Implications of biofuel policy-driven land cover change for rainfall erosivity and soil erosion in the United States

Large-scale conversion of traditional agricultural cropping systems to biofuel cropping systems is predicted to have significant impact on the hydrologic cycle. Changes in the hydrologic cycle lead to changes in rainfall and its erosive power, and consequently soil erosion that will have onsite impacts on soil quality and crop productivity, and offsite impacts on water quality and quantity. We examine regional change in rainfall erosivity and soil erosion resulting from biofuel policy-induced land use/land cover (LULC) change. Regional climate is simulated under current and biofuel LULC scenarios for the period 1979-2004 using the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model coupled to the NOAH land surface model. The magnitude of change in rainfall erosivity under the biofuel scenario is 1.5-3 times higher than the change in total annual rainfall. Over most of the conterminous United States (~56%), the magnitude of the change in erosivity is between -2.5% and +2.5%. A decrease in erosivity of magnitude 2.5-10% is predicted over 23% of the area, whereas an increase of the same magnitude is predicted over 14% of the area. Corresponding to the changes in rainfall erosivity and crop cover, a decrease in soil loss is predicted over 60% of the area under the biofuel scenario. In Kansas and Oklahoma, the states in which a large fraction of land area is planted with switchgrass under the biofuel scenario, soil loss is estimated to decrease 12% relative to the baseline. This reduction in soil loss is due more to changes in the crop cover factor than changes in rainfall or rainfall erosivity. This indicates that the changes in LULC, due to future cellulosic biofuel feedstock production, can have significant implications for regional soil and water resources in the United States and we recommend detailed investigation of the trade-offs between land use and management options. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.