Effects of soil and vegetation development on surface hydrological properties of moraines in the Swiss Alps

Maier, Franz Georg; Meerveld, Ilja van; Greinwald, Konrad; Gebauer, Tobias; Lustenberger, Florian; Hartmann, Anne; Musso, Alessandra

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2019.104353

Cited by 48 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…This matches our field observations, where the flat areas of the Klausenpass LIA moraine were densely vegetated, whereas the steep erosion sites were more sparsely vegetated (see Figure 2). We did not, however, see any direct correlation between slope angle and erosion rates in our data at either chronosequence, as any direct effects are probably overprinted by the effects of vegetation cover and the formation of soil aggregates (Maier et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 68%

“…Together with the input of organic matter, high root densities generate a more active microflora in the soil that gives rise to stronger aggregates compared to less vegetated patches (Cerdà, 1998; Amézketa, 1999). Maier et al (2020) analysed the topsoils (0−10 cm) of the same moraines at Sustenpass and found an exponential increase in aggregate stability with increasing surface age. The organic matter content (LOI) we found (Table 2) also increased strongly with time but the variability within the surface ages was high as it is strongly tied to the vegetation above.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rapid decrease of soil erosion rates with soil formation and vegetation development in periglacial areas

Musso

Ketterer

Greinwald

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid decrease of soil erosion rates with soil formation and vegetation development in periglacial areas

Musso

Ketterer

Greinwald

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…Due to the finer soil texture and higher porosity the total storage water capacity of the oldest moraine is larger than that of the the younger moraines. An investigation of the saturated hydraulic conductivity evolution of the near-surface (in 0-5, 5-20, and 20-40 cm) at the same chronosequence by Maier et al (2019) found a decrease with increasing moraine age and soil depth. The reduction in saturated conductivity was found to be positively correlated with soil texture, indicating that the increasing fraction of fine particles with increasing age have even a bigger effect on the saturated conductivity evolution than the root network development (Maier et al, 2019).…”

Section: Evolution Of Soil Texture and Structurementioning

confidence: 95%

“…As these changes cannot be traced back to changes in the grain size composition, the increase in porosity is probably due to the development of a more dense vegetation. The vegetation coverage of both moraines differs significantly (Maier et al, 2019). The youngest moraine still shows only low vegetation cover with only single plants (mainly grasses and forbs) and little root mass with an observed maximum rooting depth of 15 cm (occasionally up to 30 cm), whereas the 160-year-old moraine already has a relatively closed vegetation cover with a combination of shrubs and smaller plants like forbs and grasses forming a loose root network with roots up to a maximum diameter of 5-6 mm and a maximum depth of 35 cm (as observed during the excavation of the soil profiles).…”

Section: Evolution Of Soil Texture and Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Field observations of soil hydrological flow path evolution over 10 Millennia

Hartmann¹,

Semenova²,

Weiler³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. The presence or absence of preferential flow strongly controls water flow and transport in soils. It is ubiquitous, but difficult to characterize and predict. This study addresses the occurrence and the evolution of preferential flow during the evolution of landscapes, and here specifically during the evolution of hillslopes. We targeted a chronosequence of glacial moraines in the Swiss Alps to investigate how water flow paths evolve along with the soil forming processes. Dye tracer irrigation experiments with Brilliant Blue solution (4 g/l) were conducted on four moraines of different ages (30, 160, 3000, and 10 000 yrs). At each moraine, three dye tracer experiments were conducted on plots of 1.5 × 1.0 m. The three plots at each moraine were characterized by different vegetation complexities (low, medium, high). Each plot was further divided into three equal subplots for the application of three different irrigation amounts (20, 40, 60 mm) with an average irrigation intensity of 20 mm/h. The day after the experiment five vertical soil sections were excavated and the stained flow paths were photographed. Digital image analysis was used to derive average infiltration depths and flow path characteristics such as the volume and surface density of the dye patterns. Based on the volume density, the observed dye patterns were assigned to specific flow type categories. The results show a significant change in type of preferential flow paths along the chronosequence. The flow types change from a rather homogeneous gravity driven matrix flow in coarse material with high conductivities and a sparse vegetation cover at the youngest moraine to a heterogeneous infiltration pattern at the medium-age moraines. Heterogeneous matrix and finger flow are dominant at these intermediate age classes. At the oldest moraine only macro pore flow via root channels was observed in deeper parts of the soil, in combination with a very high water storage capacity of the organic top layer and low hydraulic conductivity of the deeper soil. In general, we found an increase in water storage with increasing age of the moraines, based on our observations of the reduction in infiltration depth as well as laboratory measurements of porosity. Preferential flow is, however, not only caused by macropores, but especially for the medium age moraine seems to be initiated mainly by soil surface characteristics (vegetation patches and micro-topography).

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Correlations of the root–shoot ratio with soil water content in the patchy alpine grassland of the north‐eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau using electrical resistivity tomography

Zuo,

Li,

Yang

et al. 2023

Ecohydrology

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The root–shoot biomass ratio (R:S) changing the soil water redistribution is not well understood due to a lack of nondestructive technology to characterize the coexistence of plants and soil. This study aims to assess the correlations of the R:S ratios of Achnatherum splendens with soil water content by electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) on the north‐western Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). During the growing season, an experimental plot including bare patches (BK) and low‐ (LD) and high‐density (HD) A. splendens subplots was designed to quantify soil volumetric water content under different soil depths and antecedent total precipitation conditions for 7 days (AP7). The results showed that the R:S ratio was positive with soil water content in the surface soil layer of 0–10 cm. The synergistic effect of the R:S ratio on soil water in the surface soil layer promoted an increase in surface soil water. However, the nonsynergistic effect in the middle soil layer weakened the soil water increasing, and the effect of the R:S ratio on soil water in the deep soil layer of 40–80 cm was not obvious. In HD, soil water increased between 0.08% and 0.95% and was highest under AP7 > 20 mm conditions. In LD, soil water increased in the surface and deep soil layers but decreased in the middle soil layer, especially under AP7 = 10–20 mm conditions (−1.23%). These findings provide valuable insights that patchy alpine grass survival strategy under future climate change on the QTP, and the results are beneficial to the development of soil–plant–atmosphere continuum models.

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Effects of soil and vegetation development on surface hydrological properties of moraines in the Swiss Alps

Cited by 48 publications

References 114 publications

Rapid decrease of soil erosion rates with soil formation and vegetation development in periglacial areas

Rapid decrease of soil erosion rates with soil formation and vegetation development in periglacial areas

Field observations of soil hydrological flow path evolution over 10 Millennia

Correlations of the root–shoot ratio with soil water content in the patchy alpine grassland of the north‐eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau using electrical resistivity tomography

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