International Soil and Water Conservation Research最新文献

{"title":"Exploring soil erosion and reservoir sedimentation through the RUSLE model and bathymetric survey","authors":"Constantin Nistor ,&nbsp;Ionuț Săvulescu ,&nbsp;Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac ,&nbsp;Sorin Carablaisă","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of the paper was to compare the soil erosion in a river catchment with the sediment volume accumulated at the river mouth. Firstly, the sediment yield was estimated in GIS based on the soil loss according to the RUSLE model, and then further integrated into the sediment production equation. Following this, we estimated the sediment volume accumulated at the river mouth based on the diachronic overlap of topographic and bathymetric data. This methodology was validated for the Eselnita catchment exiting into the Iron Gates I Reservoir. The LS factor has an average value of 4, with lower values for the forest cover. The C factor has an average value of 0.057 being statistically correlated with the RUSLE result. The average soil loss was estimated at approximately 1.89 t ha⁻¹ yr ⁻¹, a value that is validated by previous studies as a low risk of erosion at national scale. The sediment transfer model indicates a distribution of cells sediment production strongly correlated with the time travel to the discharge channels. Overall, the sediment volume obtained by using the RUSLE model corresponds to about 70% of the sediment volume accumulated at the river mouth during 53 years (1970–2022). The difference in sedimentation may be due to human activities along the river mouth's banks to extend the built-up area and to enjoy the waterscape. This paper is relevant for the topic of reservoir sedimentation and recommends the use of the RUSLE model to predict the sediment contribution, especially for small ungauged catchments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 235-247"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predictive performance and uncertainty analysis of ensemble models in gully erosion susceptibility assessment","authors":"Congtan Liu ,&nbsp;Haoming Fan ,&nbsp;Yixuan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.01.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.01.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Gully erosion, as a significant natural process in geomorphological evolution, poses serious threats to natural environments and socio-economic stability. In response, Gully Erosion Susceptibility Maps (GESMs) have become essential references for effective watershed management. This study aims to identify the optimal feature datasets and to quantify the uncertainty associated with gully erosion prediction models by developing a novel methodological framework based on ensembles of the three machine learning models: Random Forest (RF), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), and Transformer models. This study area is the Tuquan watershed in Inner Mongolia, China. A total of 25 Geo-Environmental Factors (GEFs) were selected to build datasets, supplemented by a gully inventory map comprising 823 gullies, resulting in 12,946 samples of both gully and non-gully occurrences. 3 ensemble methods including probability mean (PM), Probability Weighted Mean (PWM), and Probability Empirical Weighted Mean (PEWM) were used. Subsequently, the datasets underwent multi-collinearity testing before model computations. The optimal feature datasets S₇ included factors such as the Convergence Index (CI), Topographic Wetness Index (TWI), Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI), distance from river, annual rainfall, distance from road, drainage density, elevation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI, slope, and Slope Length (LS). The ensemble model Transformer-RF-CNN employing PEWM demonstrated superior performance, validated by 10-fold cross-validation and 8 metrics: Efficiency (E), True Positive Rate (TPR), False Positive Rate (FPR), True Skill Statistics (TSS), Kappa coefficient (K), Area Under the receiver operating characteristic Curve (AUC), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The uncertainty associated with GESMs was quantified using the Coefficient of Variation (CV) map, resulting in a confidence map that classified 20 zones, with 75.976% of gullies located in high-susceptibility and low-uncertainty areas. This study provides critical insights for regulators and decision-makers, facilitating more informed planning for gully erosion prevention and control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 319-333"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prediction and mapping of soil organic carbon in the Bosten Lake oasis based on Sentinel-2 data and environmental variables","authors":"Shaotian Li ,&nbsp;Xinguo Li ,&nbsp;Xiangyu Ge","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil is the largest carbon pool on the Earth's surface. With the application of remote sensing technology, Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) estimation has become a hot topic in digital soil mapping. However, the heterogeneity of geomorphology can affect the performance of remote sensing in determining soil organic carbon. In the Bosten Lake Watershed in northwestern China, we collected 116 soil samples from farm land, uncultivated land, and woodland. To establish an SOC prediction model, we produced 16 optical remote sensing variables and 9 environmental covariates. Three types of land use were studied: farm land, uncultivated land, and woodland. Five machine learning models were used for these land use types: gradient Tree (ET), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Adaptive gradient Boosting (AdaBoost), and extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). The main driving variables for changes in organic carbon content across the entire sample area were Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index 2 (EVI2), Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI); for farm land, it was Clay Index (CI2); for farm land and woodland, it was Color Index (CI). The results showed that in terms of prediction accuracy, RF and XGBoost outperformed SVM. In terms of simulation precision, the ET model's woodland model (R² = 0.86, RMSE = 7.72), the ET model's farm land model (R² = 0.82, RMSE = 6.66), and the uncultivated land model of the RF model (R² = 0.81, RMSE = 1.09) performed best. Compared to global modeling, establishing SOC estimation models based on different land use types yielded more ideal results in this study. These findings provide new insights into high-precision estimation of organic carbon content.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 436-446"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The evolution of large gullies in association with long-term rainfall in the Tsitsa River Catchment, Eastern Cape, South Africa","authors":"Ryan Leigh Anderson ,&nbsp;Jay le Roux ,&nbsp;Kate Rowntree","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large gullies exist as permanent features in the landscape that impact the surrounding environment and communities. The effect of rainfall on long-term gully evolution is still understudied, especially for large gully systems. The extent of the growth of the gullies of four large gullies in the Eastern Cape Province (South Africa) is explored over a 70-year period (1950–2020) in relation to rainfall. The extent of these gullies was mapped by manually digitizing the gully edges using aerial surveys and SPOT images captured during the study period. Daily rainfall depths were assessed to examine intense rainfall and rainfall erosivity values using the modified Fournier index. The results reveal an exponential trend of the evolution of the gully in which two phases of development of the gully occurred, according to the type of erosion processes that occurred. The first phase (1950–2004) was mainly characterised by the linear lengthening of the gully systems. The second phase (2004–2020) is mainly characterised by the initiation and growth of side branches in the gullies, with greater increases in extent. Both phases recorded highly erosive rainfall. It is postulated that gully expansion accelerated in Phase 2 due to land degradation resulting from increased livestock in the area. This study highlights that intense rainfall, while acting as a driver for gully expansion, is influenced by interconnected factors, including vegetation cover removal and topography. The findings of this study have implications for the results of control measures in large gully systems with dispersive soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 290-300"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heavy metal(loid)s migration mechanisms during soil erosion: A systematic quantitative review","authors":"Jia Chen ,&nbsp;Pingping Fan ,&nbsp;Feng Zhang ,&nbsp;Liang Tai ,&nbsp;Nufang Fang ,&nbsp;Yong Niu ,&nbsp;Zeyan Wu ,&nbsp;Zhiyong Fu ,&nbsp;Kelin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heavy metal(loid)s migration occurs in both particulate and dissolved forms during soil erosion, but it is unclear which form is dominant and which factors affect it. Thus, a quantitative synthesis of 379 global observations was conducted to assess heavy metal(loid)s migration mechanisms and a random forest analysis was used to assess the influence of key factors on the dissolved fraction of heavy metal(loid)s. Particulate-associated heavy metal(loid)s transport accounts for over 80% of the total. Heavy metal(loid)s migration forms are not significantly affected by experimental conditions (indoor simulated and field monitored), yet they vary between erosional and depositional zones. The dissolved percentage of Pb, As and Hg within areas of erosion were higher than in areas of deposition, while the opposite trend occurred for Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni. Soil Total Organic Carbon (TOC) was the most important factor affecting the migration of heavy metal(loid)s during soil erosion. Our results confirmed that heavy metal(loid)s usually migrate in association with fine-grained sediments due to their large surface area and high surface functional groups. These findings provide scientific guidance for further understanding migration mechanisms and the methods need to control heavy metal(loid)s transport during soil erosion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 410-421"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on the shelter and sand control effect of new porous sand barriers from recycled wind turbine blades","authors":"Chenchen He ,&nbsp;Benli Liu ,&nbsp;Daiying Yin ,&nbsp;Minlan Li ,&nbsp;Caizhi Hu ,&nbsp;Xiang Xiao ,&nbsp;Yan Duan ,&nbsp;Minghao Fang ,&nbsp;Pengtao Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aeolian disasters pose considerable threats to socioeconomic systems, ecological environments, and infrastructures such as railways and highways, in arid and semiarid regions. To reduce these problems, mechanical sand control measures are needed, with sand barriers being the most widely applied. However, conventional materials of sand barriers, such as crop straws, reeds, branches, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and biodegradable Polylactic Acid (PLA), have drawbacks, including susceptibility to aging, unsuitability for extreme temperatures and severe wind erosion, as well as short service life. This study introduces new porous sand barriers made from decommissioned or damaged wind turbine blades. The results of mechanical performance testing, wind tunnel experiments, and numerical simulations indicated that the bending strength of the new sand barrier was 14 times that of wood composite materials and its erosion rate can be 56% lower. The new sand barriers with different porosities effectively reduced sediment transport, and the optimal porosity was found to be 20%; while higher or lower porosities were detrimental to sand control. The combined advantages of porous structure, flexibility, and strength of this new sand barrier make it well suited for regions with strong winds, large temperature variations, and intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Utilizing decommissioned or damaged wind turbine blades as sand control materials shows great potential for application.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 475-485"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modelling land use changes impacts on the silting of small agricultural water harvesting reservoirs","authors":"Elia Degli Innocenti ,&nbsp;Giulio Castelli ,&nbsp;Simone Pozzolini ,&nbsp;Federico Preti ,&nbsp;Elena Bresci ,&nbsp;Enrica Caporali","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water harvesting with Small Agricultural Reservoirs (SmAR) represents a solution for sustainable water management in different contexts. However, many technical challenges are still open despite its widespread application. One of the most relevant, for the sustainable management of SmAR, is represented by the loss of storage volume caused by the inflow of sediments, but the analysis of the dynamics of sedimentation for such small structures has received relatively little interest so far. This study aims to implement a validated model simulating the hydrology and erosion dynamics of the catchment upstream of a SmAR in the Mediterranean basin, specifically in the hilly area of Crete Senesi, Tuscany Region (Italy). Here, wine production is particularly developed, but not within the catchment of study, where the cultivation of cereals and forage is practiced. Our analysis aimed at estimating how much the rate of sediment accumulation in the reservoir would vary with the replacement of currently arable land with vineyards. A model was implemented on the HEC-HMS software, maximizing the value of existent low-cost data (Google Earth imagery and regional erosion maps) for its validation. The validated model was then used to test alternative land use scenarios in the upstream catchment, showing its flexibility for supporting decision-making over SmAR management. The model performed with an error always below 5% on the SmAR area detected by satellite. Erosion values calculated with HEC-HMS were in line, but lower than the estimation made by the Tuscany region with a GIS-based procedure. The scenario analysis showed that the simulated land use change led to a high value of annual sediment accumulation in the reservoir (216% of the original value of erosion obtained with cereals and other crops), showing the indirect cost of changing the cropping patterns to vineyard production. The approach can be replicated at the local scale in all other contexts where similar, and relatively easy-to-get, data are available. Further development of the present approach can include the replication of similar low-cost methodologies on other case studies, refinement of the erosion modelling and sensitivity analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 422-435"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental assessment based on soil loss, deforestation in permanent preservation areas, and water quality applied in the Itacaiúnas Watershed, Eastern Amazon","authors":"Paulo Rógenes Monteiro Pontes,&nbsp;Rosane Barbosa Lopes Cavalcante,&nbsp;Gabriel Negreiros Salomão,&nbsp;José Tasso Felix Guimarães,&nbsp;Roberto Dall’Agnol","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To understand how various environmental pressures may threaten the Amazon territory, specifically its hydrographic basins, it is crucial to guide key management actions such as soil conservation, environmental preservation, and forest restoration. This paper, based on a detailed study conducted in the Itacaiúnas River Watershed (IRW) located in the Carajás mining province—one of the most significant metallogenetic provinces globally and within the Arc of Deforestation in the Amazon—proposes a new index to assess environmental threats or vulnerabilities. The index evaluates soil loss, deforestation in permanent preservation areas, and water quality—key environmental issues in watershed management. Using geoprocessing and remote sensing techniques, we applied the index across the entire catchment area and at the beginning of the drainage network (a proxy for river springs). Our findings reveal that: i) 68% of unit catchments (32% of headwaters) exhibit “High” or “Very High” soil loss vulnerability; ii) 69% of unit catchments (32% of headwaters) have more than 20% of their permanent preservation areas deforested, representing the primary threat among the three criteria to the basin; iii) Only 4.7% of unit catchments (2% of headwaters) present any chemical risk related to water consumption. The combined criteria (simple arithmetic mean of normalized values) indicate that the east-central and southern parts of the watershed have higher index values, necessitating greater attention to soil conservation. In contrast, the center-western area of the basin, characterized by conservation units and indigenous land, showed low index values but remains at risk primarily due to soil loss if environmental preservation actions are not maintained.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 248-262"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-consistent changes and drivers of water-sediment fluxes in the yarlung tsangpo river basin of the Tibetan plateau","authors":"Dongmei Zhao ,&nbsp;Donghong Xiong ,&nbsp;Kunlong He ,&nbsp;Baojun Zhang ,&nbsp;Fan Zhang ,&nbsp;Han Wu ,&nbsp;Haiyan Fang ,&nbsp;Wenduo Zhang ,&nbsp;Changyan Zhou ,&nbsp;Xiaodan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Variations in water-sediment fluxes and their driving mechanisms are critical to riverine ecosystems and management. Yet, current estimates of the response of water and sediment flux remain insufficiently quantified, limited by the scarcity of long-term hydrological records in the alpine regions. Here, we leverage decadal observations in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin, to investigate the dynamic shifts in water-sediment fluxes from 1955 to 2020 and elucidate their linkage to a warming and wetting climate, snowmelt, and environmental greening (including natural- and human-induced greening) in the different spatial and temporal scale. Major drivers of shifts in water-sediment flux are identified by using wavelet coherence and variance partitioning of redundancy analysis. The results highlight that observational data from four gauging stations (i.e., Lhaze, Nugesha, Yangcun, and Nuxia) uncover a substantial decrease in Suspended Sediment Load (SSL) (Nuxia: 12.302 × 10⁴ t/yr, P &lt; 0.05) in the downstream with consistently increasing runoff and precipitation. Especially during the flood season (July to September), the dam/reservoir construction caused a median decrease in SSL. Dropping sediment offsets the slightly rising SSLs in the midstream and upstream (upper Yangcun: 14.8 × 10⁴ t/yr, P &gt; 0.05). Up to 80% of sediment was sourced from the middle stretch between Lhaze and Nugesha despite it supplied with lower regional runoff generation. Nevertheless, the downstream zone experienced the transition from a sediment source to a deposition area around 1998. We further found the negative and positive effects between water-sediment fluxes and revegetation, and demonstrated that employing NDVI to evaluate human-induced vegetation greening might overestimate the impact of ecological restoration programs on water-sediment fluxes. Attribution analysis indicates that precipitation was not the primary contributor to runoff and SSL changes in all stretches of the basin. In the upstream, temperature and associated snowmelt can be more important than precipitation. Compared to before 1998, precipitation is still the primary driver of change in downstream runoff change after 1998, whilst vegetation restoration, rather than precipitation, dominates the reduction in downstream SSL. These findings have far-reaching significance for watershed managers and decision-makers in terms of developing effective strategies for water resources and soil erosion control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 362-378"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The potential of runoff retention structures as a strategy to control urban gullying in tropical cities","authors":"Eric Lutete Landu ,&nbsp;Guy Ilombe Mawe ,&nbsp;Fils Makanzu Imwangana ,&nbsp;Charles Bielders ,&nbsp;Olivier Dewitte ,&nbsp;Jean Poesen ,&nbsp;Aurélia Hubert ,&nbsp;Matthias Vanmaercke","doi":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rapid and chaotic urbanization leads to the formation of urban gullies in many tropical cities of the Global South. To prevent and limit the destructive impacts of these gullies, runoff retention structures are often constructed. Yet, earlier research indicates that these measures are largely ineffective in reducing urban gully expansion. This study aims to understand why. We conducted detailed field surveys in two representative catchments affected by urban gullies in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and characterized all existing runoff retention structures. We then used the Soil Water Management Model (SWMM) to evaluate the likely influence of these structures on runoff volumes and peak discharges. Although most parcels (77%–88%) in the catchments have at least one runoff retention structure, their overall effect catchment runoff is limited (e.g., only 25–30% reduction of the total runoff volume for an event with a return period of 2 years). One key reason is that many structures are too small and poorly maintained, reducing their already limited storage capacities. Additionally, they are typically unequally distributed within the catchments (with fewer measures upstream) and not proportional to the parcel size, leading to some oversized and many undersized structures. Overall, we demonstrate that, while current efforts are largely ineffective, coordinated implementations of runoff retention structures proportional to parcel size offer promising perspectives for better controlling urban gully erosion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48622,"journal":{"name":"International Soil and Water Conservation Research","volume":"13 2","pages":"Pages 217-234"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}