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Spatial hotspot analysis of soil erosion rate and classification of homogeneous zones using GIS in a mountainous contrasting land-use watershed

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Abstract

Soil erosion poses a significant challenge to environmental sustainability, especially in regions with varying land-use patterns and topography. Soil erosion is a major environmental threat affecting soil quality, reservoir sedimentation, agricultural land, and watershed hydrology. This study aims to identify and classify homogeneous sub-watersheds in a mountainous watershed in Iran using GIS. Forty years of climate data, a high-resolution DEM, land-use maps, soil texture, and NDVI were applied to derive the main factors, while the P factor was determined based on slope classes and land-use types. The RUSLE results showed that annual soil erosion in the watershed had an average of about 7-ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, with more than 65% of the watershed area falling into the moderate to very high erosion classes. Average key factors were R = 78.08 MJ·mm/ha·hr·year, K = 0.28 t·ha·h/MJ·mm·ha, LS = 1.62, and C = 0.39. The highest erosion occurred in areas with heavy rainfall, steep and long slopes, fine-textured soils, and sparse vegetation. Spatial autocorrelation analysis using Moran’s I and the Getis–Ord Gi* statistic showed a clustered spatial pattern of erosion. High–high (HH) clusters, indicating severe erosion hotspots, were found in the southwest, while low–low (LL) clusters, representing minimal erosion coldspots, occurred in the north and northeast. These results support sub-watershed prioritization and indicate the need for targeted erosion control in high-rate zones. These results contribute to the development of more targeted and sustainable land management practices to mitigate soil erosion rates and improve watershed conservation efforts.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Remote Sensing, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

    Fatemeh Saeedi Nazarlu & Hassan Khavarian Nehzak

  2. Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Member of Water Management Research Center, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, 5951816687, Iran

    Raoof Mostafazadeh

  3. Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

    Nazila Alaei

Authors

  1. Fatemeh Saeedi Nazarlu
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  2. Hassan Khavarian Nehzak
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  3. Raoof Mostafazadeh
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  4. Nazila Alaei
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by F Saeedi Nazarlu and H Khavarian Nehzak, R Mostafazadeh and N Alaei commented on previous versions and finalized the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to
Raoof Mostafazadeh.

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Saeedi Nazarlu, F., Khavarian Nehzak, H., Mostafazadeh, R. et al. Spatial hotspot analysis of soil erosion rate and classification of homogeneous zones using GIS in a mountainous contrasting land-use watershed.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41668-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41668-z

Keywords

  • Spatial data
  • Hotspot
  • Clustering
  • Moran’s index
  • Erosion modeling
  • RUSLE model

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