Evaluation of gully erosion management measures: case study of El Hnach catchment, Tunisia

Gully erosion management is a key element for soil preservation in Mediterranean environments. However, evaluation of gully erosion management measures is very infrequent. In this context, the aim of the present study is to propose and test such a method to determine the efficiency of erosion manage...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrological sciences journal 2013-10, Vol.58 (7), p.1532-1541
Main Authors: Rebai, H., Raclot, Damien D., Ben Ouezdou, H.
Format: Article
Language:fre
Subjects:
Environmental Sciences
Life Sciences
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Gully erosion management is a key element for soil preservation in Mediterranean environments. However, evaluation of gully erosion management measures is very infrequent. In this context, the aim of the present study is to propose and test such a method to determine the efficiency of erosion management measures in limiting gully length growth. The method is based on the interpretation of aerial photographs taken on different dates. It is implemented and tested on the Tunisian El Hnach catchment (3.7 km(2)), which has been subject to a variety of gully erosion management measures (tree planting, bench terraces, stone ridges and dry stone walls) applied around 1989. To enable comparison between treated and untreated areas, a correction of slope, lithology and climate effects is undertaken through a normalization procedure, considering untreated areas as reference areas. The monitoring of gully length evolution between 1952 and 2004 was used to evaluate gully growth rates, providing evidence of the great variability in efficiency of management practices in terms of slope and lithology.
ISSN:0262-6667
DOI:10.1080/02626667.2013.824087