ABSTRACT
Rubber farm in the upper Mekong Basin were doubled in the past decade. Rain forest has been replaced with rubber plantation. This has affected the hydrology, erosion and sedimentation in the tributaries of the Mekong River. The Universal Soil Loss Equation was applied to the Naban National Nature Reserve in Xishuangbanna (Yunnan, China). The soil erosion in this area was estimated using GIS and RS technology with 59 years daily rainfall, 30 m DEM, 30 m Landsat satellite images, and soil characteristics from the Reserve Administration Bureau. Results show that the rate of soil loss has increased from https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> 9120 t ⋅ k m - 2 ⋅ y r - 1 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429069246/b59e18fc-9e1d-4389-b000-a1069c1cd27e/content/eq14698.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> to https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> 13,989 t ⋅ k m - 2 ⋅ y r - 1 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429069246/b59e18fc-9e1d-4389-b000-a1069c1cd27e/content/eq14699.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> , or 54% with the land use change, and that large-scale rubber farms are the main cause for the increased soil erosion in this area. The intensification of slope process triggered by rubber trees increases coarse sediment transported into the river and changes the size distribution of bed material.
