With an area of 6,200 km², the Gilbués badlands region in the Brazilian drylands is the largest desertification site in the Country. It is located upstream the Boa Esperança Hydroelectric Power Plant and is contiguous to an important Brazilian agricultural area. However, primary quantitative data on erosive processes are scarce or nonexistent. We analyzed on‐site data (2018–2019) concerning small‐scale (hillslope and micro basin) processes: inter‐rill gross erosion, vegetation coverage factor, sediment yield, and sediment delivery ratio. We measured gross erosion in four hillslopes using metal pins; rainfall erosivity using an automatic meteorological station; soil erodibility; and siltation of five check‐dams that control micro basins (10¹–10³ m²) by means of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Gross erosion (10² Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹; 7.5 mm yr⁻¹) is up to 100‐fold the regional mean value and up to 45‐times the tolerable soil‐loss reference value (0.17 mm yr⁻¹), showing that degradation still evolves. Sparse small vegetation directly exposes two thirds of the soil, with a high vegetation factor (0.90). The sediment delivery ratio of the micro basins is 0.88, compatible with low (12%) sediment‐deposition pattern at this scale. The Maner delivery‐ratio model mimicked field observation, which indicates that relief is the key element influencing sediment deposition there. The check‐dam effectiveness considerably decreased after the first decade of operation due to high siltation rates. Although the Gilbués badland occupies only 5% of the basin upstream of the power plant, it contributes 32% of the sediment load to reservoir and dam. This shows the relevance of the badland restoration for the regional sustainability of water and energy supply.

中文翻译：

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巴西东北部吉尔伯斯沙漠化地区的山坡和微盆地尺度的侵蚀

巴西干旱地区的吉尔伯斯荒地面积为6,200 km ²，是该国最大的荒漠化地区。它位于BoaEsperança水力发电厂的上游，与巴西重要的农业地区相邻。但是，关于侵蚀过程的主要定量数据很少或不存在。我们分析了有关小规模（山坡和微盆地）过程的现场数据（2018-2019）：钻间间总侵蚀，植被覆盖因子，沉积物产量和沉积物输送比。我们使用金属销钉测量了四个山坡上的总侵蚀量。使用自动气象站的降雨侵蚀力；土壤易蚀性 并控制了五个控制微型盆地的止水坝（10 ^{1 –} 10 ³ m ²）通过无人飞行器。总侵蚀量（10 ²  Mg ha ^-1 yr ^-1 ; 7.5 mm yr ^-1）高达区域平均值的100倍，是可忍受的土壤损失参考值（0.17 mm yr ^-1的45倍）），说明退化仍在发展。稀疏的小植被直接暴露了三分之二的土壤，植被因子较高（0.90）。微型盆地的沉积物输送比为0.88，在此规模下与低（12％）的沉积物沉积模式兼容。Maner输送比模型模仿了野外观察，这表明起伏是影响那里沉积物沉积的关键因素。在运行的第一个十年后，由于高淤积率，止水坝的有效性大大降低了。尽管吉尔布斯荒地仅占发电厂上游流域的5％，但它为水库和大坝贡献了32％的泥沙负荷。这表明了荒地恢复与区域水和能源供应可持续性的相关性。