The effects of conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantation on splash erosion in Xishuangbanna, SW China

The Xishuangbanna (SW China) landscape has changed dramatically during the past three decades due to the conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantations. This study characterized the influence of conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantation on potential splash erosion rate and actual splash erosion rate. The average potential splash erosion rate was 2.1 times higher in the rubber plantation than in the open, while for the rainforest it was only 1.2 times higher than in the open, suggesting that the rubber plantation canopy greatly increased the rainsplash erosion. The average actual splash erosion rate was 2.0 times higher in the rubber plantation than in the rainforest, demonstrating that the rainforest was more effective in controlling splash erosion. The actual splash erosion rate was considerably lower in the terrace bench than in the riser bank in the rubber plantation, indicating that the riser bank was more sensitive to raindrop splash. Hence, protection of terrace risers with productive vegetation or litter/mulch layer is of vital importance in this bench-terraced rubber plantation. These results clearly show that conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantation had a negative effect on controlling splash erosion.

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