Relationships between changes in land use and increased risks of flooding and erosion: Diachronic analysis in the province of Malaga (1957-2007)

Abstract

The rexistatic characteristics of eco-geomorphological systems in Mediterranean environments predispose to the existence of certain risks of flooding and soil erosion. These are fast answer geo-systems to change and very sensitive to land uses changes. This paper uses a large and significant region such as Malaga province to assess how the land uses has acted positively or negatively on these risks. A diachronic analysis of both processes is carried out and the variations in their intensity are evaluated to do this. Runoff threshold and the potential erosion of soils have been used as indicators, and two scales have been worked on, the provincial one, to obtain a comparative vision of the distribution of the processes, and a more detailed one, to identify accurately which are the territorial changes that explain the main increases and decreases in erosion and flooding. In the two selected periods, the results show the geographic distribution of both risks, and, on the other hand, the influence that processes such as littoralization, tourism, periurbanization, forest fires or reforestations have had on them.