The intensive process of land occupation by farmers in the tropical savanna region of Midwest Brazil during the last three decades has promoted several environment impacts, such as the occurrence of gully erosion processes as a consequence of intensive deforestation. Just in the Upper Araguaia River Basin, it was identified more than 300 large and medium gully features, which are related with the high natural susceptibility of the sandy soils; high erosivity and erodibility; inadequate land-use; lack of soil conservation practices; and a high annual rainfall index during the rainy season. The objective of this research was to identify spatial relationships between rainfall distribution, erosivity, erodibility, land-use, and gully erosion distribution, which may support environmental planning actions related to land use conservation. Quantitative results show a high correlation between gully erosion distribution and high erosivity/erodibility and inadequate land-use.
rainfall; erosivity; gully erosion; erodibility; land use and management; erosion risks
