Predicted soil loss and the contribution of soil map units in a tropical protected forest: RUSLE assessment of Ir. H. Djuanda Forest Park, Indonesia
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1
Natural Resources and Environmental Management Science Study Program, Graduate School, IPB University, Jl. Raya Pajajaran, Bogor 16144, West Java, Indonesia
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Urban and Regional Planning Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Islam Bandung, Jl. Tamansari, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
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Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, IPB University, Jl. Ulin, IPB Campus, Dramaga Village, Bogor 16680, West Java, Indonesia
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Department of Statistics and Data Science, School of Data Science, Mathematics, and Informatics, IPB University, Jl. Meranti, IPB Campus, Dramaga Village, Bogor 16680, West Java, Indonesia
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Department of Soil Science and Land Resource, Faculty of Agriculture, IPB University, Jl. Meranti, IPB Campus, Dramaga Village, Bogor 16680, West Java, Indonesia
Corresponding author
Lely Syiddatul Akliyah
Natural Resources and Environmental Management Science Study Program, Graduate School, IPB University, Jl. Raya Pajajaran, Bogor 16144, West Java, Indonesia
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ABSTRACT
Soil erosion degrades soil and water resources in tropical protected areas. We mapped RUSLE-predicted soil loss in Ir. H. Djuanda Forest Park, West Java, Indonesia, and quantified the contribution of soil map units (SMUs) to spatial variation in model inputs. Rainfall erosivity was derived from 2016–2025 CHIRPS precipitation using the modified Fournier index and Arnoldus relation, giving a period-mean R of 13,825.61 MJ mm ha−1 h−1 yr−1. Soil erodibility was derived from a 1:50,000 soil map and SoilGrids organic carbon, the topographic factor from the DEMNAS grid using the Desmet–Govers formulation, and cover from SPOT-6 imagery (overall accuracy 82.5%, kappa 0.77). Cells with at least 300 contributing cells were treated as concentrated-flow cells and excluded from the hillslope calculation. The baseline RUSLE × SMU intersection contained 493.32 ha of valid estimates, with 93.36% below 385.14 t ha−1 yr−1 and a maximum predicted soil loss of 8,184.15 t ha−1 yr−1. SMU-4 contained 97.0% of the 32.74 ha above 385.14 t ha−1 yr−1. The area-weighted variance of ln(K) was 0.16% of that of ln(C), indicating substantially greater spatial contrast from land cover than from SMU-based K classes. Sensitivity testing showed that concentrated-flow treatment strongly affected the upper tail, whereas median LS changed by less than 10% between the unmasked and 75-cell scenarios. Without independent erosion measurements, the results are interpreted as modelled soil-loss potential and spatial screening information rather than measured erosion rates.