Environments 2015, 2, 32-42; doi:10.

3390/environments2010032
OPEN ACCESS

environments
ISSN 2076-3298
www.mdpi.com/journal/environments
Article

Effects of Land Use Change on Sediment and Water Yields in

Yang Ming Shan National Park, Taiwan
Thomas C. C. Huang and Kwong Fai A. Lo *

Institute of Geography, Chinese Culture University, Taipei 11114, Taiwan;

E-Mail: gis.huang@gmail.com

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: andrewlo@faculty.pccu.edu.tw.

Academic Editor: Yu-Pin Lin

Received: 20 November 2014 / Accepted: 1 January 2015 / Published: 7 January 2015

Abstract: The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a watershed-based, semi-distributed
hydrologic model for simulating hydrological processes at different spatial scales. The
SWAT hydrology and erosion/sediment components are first validated after the hydrologic
components calibration. The SWAT model also utilizes geographic information system
(GIS) and digital elevation model (DEM) to delineate watersheds and extract the stream
network. This study applies SWAT model to assess the impacts of land use change on soil
and water losses from Yang Ming Shan National Park Watershed in northern Taiwan.
Although the government has formulated regulations to limit the development, however,
intense human activities, such as farming and building construction, still continue to exist.
This study utilized two land-use data periods, one in 1996 and another in 2007, along with
the SWAT model to simulate soil and water losses in Yang Ming Shan National Park.
Based on the baseline scenario, the SWAT model was also successful in simulating the
future scenario. Study results for scenario 2007, as compared to 1996 baseline period
indicate that land use change shows forest land decreases about 6.9%, agricultural land
increases about 9.5%, and causes sediment yield increase of 0.25 t/ha. Human activities
deserve more attention when assessing soil and water losses because of their inevitable
impacts. Government needs to modify land development policies and plans for land use
change detection using satellite imagery to avoid illegal development activities.

Keywords: DEM; GIS; SWAT model; watershed subdivision; human impacts

Environments 2015, 2 33

1. Introduction

Yang Ming Shan National Park is located in northern edge of the Taipei Basin (Figure 1). It is an
important ecological basket of Northern Taiwan, as well as origin for many important rivers. Since the
middle of the Qing Dynasty (from 1683 to 1895), constructed irrigation ditches supply residents
domestic and irrigation water needs. Before the establishment of the National Park, residents have
developed part of the land and changed the land cover. Land use change in Yang Ming Shan National
Park included the conversion of 704 hectares of forest to agricultural land between 1996 and 2007. The
impacts of land use change on river basin hydrology are interrelated to climate impacts.

Figure 1. Location of Yang Ming Shan National Park and its elevation (m) pattern.

Evaluation of soil and water losses under changing conditions require models that can simulate flow
regimes under different scenarios of change. This study uses high-resolution datasets, such as a 5 m
resolution DEM (digital elevation model)
from LiDAR, a 1:5000 scale land use map, a soil map, and
weather data from National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The date period covers two
years, 1996 and 2007.
The development of separate and sophisticated land dynamic tools was observed over the last two
decades. This is because of the large number of variables involved influencing the land use change [1].
A widely used, highly sophisticated modeling tool, which addresses many aspects of catchment is the
Environments 2015, 2 34

Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The model has gained international acceptance as a robust
interdisciplinary watershed modeling tool as evidenced by international SWAT conferences, hundreds
of SWAT‐related papers presented at numerous other scientific meetings, and dozens of articles
published in peer‐reviewed journals [2]. The model is also very flexible. Kim et al. demonstrates that
an integrated SWAT-MODFLOW is capable of simulating a spatio-temporal distribution of
groundwater recharge rates, aquifer evapotranspiration and groundwater levels [3]. It also enables an
interaction between the saturated aquifer and channel reaches. This interaction played an important
role in the generation of groundwater discharge in the basin, especially during the low flow period.
However, in a low mountain region, the calculated contribution of the baseflow to the streamflow is far
too high whereas the interflow is strongly underestimated. Alternatively, Eckhardt et al. developed a
modified version SWAT-G that yielded far better results for catchments with predominantly steep
slopes and shallow soils over hard rock aquifers [4].
Unfortunately, nearly all SWAT applications addressing the effect of land use change were
performed on scenario-based predictions with static land use only. Many SWAT applications have
been focused on the impact of land use and management change, as well as climate change dynamics.
With the Arc-SWAT 2012 Version, the input lup.dat file allows HRU (hydrologic response unit)
fraction updating during a simulation run. The lup.dat file is particularly useful to initialize mid-
simulation
conservation measures. After its initialization, the practices remain in effect for the remainder of the
simulation. However, the lup.dat file is not widely used yet due to its impractical set-up/use (any
update must be made for each HRU one by one).
There are many cases where SWAT models have been used to predict impact of land use change on
soil and water losses. The results indicate that even a relatively limited land use change, from forest to
arable land or vice versa, has a significant effect on regional soil erosion rates and sediment supply to
rivers [5]. The quantitative hydrological analysis due to land use change by SWAT model is thought to
be a good approach for identifying the impact of land use in Jeju Island, Korea [6]. The approach used
in their study simply determined the contributions of land use change to change in stream flow and
sediment yield, providing quantitative information that would allow stakeholders and decision makers
to make better choices regarding land and water resource management [7].
The objectives of this study are: (1) to evaluate the impacts of land use changes on streamflow and
sediment yield; and (2) to provide invaluable evidence for future formulation of appropriate
government land development policies.

2. Research Methodology

2.1. SWAT Model Description

The SWAT model is a physically based distributed model designed to predict the impact of land
management practices on water, sediment, and agricultural chemical yields in large complex
watersheds with varying soil, land use, and management conditions over long periods of time [8].
SWAT subdivides a basin into sub-basins connected by a stream network and further delineates each
sub-basin into HRUs consisting of unique combinations of land use and soils. SWAT allows a number
of different physical processes to be simulated in a basin. The hydrological routines within SWAT
Environments 2015, 2 35

account for snowfall and melt, vadose zone processes (infiltration, evaporation, plant uptake, lateral
flows, and percolation), and groundwater flows [9]. The subdivision of the watershed enables the
model to reflect differences in evapotranspiration for various crops and soils. Runoff is predicted
separately for each HRU and routed to obtain the total runoff for the watershed. This increases
accuracy and gives a much better physical description of the water balance.
The SWAT model simulates the hydrology into land and routing phases. In the land phase, the
amount of water, sediment and other non-point loads are calculated from each HRU and summed up to
the level of sub-basins. Each sub-basin controls and guides the loads towards the basin outlet. The
routing phase defines the flow of water, sediment and other non-point sources of pollution through the
channel network to an outlet of the basin. SWAT computes soil erosion at a HRU level using the
modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE). This process constitutes computing sediment yields
from each sub-basin and routing the sediment yields to the basin outlet. The hydrological cycle
simulated by SWAT is based on the water balance equation:
t
SWt = SW0 + ∑ (Rday - Qsurf - Ea - wseep - Qlat - Qgw ) (1)
i=1

where SWt is the final soil water content, SW0 is the initial soil water content on day i, t is the time
(days), Rday is the amount of precipitation on day i, Qsurf is the amount of surface runoff on day i (mm
H2O), Ea is the amount of evapotranspiration on day i, wseep is the amount of water entering the vadose
zone from the soil profile on day i, Qlat is the water percolation past bottom of soil profile in the
watershed for day i, and Qgw is the amount of return flow on day i. All water units are in mm H2O.
For more detail about SWAT theory, please reference SWAT2009 Theoretical Documentation [8],
which is available online

(http://swat.tamu.edu/).

2.2. Study Area

Yang Ming Shan National Park is located in northern Taiwan (Figure 1). Millions of years ago,
subterranean movements caused a massive collision between the Philippines oceanic plate and the
Eurasian continental plate. The resulting pressure spawned violent volcanic activity and lifted the
Eurasian plate. Incandescent magma, as hot as 1000 degrees Celsius, burst from erupting volcanoes
and covered tertiary sedimentary rock to form the Tatun Volcano group in the northern Taiwan coastal
region. Part of this group consists of the 20 and more volcanoes at the heart of Yang Ming Shan
National Park (http://english.ymsnp.gov.tw/).
The park’s area is about 11,455 ha, elevation ranging from 33 to 1120 m and lies between the
latitudes of 25°7' and 25°15'N and the longitudes of 121°29' to 121°39'E. It has a clearly differentiated
monsoon climate. In summer, southwesterly monsoons bring clear mornings with afternoon
thundershowers. In winter, northeasterly monsoons bring humid, rainy weather.
According to the Taiwan soil classification system, the major soil types include black soils, yellow
soils, incipient yellow soils, Lithosols, mixed alluvial soils, residual soils, colluvial soils, which
correspond respectively to Andisols, Entisols, Alfisols, Ultisols, and Inceptosols in the USA Soil
Taxonomy (Soil Survey and Remediation Laboratory, National Taiwan University). The dominant
land use types are forest, villages, small towns, and agricultural land.
Environments 2015, 2 36

2.3. Data Set

The basic datasets that are required by the hydrological model are topography, climate, streamflow,
soil, and land use data (Table 1). The land cover change detection is based on land use investigation of
Taiwan maps from 1996 and 2007.

Table 1. Spatial model input data for Yang Ming Shan National Park.
Data type Content Resolution Source
Topography map digital elevation model (DEM) 5m Yang Ming Shan National Park
Land use map land use classification 1:5000 Ministry of Interior (MOI), Taiwan
Soil map soil type 1:50,000 Yang Ming Shan National Park
Weather precipitation, wind, relative daily National Center for Environmental Prediction
humidity, and solar (NCEP) (http://globalweather.tamu.edu/)

The current version, Arc-SWAT2012, was used to compile the SWAT input files. The National
Park is subdivided into smaller sub-basins based on the digital elevation model data, land use and soil
type data, conforming to concentrated drainage pattern as well as similar hydrological responses.
Based on the DEM, land use, and soil data, the National Park was divided into 118 sub-basins (Figure
2).
The model ignores small basins as well as sub-basins that do not drain directly to the main basin along
the boundary of the National Park basin. As such, the study basin area is a bit smaller than the physical
boundary of the National Park. Land use data for the 2 years (1996 and 2007) from MOI, and the soil
type map are shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively.

Figure 2. Subbasins from DEM.

Environments 2015, 2 37

Figure 3. Land use map of 1996 and 2007.

Environments 2015, 2 38

Figure 4. Soil type map.

Figure 5. Flowchart of ArcSWAT processing steps.

Environments 2015, 2 39

The Arc-SWAT2012 is an ArcView extension. It provides a graphical user interface that allows for
GIS data to be easily formatted for use in SWAT model simulations. ArcSWAT breaks preprocessing
into four main steps: watershed delineation, HRU analysis, weather data definition and SWAT
simulation. In order to understand how each section works within the modeling process, it is important
to understand the conceptual framework of each step, as well as what data are used and how they
integrate into ArcSWAT. Figure 5 shows the flowchart of modeling using ArcSWAT.

3. Results and Discussions

3.1. Land Use Change Detection

Table 2 shows the land use changes. It can be seen that the dominant land use types of the National
Park basin are forest and agriculture, which in total account over 90% of the total area. The land use
map for 1996 shows 6.34% agricultural land, 85.04% forest land, 8.61% built up and others. The land
use map for 2007 shows 15.84% agricultural land, 78.15% forest land, 6.01% built up and others.
There is a decrease in the forest land by 6.89%, and an increase in the agricultural land area by 9.5%.

Table 2. Land use changes between 1996 and 2007 in Yang Ming Shan National Park.
1996 2007 Change
Land Use Type
Area (%) Area (ha) Area (%) Area (ha) Area (%) Area (ha)
Agriculture 6.34 648.21 15.84 1638.05 +9.5 +989.84
Forest 85.04 8690.40 78.15 8081.66 -6.89 -608.74
Built up and others 8.62 1002.60 6.01 621.51 -2.61 -381.09

3.2. Hydrologic Response to Land Use Change

The ArcSWAT model simulation process uses 1996 as the base line and subjects 1996’s weather
data on different land use in 1996 and 2007 for simulating hydrological responses. The results are
shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Annual hydrological summaries for the watershed.

WATER SED
Year PREC * SURQ LATQ GWQ LATE SW ET PET
YIELD YIELD
1996 2224.67 1108.14 162.47 32.89 46.39 89.89 921.87 1613.67 1303.50 1.35
2007 2261.38 1134.79 161.64 34.83 49.22 91.95 927.67 1630.14 1331.27 1.60
Change +36.71 +26.65 -0.83 +2.06 +2.83 +2.06 +5.8 +26.47 +27.77 +0.25
Notes: * PREC: Average amount of precipitation in watershed for the year (mm), SURQ: Amount of surface
runoff contribution from streamflow from HRU during simulation, LATQ: Lateral flow contribution to
streamflow in watershed for the year (mm), GWQ: Groundwater contribution to stream in watershed on year
(mm), LATE: Water percolation past bottom of soil profile in watershed for the year (mm), SW: Amount of
water stored in soil profile in watershed for the year (mm), ET: Actual evapotranspiration in watershed for
the year (mm), WATER YIELD: Water yield to streamflow from HRUs in watershed for the year (mm), and
SED YIELD: Sediment yield from HRUs in watershed for the year (t/ha).
Environments 2015, 2 40

The Water Resource Planning Commission (WRPC) reports that the average soil erosion depth for
Taiwan, when no conservation measures are employed, is about 5 mm/yr (70 t/ha/yr), based on river
sediment transport measurements [10]. Lee [11] also estimates the average soil erosion from mountain
lands to be about 9.2 mm/yr, based on sedimentation data from nine reservoir watersheds. Using the
area-weighted average, Wu [12] revises Lee’s estimation to 4.8 mm/yr. Therefore, if the effects of
good land management (>80% forest cover) and conservation control practice (National Park setting)
are taken into account, the annual sediment yield or soil loss rate (about 1 t/ha) estimated by the
SWAT model is not too different from those of WRPC, Lee and Wu [11,12].
Results indicate that land use change impact on the hydrological response is not large. The impact
on soil erosion amounts to an increase of 0.25 t/ha. This loss increase is due to land use change, as a
result of forest land reduction and increase in agricultural use.
The results per HRU statistics can compare each basin soil loss change. Table 4 shows the largest
change (about 8 HRUs) among all HRUs. Although there are only 8 HRUs (12, 18, 20, 59, 71, 76, 81,
and 103) with largest yield changes, if multiplies by the HRU area it will amount to about 1406 tons.
This is all due to the land use pattern conversion from forest to agriculture.

Table 4. Largest change of sediment yield among all HRUs.

HRU SED * (ton/ha) Change Area Land Use
(Sub-basin) 1996 2007 (t/ha) (ha) 1996 2007
12 49.56 0.07 -49.49 0.73 built up forest
18 59.83 0.04 -59.79 0.79 agriculture forest
20 0.04 21.62 21.58 9.41 forest agriculture
59 57.07 0.07 -57.00 57.76 built up forest
71 0.05 28.68 28.63 98.72 forest agriculture
76 55.53 0.08 -55.45 39.36 built up forest
81 0.06 30.03 29.97 131.32 forest agriculture
103 8.98 0.02 -8.96 0.12 built up forest
Notes: * SED: Sediment yield from HRUs in watershed for the year (t/ha).

4. Conclusions

The model runs for different land use period are performed on similar weather conditions as the
annual rainfall is about 2225 mm and 2261 mm for 1996 and 2007, respectively. The results indicate
that land use change may cause a great deal of sediment yield increase. This is mainly attributed to
land degradation (conversion of forest to agricultural land) due to intense human activities, especially
deforestation. The park has increased about 980 ha agricultural land and decreased about 608 ha forest
land between 1996 and 2007.
In order to avoid illegal development activities, the government has formulated laws and regulations
to limit the development. However, some land use pattern change still exists resulting in increased soil
erosion within the National Park.
According to the model results, it is necessary to prescribe appropriate soil and water conservation
practices to control the stream flow and sedimentation problems in this National Park. The SWAT
model is also capable of identifying areas within the basin with high water and sediment yield. This
Environments 2015, 2 41

provides a useful guide for formulating policies and developing plans to counteract erosion effects,
to optimize land use, and to achieve sustainable land development. Based on the model output at
the HRU level, high erosion areas may be easily identified within the basin. Subsequent land
development should avoid such areas because of the need to adequately protect them with appropriate
conservation strategies.
Human activities deserve more attention when assessing soil and water losses because of their
inevitable impacts. How to avoid residents’ illegal development activities will be the future important
task of the Yang Ming Shan National Park. Re-evaluation of the existing laws and regulations,
strengthening park inspection, and plans for land use change detection using satellite images that can
monitor small land use perturbations to deter violations, should be further enhanced to minimize
deterioration of the invaluable environment condition in this National Park.

Author Contributions

Kwong Fai A. Lo had the original idea for the study, supervised the research work and was
responsible for revising the manuscript. Thomas C.C. Huang was responsible for data collection,
carried out the analyses and drafted the first version of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved
the final manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

1. Koch, F.; Griensven, A.; Uhlenbrook, S.; Tekleab, S.; Teferi, E. The Effects of land use change on
hydrological responses in the Choke Mountain Range (Ethiopia)—A new approach addressing
land use dynamics in the model SWAT, International Environmental Modeling and Software
Society (iEMSs). In Proceedings of 2012 International Congress on Environmental Modeling and
Software Managing Resources of a Limited Planet, Sixth Biennial Meeting, Leipzig, Germany,
1–5 July 2012.
2. Gassman, P.W.; Reyes, M.; Green, C.H.; Arnold, J.G. The soil and water assessment tool:
Historical development, applications, and future directions. Trans. ASABE 2007, 50, 1211-1250.
3. Kim, N.W.; Chung, I.M.; Won, Y.S.; Arnold, J.G. Development and application of the integrated
SWAT-MODFLOW model. J. Hydrol. 2008, 356, 1–16.
4. Eckhardt, K.; Haverkamp, S.; Fohrer, N.; Frede, H.-G. SWAT-G, a version of SWAT99.2
modified for application to low mountain range catchments. J. Hydrol. 2002, 27, 641–644.
5. Van Rompaey, A.J.J.; Govers, G.; Puttemans, C. Modeling land use changes and their impact on
soil erosion and sediment supply to rivers. Earth Surf. Proc. Land. 2002, 27, 481–494.
6. Yang, S.K.; Jung, W.Y.; Han, W.K.; Chung, I.M. Impact of land-use changes on stream runoff in
Jeju Island, Korea. Afr. J. Agric. Res. 2012, 7, 6097-6109.
Environments 2015, 2 42

7. Yan, B.; Fang, N.F.; Zhang, P.C.; Shi, Z.H. Impacts of land use change on watershed streamflow
and sediment yield: An assessment using hydrologic modeling and partial least squares regression.
J. Hydrol. 2013, 484, 26-37.
8. Neitsch, S.L.; Arnols, J.G.; Kiniry, J.R.; Williams, J.R. Soil and Water Assessment Tool
Theoretical Documentation, version 2009; Texas A&M University: College Station, TX, USA,
2011.
9. Zhang, X.; Srinivasan, R.; Van Liew, M. Approximating SWAT model using artificial network
and support vector machine. J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc. 2009, 45, 460-474.
10. WRPC (Water Resources Planning Commission). Preliminary Estimation of River Sedimentation
in Taiwan; Water Resources Planning Commission: Taipei, Taiwan, 1973; p. 165. (in Chinese)
11. Lee, S.W. Watershed Management and Protection in Taiwan; Construction World: Taipei,
Taiwan, 1985; p. 75. (In Chinese)
12. Wu, H.L. A Review of Soil Conservation Measures on Slopeland Watersheds in Taiwan. Master
Thesis, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA, 1986; p. 94.

© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).