Environmental vulnerability in rural areas associated with the Ctalamochita river system, Córdoba, Argentina
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Abstract
In rural riverside areas of Cordoba (Argentina), processes of ecosystem degradation and advance of the agricultural frontier have been reported, increasing the occurrence of floods in urban centers. The vulnerability assessment contributes to risk knowledge and is conditioned by terrain characteristics and geographical location. The objetive is to determine the environmental vulnerability in rural areas of the Ctalamochita river through the soil-forming factors (geomorphology, original material, climate, biota and pedogenetic time) and the anthropic factor (soil quality indicators and indices). On the one hand, normalized values were used for each site sampled by Environmental Subunit and an environmental vulnerability map was obtained. The results explain that in the Fluvial Belt the relief, slopes of 1-3 %, native vegetation and pedogenetic time condition the susceptibility. On the other hand, in the Flood Paleo-plain it depends on the native vegetation, slopes of 0-5 % and moderate soil quality. Environmental threats come from land use and management (agriculture and livestock) and geological processes such as floods, flooding and erosion along the banks of the Ctalamochita river. Knowledge of environmental vulnerability contributes to land use planning and the assessment of regional environmental risks.