Quantifying the soil erosion legacy of the Soviet Union

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Quantifying the soil erosion legacy of the Soviet Union

JournalArticle (Originalarbeit in einer wissenschaftlichen Zeitschrift)

ID	4614163
Author(s)	Wuepper, David; Borrelli, Pasquale; Mueller, Daniel; Finger , Robert
Author(s) at UniBasel	Borrelli, Pasquale
Year	2020
Title	Quantifying the soil erosion legacy of the Soviet Union
Journal	Agricultural systems
Volume	185
Pages / Article-Number	102940
Keywords	Soil erosion; RUSLE; Farmland abandonment; Forest dynamics; Historical legacies; Spatial regression discontinuity
Abstract	We examine the historical legacy of the Soviet Union on the current rate of human-induced soil erosion in its successor countries. We use a spatial regression discontinuity design and high-resolution soil erosion data. Our results suggest strong discontinuities in current soil erosion rates along the former border of the Soviet Union. We find that soil erosion in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union is 26% lower than in neighboring countries (0.77 tons per hectare and year). In contrast, we do not find such discontinuity in potential soil erosion under natural vegetation, underlining that this effect is man-made. We show that the main mechanism is a sharp discontinuity in forest dynamics, whereas general economic and demographic differences are less important.
Publisher	Elsevier
ISSN/ISBN	0308-521X
edoc-URL	https://edoc.unibas.ch/81261/
Full Text on edoc	No
Digital Object Identifier DOI	10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102940

14/05/2024

Research Database / FORSCHUNGSDATENBANK