Spatiotemporal Evolution of Soil Erosion and Its Driving Mechanism in the Mongolian Section of the Yellow River Basin

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments for authors

The manuscript is well-organized and written. This study aims to identify the Temporal and spatial evolution of soil erosion and its driving mechanism in the Mongolian section of the Yellow River Basin. The references are appropriate and the figures are neat and readable. I believe the study is relevant to the field and future policy in the study area. However, I also consider that the manuscript should be modified before it can be published. Despite its novelty, the manuscript is of great interest to readers. Additional comments on the manuscript are as follows:

1.      Some issues with grammar and syntax could be addressed to improve readability. For example, in the introduction, there are some sentences that are quite long and complex, which may make it difficult for readers to follow the argument.

2.      The introduction could benefit from a clearer statement of the research question or objectives. While the text provides a lot of background information on soil erosion in the study area, it is not immediately clear what the research aims to achieve or what specific questions it is trying to answer.

3.      There are a few instances where the text could benefit from more precise terminology or definitions, particularly in relation to technical terms such as the RUSLE and RWEQ models. Providing a brief explanation or citation would help readers understand the methodology used in the study.

4.      Line 212. Remove “3.1.1. Subsubsection”.

5.      In 3.1. Subsection, "light" and "moderate" soil erosion categories are mentioned, but it is not clear what these mean. It would be helpful to define these categories or provide a reference to where they are defined.

6.       Line 280. It would be helpful to explain what is meant by "man-made interferences (grazing)." Some of the sentences are long and could be broken up for easier reading.

7.      Line 400. The text needs proofreading as there are some grammatical errors, such as "The soil erosion content is estimated by model inversion."

8.      Lines 411-413. The text needs to be more concise and avoid unnecessary repetition, such as "Baotou is a grassland city based on industrial development and also considers various ecosystems, including the grassland ecosystem centered at Damaoqi, the forest ecosystem centered at the Daqing and Wula Mountains, and the wetland ecosystem centered at the Yellow River Wetland Park."

9.      The discussion needs to provide more details on the RUSLE and RWEQ models, such as how they were applied and the limitations of the models.

10.  In the references section please follow the MDPI references style. For example, bold the year of publication in the reference. It concerns all the references listed in this manuscript.

Author Response

please refer to the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper titled Temporal and spatial evolution of soil erosion and its driving mechanism in the Mongolian section of the Yellow River Basin represents a major contribution to the field of soil erosion, and ecological engineering. In this study, the authors revised soil and soil wind erosion equations to evaluate the soil erosion dynamics in Baotou City, and also, the potential driving factors of soil erosion were investigated.

This study examined the spatial-temporal distribution pattern of soil erosion in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia 1990–2020, and its influencing factors were analyzed through GIS technology on the basis of RUSLE and RWEQ models. This topic is very important, original, and relevant in this field of research.

The methodology used is adequate for this type of research.

Quotations are relevant, and the references are appropriate, which is very important for further research. The research design is appropriate, and the methods are adequately described. The results are presented adequately and comprehensibly. Almost all figures and tables are well-presented and clear (look below for some comments related to tables and figures).

The conclusion is supported by the results, and they are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented in the manuscript.

Some technical issues:

Table 1 is not adequately marked, and it must be correct. Also, put the line (space) where it is needed. The type of font in figure 2 (Soil erosion modulus in Baotou City) is not the same as in other figures. It has to be prepared according to the instructions of the journal Land.

The article is acceptable for publication in Land after minor revision.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Serious issues related to English language usage throughout the manuscript. Editorial comments are too numerous to list here and I direct attention to the extensive comments presented in the text. A challenging manuscript to review as a result of the quality of the presentation.

Introduction

Lines 39-40 A variety of exogenic processes contribute to soil development (i.e., pedogenesis). The soil itself is not an exogenic process. 

You need to support the statement that soil erosion is the most important natural physical phenomena with data.

Line 50 What elements of regional climates are you referring to here? Please elaborate.

Line 51 Provide specific information here to support this statement.

Line 59 Please define the term "migration capacity".  

Materials and Methods

Line 99 I am confused by the use of the term "city" which appears to refer to a large region in Inner Mongolia. 

Line 126 How is sunshine related to water and wind erosion? Please clarify? Are the authors measuring the number of hours of daily sunshine? It is not clear in the manuscript. The authors never present or discuss the sunshine data in this manuscript?

Line 131 The authors never present or discuss the snow depth data in the manuscript?

Line 189 This parameter, as described, makes no sense to me. What physical property of soils is being assessed by this parameter?

Lines 197-198 Soil moisture - is this parameter linked to the number of hours of sunshine? What process(es) drive soil moisture? Replace 'humidity' with moisture. Not clear how soil moisture was measured? Not clear how the snow cover factors is computed?

Results

Lines 225-226 Mutual transformation laws - What are you referring to here?

Line 232 This statement implies that there was no change in soil erosion intensity? Please clarify.

Line 248 What are the units of measurement displayed in Figure 3?

Lines 253-254 What are the units of measurement of soil erosion in Table 2 and Table 3?

Line 255 Throughout the Results section the authors use the phrase "evolutionary laws of soil erosion". What are they referring to?

Line 257 This statement does not support the information presented in the following sentence? Please clarify.

Lines 264-265 I disagree! The data presented in Figure 2 indicate an increase in soil water erosion over the period 2000-2020.

Lines 302-302 Cite the source of this information, please.

Lines 345-347 The authors have not presented any information on the nature of climate change in the study area. Please elaborate on this subject here before writing about the potential implications for future soil erosion.

Lines 366-367 So I am bit confused here. Are you trying to say these grasslands have developed in response to soil erosion? Or are you trying to say that soil erosion occurs commonly in these grassland habitats? Which is it?

Line 387 What are the units of measurement in Table 4?

Discussion

Lines 396-397 Please expand on this topic briefly. Raindrop impact on bare soils destroys soil structure, resulting in a loss of infiltration capacity, that intensifies surface runoff and soil erosion.

Lines 399-400 Soil moisture has an important role to play in making soils more resistant to deflation by the wind.

Line 417 How does this practice contribute to grassland restoration?

Line 428 What are the authors trying to describe here? 

Line 438 What are the authors to describe here?

Line 445 What are the authors referring to here?

General Comments

Throughout the manuscript, the authors make reference to specific places, areas, and regions, yet none of these places is ever identified on any of the maps presented in the manuscript. This situation makes it challenging, if not impossible, to follow the presentation of information in the manuscript. The situation is particularly acute in the Results section. This issue needs to be addressed in revision of the manuscript. 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

please refer to the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors,

I am pleased to inform you that after a thorough review process, I recommend that your manuscript be accepted for publication. I found your research to be of high quality and significance, and the results will make a valuable contribution to the field. Your manuscript is well-written and organized, and you have addressed the comments and suggestions I provided in my previous review.

 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you for your guidance.

Best wishes.

Reviewer 3 Report

In my comments you will note that I have concerns about data that should have been acquired to support this research project (e.g., incoming solar radiation and its relation to evapotranspiration and soil moisture content; wind direction which influences wind fetch and soil erosion and is affected by topographic relief.)

 

 

There are Chinese phrases used in the text that simply do not translate into English (e.g., evolutionary laws, soil migration, etc.). These phrases need to be corrected.

Comments for author File: Comments.docx

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you for your guidance.

Best wishes.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx