Geospatial Characterisation of Gravitational and Erosion Risks to Establish Conservation Practices in Vineyards in the Arribes del Duero Natural Park (Spain)

Abstract

Landslide movements and soil loss due to erosion have increased dramatically, causing numerous human and economic losses. Therefore, it is necessary to delimit these risks in order to prevent and mitigate the effects in natural parks of great value, as is the case of the Arribes del Duero Natural Park. As for landslide movements, they are evaluated by estimating the susceptibility to their occurrence, taking into account the different thematic layers: lithology, geomorphology (slopes, curvature, orientations), hydrogeology and vegetation, weighting each of them using the analytical hierarchy method. Then, by means of map algebra, the cartography of susceptibility to landslides is obtained. On the other hand, the RUSLE equation was used to calculate erosive losses. The results of the gravitational susceptibility are grouped into five classes: very high, high, medium, low and very low, so that the first corresponds to areas of high slope, without vegetation, south facing, with a lithology of quartzites, metapelites and gneisses (canyons, sloping valleys) and, on the contrary, the sectors of lower susceptibility coincide with flat areas, more density of vegetation, north facing, with conglomerates, cobbles, sands and clays, corresponding to erosion surfaces or valley bottoms. In terms of erosion results, the greatest losses are found in areas of steep slopes, with little or no vegetation and with poorly developed soils. Finally, taking into account the cartography of landslide risk, the cartography of potential water erosion and land use, it is possible to determine which conservation practices should be carried out, as well as the land uses that are less susceptible to these movements, highlighting in our study the importance of vineyards in their control.