Effect of Different Land Use Types and Their Implications on Land Degradation: the Case of the Watershed Isser-Tlemcen (Algeria)

• Main Authors: MOSTAFIA BOUGHALEM, FLORINA GRECU, KACEM MOUSSA, ABDELKADER ABDELLAOUI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Bucharest 2016-12-01
• Series: Annals of the University of Bucharest: Geography Series
• Subjects: Isser; erosion; land use; surface status; runoff.
• Online Access: http://annalsreview.geo.unibuc.ro/2016/Boughalem.pdf
• ISSN: 1013-4115; 2247-238X

This work focuses on water erosion observed in the northwest region of Algeria. It deals with the specific case of cereals, whose surface status (SS) influences strongly the formation of runoff during the rainy season, due to the formation of slaking crusts. The objective of this work is to study the surface states under different modes of land use, practiced in the region in order to apprehend the contributing areas of runoff and land loss. For this, surface observations were carried out taking into account the spatial organization of SS created by the soil tillage. The surveys are completed at the watershed of the Isser, at a scale of m2 , on six plots sample submitted different cropping systems. These observations were completed by in situ measurements of soil infiltrability. It shows that runoff is closely related to the hydrous and structural state of soil. It decreases from upstream to downstream slopes and is higher on the south-facing slopes than the north-facing ones.