Hydrological response to land use and land cover change on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and Meru Mountains
Loading...
Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Land use and cover change are closely linked to catchment hydrology characteristics. Land
uses and cover determine the ability of the catchment to collect, store, and release water.
The catchment water storage and flow ability affect the quantity and timing of runoff, soil
erosion, and sediment transport downstream. Agriculture on of the major drivers for the
changes in water flow pathways, which also causes a catastrophic shift of aquatic ecosys-
tems. We assessed the impact of land-use changes on the water flow characteristics in the
Upper Pangani Sub catchment using the hydrologic model Soil and Water Assessment Tool
(SWAT). Land use and cover changes within the Upper Pangani Sub catchment were ana-
lyzed between 1987 and 2017 using QGIS. The result shows that agriculture has expanded
from 96,737 ha to 314,871 ha between 1987 and 2017. Bare land and built-up land have
gained 14690 ha and 7083 ha respectively during this period. Land-use changes have af-
fected the basin’s land cover. Forest has decreased from 196558 ha to 106839 ha between
1987 and 2017. Bush land cover has lost 83445 ha during this period. Bushland cover fall
victim to agricultural activities, whereas forest is cleared for logging and fire incidences.
Consequently, surface runoff has increased from 60.84 to 73.02 (20.6% increase) between
1987 and 2017. Sediment yield has increase from 6.9 to 12.74 ton/ha (46% increase), and
groundwater recharge has decreased from 106.53 to 99.56 (6.5% decrease). It concluded
that land cover transformation alters hydrology characteristics of the catchment, resulting
to fast surface flow, high rate of soil erosion and low infiltration rate. It is recommended
that agro-forestry should be emphasized in the catchment.
Description
Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology 22 (2022) pp.609–626
Keywords
GIS, SWAT, Sedimentation, Surface runoff, Hydrology model
Citation
www.elsevier.com/locate/ecohyd