Constructions of an evaluation framework for soil and water conservation techniques

Abstract Soil and water losses are major environmental problems throughout the world. Many soil and water conservation techniques have been developed to protect food production and maintain ecological security. However, the current evaluation methods focus mainly on certain aspect of soil and water conservation technique, such as evaluating the implementation effects, and thus they cannot fully assess the characteristics of the technique, and insufficient consideration is given to the suitability of the technique itself and the implementation area. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to develop and test an evaluation framework for comprehensively assessing soil and water conservation technique as well as its impact. This comprehensive evaluation method was developed by theoretical primary selection and expert screening to assess the attributes, suitability, application effects, and potential of a specific technique. The evaluation framework comprises two levels: the target layer and index layer. The target layer assesses the adaptation effect of the ecological management technique. The index layer includes 5 first-level indices, 14 s-level indices, and 29 third-level indices. The analytic hierarchy process method was used to determine the weight of each index and the weighted composite index method was employed to construct the evaluation model. Soil and water conservation techniques applied in five small watersheds on the Loess Plateau in China were evaluated successfully with the evaluation framework (Gaoxigou 4.59, Wangdonggou 4.14, Xiannangou 3.89, Zhifanggou 3.81 and Chengjiagou 3.69), all of which reflected the actual situation for these local soil and water conservation techniques. The proposed evaluation framework can provide a scientific basis and key technical support for assessments of soil and water conservation techniques, as well as facilitating the development of innovative soil and water conservation techniques.