GULLY AND RILL EROSION IN THE NATIONAL PARK CENTRAL BALKAN

Iliya Malinov, Dilyana Ilieva

Abstract: Soil erosion is a widespread soil degradation process and a widely recognized problem. In recent decades, increased use of motor vehicles for hiking in the high mountains has contributed particularly for accelerated anthropogenic gully erosion The article presents results for the soil losses, caused by gully and rill erosion as a result of the traffic of vehicles. The obtained data are from two-year and three-year field measurements of gullies and rills in the pilot sites of National park "Central Balkan". The measurements were carried out at the beginning of the summer after snowmelt and at the end of autumn before the first snowfall. The coefficient of the annual increase of the gully volume is 1.121, of the right rill it is 3.118 and of the left rill it is 1.367. These data reveal the intensive development of erosion in the rills and their rapid transition to gullies. The results obtained can be used for evaluation of the contemporary soil erosion degradation and selection of soil protection practices for the purpose of sustainable management of the Park.

Keywords: assessment; soil loss; water erosion

Date published: 2017-04-28