RESTREPO A., Juan D.. The impact of deforestation on the erosion in the Magdalena River drainage basin (1980-2010). []. , 39, 151, pp.250-267. ISSN 0370-3908.  https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.141.

During the last decade, the Magdalena River drainage basin has witnessed an increase in erosion rates of 34%, from 550 t km^-2 y^-1 before 2000 to 710 t km^-2 y^-1 for the 2000-2010 yr-period, and the average sediment load for the whole basin increased in 44 Mt y^-1 for the same period. Sediment yield spatial analysis indicated that 78% of the catchment is under strong erosional conditions due to the clearance of more than 60% of the natural forest between 1980 and 2010. Sediment load simulation by using the BQART, a robust model that combines climatic, morphometric, hydrological, lithologic and human induced variables, and explains 86% of the sediment load variability, indicated that 9% of the combined sediment load during the last three decades was due to deforestation; about 160 Mt have been produced by forest clearance between 2000 and 2010. The trends in economic indicators show that agriculture was the main cause of land-use change and, consequently, of forest loss within the basin. Soil deterioration and increasing trends in erosion require capacity building in environmental governance in addition to climate change mitigation policies.

: Magdalena River; deforestation; sediment load; erosion.

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