To analyse the driving forces of gully erosion using a present dataset of geomorphic parameters and land use/cover involves limitations because past datasets at the time of gully incision may best explain the gully formation and evolution at that time. The recent development of photogrammetric techniques enabled to estimate temporal gully volume changes. This study conducted in semi-arid Ethiopian Rift Valley used field measurements and gully volume–length relation to analyse spatial and temporal dynamics of catchment geomorphology and topographical threshold of gully heads to explain the difference in the gully volumes and area-specific gully volumes between two study sub-areas. The topographic thresholds of the gully heads, expressed by the slope (= s) and drainage area (= a), (i) formed in each catchment and (ii) that had the same land use/cover items (forest, grassland, and farmland) in all the catchments of each sub-area were approximated by power functions (s = ka-b). Analysis of covariance found that these threshold lines had clear spatial and temporal patterns: the threshold lines maintained almost the same exponent b specific to each sub-area while the threshold coefficient k significantly decreased in the order of forest, grassland, and farmland. The spatial variability and its temporal changes in relief aspect of the catchment morphology can responsible for the difference in the area-specific volumes of gullies between the sub-areas, while the continuous reduction in vegetation cover over time can be the main driving force of the similar scale and changing patterns of the gully volumes between the sub-areas.

To analyse the driving forces of gully network expansion using a present dataset of land use/cover involves limitations because past land use/cover strongly regulates gully formation and evolution. The vegetation cover in the gully catchment at the time of gully incision may best explain the topographical threshold levels. The recent development of photogrammetric techniques enabled to estimate temporal gully volume changes. This study conducted in semi-arid Ethiopian Rift Valley used field measurements and gully volume–length relation to (i) keep track of gully volume changes and (ii) analyse temporal transitions in catchment geomorphology and topographical threshold of gully heads to explain the difference in the gully volumes between two study sub-areas. The topographic thresholds of the gully heads, expressed by the slope (= s) and drainage area (= a), formed (i) in each catchment and (ii) in all the catchments in each sub-area during the same individual period (before 1957, 1957–1972, and 1972–2005) were approximated by power functions (s = ka-b). Transitions in these threshold lines showed clear temporal and spatial patterns: the threshold lines maintained almost the same exponent b specific to each sub-area while the threshold coefficient k decreased as time passed. The expansion of the gully network induced by land use/cover changes lowered the gully topographic threshold level in agroecology, which accelerated further gully expansion and influenced the exponential increase in gully volumes over time. Characteristics of temporal changes in catchment geomorphology partly explained the difference in the area-specific gully volumes between the sub-areas.