 N ssci scopus 000689429500001 2-s2.0-85112685717 Environmental Studies Environmental Sciences & Ecology Article SEDIMENT YIELD COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES EXPOSURE AGES RUNOFF ERODIBILITY HIGHLANDS VINEYARDS IMPACT BASIN URBAN Be-10 denudation rates arid lands grazing land use changes land degradation natural background rate soil erosion wildfire urban construction