Landscape patterns and modelling of soil-vegetation relationship and related ecosystem services to support landscape conservation in the Mo River Basin (Togo)
Loading...
Date
MAY 2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In order to support
integrated
land
scapes
and restoration efforts, this research focused
on the a
ssessment and monitoring of the spatio
-
temporal land use/cover change
(LUCC)
and degradation in the Mo River Basin (a subunit of the Volta basin of about 1,490 km
2
in Central Togo).
Field measurements, legacy and ancillary data were subjected to
s
equential
multivariate methods
,
correlation analyses
,
geostatistics and modelling
to
analyse
landscape
conditions. First, a
long a gradient of land protection regime,
data
from
extensive soi
l sampling and forest inventory
were used to
analyse
soil organic
carbon (
SO
C
)
and
total nitrogen (
TN
)
storage
up to 30 cm depth,
and
the interactions
between vegetation
-
soil
conditions. Next,
Landsat
images
o
f 1972, 1987, 2000 and 2014
combined with
most updated global topographic and soil
databases
were used to analyse
the
land
s
cape cha
nges a
nd its
impacts on
SOC
,
TN
,
soil loss potential
and landscape
patterns.
Finally,
the Landscape Management and Planning Tool adapted for
the
Mo
basin (LAMPT_Mo), a spatially explicit model
based on the Revised Universal Soil
Loss Equation (RUSL
E)
, was used to
model the
historical soil loss, and evaluate the
efficiency of some
land
management
scenarios. Different databases and field
characterisation were used for model calibration and validation. The results showed that
SOC and TN varied signific
antly according to land
use/
cover types, soil depths,
topographical positions and land protection regime. With forests and woodlands
exhibiting highest amounts of nutrients, mean TN varied from 0.06 to 0.16 % in the
topsoil (0
–
10 cm) and 0.04 to 0.09 % i
n the subsoil (10
–
30 cm). Similarly, SOC
ranged from 1.81 % in farmlands to 3.58 % in forests in the topsoil while woodlands
had highest SOC in the subsoil (2.23 %).
The river basin is made up of four and three
vegetation types in unprotected and protect
ed areas, respectively.
The synergized effects
of land protection status, soil conditions,
landform,
and human disturbances drive these
vegetation patterns.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Civil Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Doctorate Degree in Climate Change and Land Use.