Anthropogenic factors influencing the development of gullies on the Idah-Ankpa Plateau of north central Nigeria

Excerpt

The Idah-Ankpa Plateau (IAP) of north central Nigeria is beset by land degradation in the form of gullies. The proliferation of gullies on this plateau landscape has been spectacular and aggravated since the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970 (ECAN 1982). On the IAP, gullies scarify urban and agricultural lands and silt up streams and reservoirs, thus damaging the productive and aesthetic qualities of the environment. Tackling the gully erosion problem requires adequate information on the causative factors of this environmental phenomenon. Oparaku et al. (2015) carried out a study of the land degradation problems of the IAP and reported that many urban drainage structures, high-value buildings, roadside drains, and culverts have been lost to gully erosion at Ankpa, Dekina, Ayangba, Ofu, and Ogwulawo.

There are two broad factors of gully erosion, namely, physical and anthropogenic (human) factors. The physical factors include geology, soil, topography, climate, and vegetation; these have been extensively discussed in the literature (Ofomata 1965; Lal 1990; Okogbue and Agbo 1990). On the other hand, the anthropogenic factors comprise all the activities of man that tend to disturb the soil and strip it of its vegetative cover, thus exposing it to rapid, accelerated erosion. In…