Effect of vegetation types on highway erosion in Kalaya basin (North Morocco)

The aim of this work is based on the study of runoff (r) and sediment concentration (sc) under different types of plantations at kalaya catchment located in the north of morocco. in this context,measurement campaigns on the ground by rainfall simulation are planned to test the impact of land use on water erosion. our choice covered five experimental plots: a bare soil plot (witness),a plot with spontaneous vegetation,a plot with annual crop sulla (hedysarum coronarium l.),a parcel planted by the shrub atriplex.nummularia and parcel planted by the shrub genet of spain (spartium junceum). the results obtained show very high rate of soil sediment (er) to reach 12.5 kg/m2/h in bare soil. on the other hand,the soil losses meseared under genet of spain (spartium junceum) is 0.66 g/m2/h,accompanied by the cultivation sulla (hedysarum coronarium l.) which has a rate of 0.86 g/m2/h. this demonstrates the role of the land cover in reducing the risk of erosion. thus,we have concluded that the best facilities for the basin are genet of spain and the sulla.