Estimating the Ecological Effect of Soil Conservation by Vegetation in Northwest China
西北地区植被保持土壤效应评估

The assessment of soil conservation by vegetation is one of the important aspects of ecological security research. Based on the USLE model and Wind Erosion Prediction Equations, this study aimed to estimate the potential and actual quantity of soil erosion. We found that the high value grids for soil conservation by vegetation in hydraulic erosion (number is larger than 5000t/ (hm2·a)) are almost all concentrated in the Qin-Ba Mountain area. Grids with more than 1 0000t/ (hm2·a) soil conservation value are few, and concentrated in three regions: Tianshan Mountains, west of the Qilian Mountains and the Three River Source. The statistical results show that grids with a soil conservation value of more than 0.1 billion CNY/km2 are located in the Qin-Ba Mountain area and eastern Gansu. The vegetation coverage rate is not low in southeastern Qinghai, but the total quantity of soil conservation is low, indicating that the soil conservation function of vegetation is also a function of regional climate, topography and soil conditions. These data are important parameters in the evaluation of ecological safety, and the precision of the grid is also applicable to internal sub-zones. The goal of research in this field should be one of moving from data precision to model precision.