Articles | Volume 26, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3021-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3021-2022
Research article
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17 Jun 2022
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 17 Jun 2022

Agricultural intensification vs. climate change: what drives long-term changes in sediment load?

Shengping Wang, Borbala Szeles, Carmen Krammer, Elmar Schmaltz, Kepeng Song, Yifan Li, Zhiqiang Zhang, Günter Blöschl, and Peter Strauss

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Cited articles

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Editorial statement
The paper provides interesting insight about the relative importance of local land use change versus climate change effects on sediment delivery to surface waters at a decadal time scale.
Short summary
This study explored the quantitative contribution of agricultural intensification and climate change to the sediment load of a small agricultural watershed. Rather than a change in climatic conditions, changes in the land structure notably altered sediment concentrations under high-flow conditions, thereby contributing most to the increase in annual sediment loads. More consideration of land structure improvement is required when combating the transfer of soil from land to water.
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