Study of Soil Erosion Potential Using Landscape Measurements (Case Study: Sharif Beiglou Watershed, Ardabil Province)

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in land features and its role in the study of soil erosion in the Sharif Beiglou watershed. In this regard, first using Fragstats 4.2.1 software, 9 measures of land appearance including spot density (PD), largest spot index (LPI), total margin (TE), margin density (ED), spot shape index (LSI) Average spot size (AREA-MN), average distance of Euclidean nearest neighbor (ENN-MN), DIVISION index, fragmentation index (SPLIT) were calculated. Then, the intensity of soil erosion in the area was estimated using the Erosion Potential (EPM) model with acceptable performance based on previous studies. Then, the results of calculating the measures and the severity of soil erosion were entered into SPSS software and a significant relationship was determined. Then, the results of calculating the measures and the severity of soil erosion were entered into SPSS software and a significant relationship was determined. The results showed that in the study basin, agricultural use has high erosion, rangeland and garden uses have moderate erosion. At the level of landscape, for Sharif Beiglou watershed, the number of spots is 49, the spot density is 1.15, the largest spot index is 80.64, the total margin is 75508.008, the margin density is 17.75, the spot shape index is 4.56, the average spot size is 86.79 and landscape rupture was calculated to be 0.34 and fragmentation to be 1.52. At the class level, the amount of fragmentation in the water body is the highest.