Shuxiang Feng , Mengxue Lyu , Xuetao Han , Chang Liu , Jun Qiu
{"title":"Weakly supervised bird-flock counting in wetlands based on multimodal optical image perception","authors":"Shuxiang Feng , Mengxue Lyu , Xuetao Han , Chang Liu , Jun Qiu","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.05.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.05.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As crucial bio-indicators for wetland ecosystem health assessment, wetland birds play a pivotal role in ecological monitoring and conservation. This study address three challenges in avian population monitoring using optical remote sensing imagery, including high cost of manual annotation, difficulty in extracting small target features in complex background, and insufficient adaptability of multi-scale target recognition. We propose a weakly supervised bird-flock counting method based on the optical image multimodal perception model integrating optical image features and visual semantic features without location annotation. Based on optical image feature enhancement, visual semantic features related to the counting task are extracted through visual cues (counting text prompt), and a learnable feature adapter is introduced to fuse optical image features with visual semantic features. Thus, an optical image multimodal perception model with residual connection mechanism and multi-scale information interaction module is constructed. The residual connection mechanism effectively alleviates the interference caused by posture changes and complex background, and the multi-scale information interaction module solves the problem of target scale change through cross-scale semantic propagation. We construct an optical images bird-flock dataset named Wetland-Bird-Count for the Yellow River Delta coastal wetlands. The experimental results show that the MAE and MSE of the proposed method are 45.2 and 54.2, which is much more accurate than other weakly supervised and unsupervised methods and close to the fully supervised counting method, which verifies that the weakly supervised cluster counting using optical image visual cues can improve the accuracy of bird flock counting under lightweight annotation. This study provides a reliable quantitative analysis tool for optical image ecological monitoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 249-257"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Integrated watershed management for transforming dryland livelihoods: A climate-smart strategy for sustainable dryland agriculture in India","authors":"Ram A. Jat , Dinesh Jinger , Anita Kumawat , Saswat Kumar Kar , Indu Rawat , Suresh Kumar , Venkatesh Paramesh , Vijay Singh Meena , Rajesh Kaushal , Kuldeep Kumar , Hari Singh Meena , S.P. Wani , Rajbir Singh , M. Madhu","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In India, 51 % of the net sown area relies on rainfed agriculture, with 40 % of landholdings unirrigated and 13 % partially irrigated. Rainfed farming produces 40 % of food grains and supports two-thirds of the livestock population but faces challenges like land degradation, low productivity, and biodiversity loss due to erratic monsoons and extreme weather. Additionally, India’s water scarcity is worsening, with per capita availability expected to reduce from 802 cubic meters in 2022 to 677 cubic meters by 2050. Therefore, to meet the diverse food requirements of the burgeoning population of the country, conservation of natural resources, and improving the living standard of the resource-poor small and marginal farmers is imperative. Integrated watershed management (IWM) has emerged as a climate-smart strategy to address these challenges by enhancing soil and water conservation, agricultural productivity, and livelihoods in dryland systems. This study assesses the impact of IWM on dryland agriculture in India by analyzing various interventions such as <em>in-situ</em> and <em>ex-situ</em> water conservation, soil health management, and the use of modern technologies like remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS). The results revealed that the adoption of IWM practices has led to significant improvements in soil moisture retention (20–25 %), soil organic carbon (22–32 %) agricultural productivity (30–45 %), and water use efficiency (15–25 %). Additionally, soil conservation techniques have reduced soil loss and runoff by 25–50 % and 50–60 %, respectively. Furthermore, the cultivation of lemon grass (<em>Cymbopogon flexuosus</em>), anjan grass (<em>Cenchrus ciliaris</em>), and bamboo (<em>Bambusa spp</em>.) could be the nature-based solutions for mitigating the impact of climate change due to their soil binding capacity and carbon sequestration potential. Moreover, this review indicates the potential of fast-growing trees (<em>Melia dubia</em>) under the agroforestry system in enhancing carbon sequestration by >100 % over sole cultivation. These results demonstrate that IWM is a sustainable solution to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on dryland farming systems and improve rural livelihoods. Further, the study suggests that IWM practices helps to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as zero hunger, no poverty, and climate action etc., particularly in the face of climate change in water-scarce regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 159-177"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hydrochemical characteristics, water quality and diatom assemblage in Dordi River, Nepal","authors":"Punam Phuyal , Shraddha Ranabhat , Sanjal Khatri , Nabin Lamichhane , Ramesh Raj Pant , Lal Bahadur Thapa , Ram Kailash Prasad Yadav","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2024.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2024.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding hydrochemistry and diatom assemblage is important for assessing the health of aquatic ecosystems. This study has analyzed the water quality and diatom communities in the Dordi River, which is one of the major tributaries of the Marsyangdi River in Nepal. The primary research question being addressed in the study was what is the state of water quality parameters of Dordi River and how do they relate to the distribution and composition of diatoms. The water quality parameters of the river like temperature, pH, electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity, and total alkalinity (TA) were measured <em>in-situ</em>, whereas concentrations of major ions (Ca<sup>2+</sup>, Mg<sup>2+</sup>, K<sup>+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup>, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>, HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>, Cl<sup>–</sup>, SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2–</sup>, NO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>, and PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3–</sup>), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were analyzed in the laboratory by collecting water samples from different parts of the river. Piper plot, Gibbs plot, Mixing plots, redundancy analysis, and principal component analysis were applied for evaluating the spatial variation of anions and cations in water. The results showed alkaline water following the pattern: Ca<sup>2+</sup>>Mg<sup>2+</sup>>Na<sup>+</sup>>K<sup>+</sup>>NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> for cation and HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>>Cl<sup>–</sup>>SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2–</sup>>PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3–</sup>>NO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> for anion with calcium-bicarbonate dominant lithology in the river. Overall, the results highlight that the drinking and irrigation water qualities of the river were found to be excellent. Additionally, among 75 diatom species observed in the samples, the Bacillariophyceae was the dominant class covering 92% of the species. The results indicated that the diatom species richness declined as elevation increased. The distribution of diatoms was also influenced by the land use types near the water sampling points, tributaries and the main river. Overall, the physico-chemical quality of water showed significant influence on diatom species composition. The findings of this study could be useful for understanding hydrochemistry and association of water quality and diatoms in river basins of the Himalaya.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 23-35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143158894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Artificial intelligence applications in hydrological studies and ecological restoration of watersheds: A systematic review","authors":"Fernando Morante-Carballo , Mirka Arcentales-Rosado , Jhon Caicedo-Potosí , Paúl Carrión-Mero","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.05.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.05.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water resources management is fundamental to the sustainability of river basins. Water quality is affected by pollution caused by human activities. In this context, the restoration of degraded watersheds helps soil recovery, sustainable water management, reforestation, biodiversity conservation and mitigation of human impacts. Artificial intelligence (AI) innovates data management and analysis processes by optimising decision-making and data analysis in hydrological studies and ecological restoration. This research aims to analyse scientific information related to the integration of AI in studies on hydrogeology and ecological restoration of watersheds by analysing scientific databases for knowledge of the intellectual structure, lines and trends of research. The methodology includes three phases: i) search criteria and data processing (Scopus-Web of Science); ii) analysis of the intellectual and conceptual structure; and iii) application of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. The results indicate that there is a total of 171 records, with a 4.49% growth in scientific production in the last four years, focusing on artificial neural networks (10.53%), artificial intelligence (3.51%), genetic algorithms (1.17%) and machine learning (1.17%). This increase is due to the climatic variation generated in recent years, driven by anthropogenic pressures, especially in the agricultural sector due to the high demand for fertiliser and pesticide pollution. This problem has prompted the search for more far-reaching environmental management technologies, making it a potential niche for study. China (72.51%) and the United States (25.73%) are the most outstanding contributors to production in this area. On the other hand, there is less research in this area in developing countries such as South Africa (2.92%), Colombia (1.17%), and Argentina (0.58%), among others. This analysis identifies opportunities and challenges in applying AI for water resource optimisation and water quality prediction, providing an innovative conceptual framework for sustainable watershed management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 230-248"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144105700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jill M. Felker, Zachary T. Weagly, Tami H. Mysliwiec
{"title":"Five-year microbial and chemical assessment of the Blue Marsh Watershed in Reading, Pennsylvania","authors":"Jill M. Felker, Zachary T. Weagly, Tami H. Mysliwiec","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recreational, agricultural, and industrial utilizations of areas surrounding waterways provide opportunities for collecting chemical and pollutant runoff, which influence the chemical makeup of the waterways and connecting watersheds. Human activities within watersheds can result in conditions that enable pathogenic microorganisms to thrive and allow unique microbial communities to emerge. The study area consisted of three locations at the Blue.</div><div>Marsh Watershed in Reading, Pennsylvania, with different surrounding land use and anthropogenic activities. The study areas were monitored monthly during the five-year project to assess seasonal variations in chemical levels and microbial count changes.</div><div>Chemical testing included inorganic nitrates, inorganic phosphates, and dissolved oxygen. Additional microbial testing included monthly counts for <em>Escherichia coli</em> and <em>Enterococcus</em> spp. to assess potential pathogenic microbial populations. On most occasions, chemical analyses found nitrate and phosphate concentrations above natural environmental levels.</div><div>During the five years, <em>Escherichia coli</em> and <em>Enterococcus</em> spp. concentrations were above the EPA recreational water recommendations 52% and 83% of the time, respectively. These results suggest that recreational, agricultural, and industrial utilization of surrounding waterways may influence chemical and microbial characteristics, including pathogenic microorganisms in the Blue Marsh Watershed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 119-130"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Masumi Hisano , Shota Deguchi , Keinosuke Sannoh , Ken Motomura , Da-Li Lin
{"title":"Wetland bird utilisation of ephemerally flooded rice paddies in late winter snowmelt season in central Japan","authors":"Masumi Hisano , Shota Deguchi , Keinosuke Sannoh , Ken Motomura , Da-Li Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.04.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.04.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study highlights the importance of rice paddies in snow-rich regions of central Japan as habitat for wetland bird species during snow-melting late winter season. During the study period, we recorded seven wetland species, including waders, egrets, and waterfowls. The abundance and richness of these birds were not significantly associated with the patch size of rice paddies. However, bird abundance presented a marginally positive association with the coverage of open water bodies within the landscape, while species richness showed a marginal relationship with the distance to the nearest water body. Our findings suggest that snowmelt-created wetlands may provide functions as critical stopover sites for migratory birds along the East Asian-Australian Flyway, and that enhancing water features in agricultural landscapes may yield greater conservation benefits than simply modifying the patch size of agricultural wetlands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 178-186"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143865135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent research trends in mangrove management systems (2014–2023) and predictions of future research; A bibliometric analysis","authors":"Muh Ainun Beddu , Rijal Idrus , Farid Samawi , Aidil Zulhaq Paradiman , Islamuddin Jafar","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.04.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This review of the scientific literature on mangrove management systems using bibliometric methods aimed to identify research trends, key topics, and collaboration between researchers. Data were collected from a one-time search of the Scopus database over the last ten-year period (2014– 2023). Bibliometric analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel, OpenRefine, RStudio, Tableau, and VOSviewer to visualize keyword networks, publication trends, and research collaboration. The study showed a significant increase in publications related to mangrove management systems in the last decade. The most frequently discussed topics included global analysis, restoration, climate mitigation, ecosystem services, and blue carbon. The collaboration network showed extensive international cooperation, especially between researchers from Australia and Southeast Asia. The analysis revealed gaps in the coverage of key research areas in mangrove management systems, particularly in addressing long-term sustainability and effective stakeholder collaboration, such as the need for a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach involving various stakeholders, including local communities, governments, scientists, and sustainable management approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 187-198"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143868743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
André Jules Ouambeti-Wickon , Gabriel Ngueutchoua , Doria Grace Takenne , Prince Emilien Danguene , Armand Sylvain Ludovic Wouatong
{"title":"Estimation of heavy metal contamination of sediments in the Ouaka River watershed in the Central African Republic","authors":"André Jules Ouambeti-Wickon , Gabriel Ngueutchoua , Doria Grace Takenne , Prince Emilien Danguene , Armand Sylvain Ludovic Wouatong","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study, based on heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), vanadium (V), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) in the sediments of the Ouaka river watershed, aimed to determine the concentration profiles of the various contaminated zones and to assess the sources of pollution of these sediments, which are of both human and natural origin. These profiles were established against a backdrop of heavy industrial activity (discharges from the Ngakobo sugar refinery and the Bambari cotton gear factory), agricultural activity (with the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides) and mining activity (artisanal gold mining), all of which may be responsible for heavy metal contamination of the sediments in this watershed. A total of 34 sediment samples were collected and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Results for heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) ranged from 0.006 to 0.019 for Cd; 1.7 to 7.11 for Co; 11.5 to 30.8 for Cr; 2.3 to 7.4 for Cu; 2.7 to 13.4 Ni; 1.36 to 25.99 for Pb; 11 to 18 for V; 7.9 to 20 for Zn and 11356.2 to 17875.5 for Fe. These values are significantly lower in the sediments studied than the reference values used in the upper continental crust. To assess the degree of contamination in these sediments, the enrichment factor, contamination factor, geo-accumulation index and pollutant load index were calculated. The result is that, with the exception of Pb in sample B15, which is moderately enriched, the other heavy metals are only slightly enriched, and this is confirmed by the geo-accumulation index and pollutant load index, which show the absence of contamination and pollution in this catchment. The results of this work will enable the Central African Republic to control the intensive discharge of industrial and mining residues, and also to limit the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture in favor of natural fertilizers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 84-96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143631877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Eutrophication weakens interspecific relationships across trophic levels in an urban wetland","authors":"Yingshan Wei , He-Bo Peng , Linhui Qi , Yanpeng Cai , Qingyang Guo , Zhenchang Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.03.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Eutrophication poses a major threat to the stability of global aquatic ecosystems, especially in urban wetlands highly influenced by human activities. It frequently alters species composition, which in turn affects the overall structure of ecosystems. However, how eutrophication impacts inter-species interactions across different trophic levels remains poorly understood. This study examines communities at varying nutrient status within the same urban wetland, including phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish, while considering environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen, manganese (Mn), water depth, and the Trophic State Index (TSI). We assess how eutrophication influences species interactions across multiple trophic levels. Our results show that intra-trophic correlations were primarily driven by water depth, manganese, whereas inter-trophic correlations were predominantly governed by TSI. Specifically, inter-group correlations between different trophic levels decreased with raising TSI, while inter-species relationships within phytoplankton strengthened with increasing TSI. These findings provide crucial insights into the mechanisms underlying species coexistence in urban wetlands and highlight the need for targeted management strategies to maintain ecological stability in the face of eutrophication. Future research should explore temporal and spatial dynamics to better understand the complex responses of wetland ecosystems to nutrient fluctuations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 97-103"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143643833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bismark Mensah-Brako , Francis Ampiaw , Richard Kotei , Philip Kyaku
{"title":"Flash flood susceptibility assessment using geospatial technology-based morphometric analysis in Waya watershed, Volta River basin, Ghana","authors":"Bismark Mensah-Brako , Francis Ampiaw , Richard Kotei , Philip Kyaku","doi":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.02.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wsee.2025.02.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present study aims to assess the flash flood susceptibility of Waya watershed in the Lower Volta River Basin, Volta region, Ghana using geospatial technology-based morphometric analysis. Morphometric characteristics were determined using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer DEM (30 m) in a GIS 10.7 environment. The morphometric ranking method was applied to prioritize sub-watersheds' susceptibility to flash floods. The results revealed that the watershed is a seventh-order drainage system with a dendritic drainage pattern. The mean bifurcation ratio (4.48), and form factor (0.20) are indicative of higher levels of surface runoff and high flash flood events. The stream frequency (3.27–4.14 km<sup>2</sup>), drainage density (2.24–2.51 km/km<sup>2</sup>), and infiltration number (8.05–10.22 km<sup>3</sup>) showed higher runoff and flash floods. Watershed relief (553 m), relative relief (194.4), ruggedness number (1.36), and mean slope (10.31 %) are indicative of flash flood susceptibility. The results further showed that seven sub-watersheds (SW1, SW5, WS6, SW8, SW9, SW10 and SW12) constituted 63.00 % of watershed ranked as high to very high susceptibility to flash flood, while two sub-watersheds (SW 2 and WS 7) 12.20 % of the watershed classified under moderate flood susceptibility zone for which specific sub-watersheds flood risk reduction strategies are required to mitigate the hazard of flash flood. Four sub-watersheds (SW3, SW4, SW11, and SW13) represented 24.80 % of the watershed ranked as low susceptibility to flash floods. The study recommends the construction of retention bunds and embankments in the inland valleys and wetlands as sustainable soil and water conservation measures to mitigate flash floods and promote sustainable inland valleys and wetlands rice production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101280,"journal":{"name":"Watershed Ecology and the Environment","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 58-73"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143488650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}