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Gully development in eastern Romania: a case study from Falciu Hills

Author

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  • Ion Ionita
  • Lilian Niacsu
  • Gabriel Petrovici
  • Ana Blebea-Apostu

Abstract

The gullied systems from the Falciu Hills within the Chioara catchment (2997 ha) consist of both main types of gullies, discontinuous and large continuous ones along valley bottoms, and lots of ephemeral gullies. Several methods have been used to measure and estimate gully characteristics. Then, the gully development stages, the effect of the natural conditions, and especially the impact of land management on gullying in the Falciu Hills over the last two centuries have been defined. In addition, the role of gully erosion in triggering landslides has also been studied. Two main periods have been distinguished (until 1960 and 1961–2012) for assessing major characteristics of land degradation. The results show that total gully area in the Chioara catchment is 66.4 ha excepting for the ephemeral gullies, and areas occupied by gullies from the five study sub-catchments (2334 ha) account for two-thirds. Total length of the main gully network in the entire catchment is 33.2 km from which the five sub-catchments account for 71 %. The mean gully density of 1.11 km km −2 supports the evidence that here gullying is the major environmental threat. Half of the gully areal growth and three-quarters of the new landslide area occurred over the 1961–2012 period. Delayed deforestation peaking during 1830–1930 and land conversion to arable use resulted in severe soil erosion, high aggradation along the non-gullied valley bottoms, and severe gullying. The average gully head retreat rate over the last two centuries from four trunk continuous gullies is 14 m year −1 , and the sediment yield from gullying only accounted for 54–69 % of the sediment mass produced by water erosion. The evolution of gullies is linked to major land-use changes in the study area. Despite a decreasing tendency of gullying and catchment area over the last half century, gullying still remains problematically high in East Romania. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Ion Ionita & Lilian Niacsu & Gabriel Petrovici & Ana Blebea-Apostu, 2015. "Gully development in eastern Romania: a case study from Falciu Hills," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 79(1), pages 113-138, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:79:y:2015:i:1:p:113-138
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-1732-8
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Selamawit Amare & Saskia Keesstra & Martine van der Ploeg & Eddy Langendoen & Tammo Steenhuis & Seifu Tilahun, 2019. "Causes and Controlling Factors of Valley Bottom Gullies," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Xingyi Zhang & Jiarui Qi & Jinzhong Xu & Pengchong Zhou & Zhuoxin Chen & Lixin Wang & Mingming Guo, 2022. "Root Distribution and Soil Properties of Gully Heads and Their Effects on Headcut Migration in the Mollisols Region of Northeast China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Yixian Chen & Juying Jiao & Yanhong Wei & Hengkang Zhao & Weijie Yu & Binting Cao & Haiyan Xu & Fangchen Yan & Duoyang Wu & Hang Li, 2019. "Accuracy Assessment of the Planar Morphology of Valley Bank Gullies Extracted with High Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery on the Loess Plateau, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-19, January.

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