Effects of vegetation restoration on carbonate‐derived laterite erodibility in karst mountain areas

Abstract

Vegetation restoration can exert a profound influence on surface soil characteristics, which likely plays a significant role in the evolution of soil erodibility. This study was conducted to quantify the effects of vegetation restoration on the soil erodibility of carbonate-derived laterite in karst areas. Experiments were conducted at two representative sites for different years of vegetation restoration. Six karst mountain land use types [grassland (Y1), shrubland (Y2) and woodland (Y3) in young forest (YF); forest trails (O1), shrubland (O2) and woodland (O3) in old forest (OF)]. A structural equation model and random forest regression analysis were applied to distinguish the key environmental factors dominating soil erodibility. The results showed that the soil erodibility K factor exponentially decreased with increasing restoration age and tended to remain stable after 20 years (y = 0.0466 + 0.0316e À0.2889x , R 2 = 0.98). The K factor in the OF decreased by an average of 2.1%-14.8% compared to those in the YF. A structural equation model indicated that vegetation restoration indirectly reduced soil erodibility by altering plant growth and coverage and its associated soil property changes. A random forest regression analysis of global datasets indicated that soil erodibility is mainly affected by topographical factors (i.e., latitude, elevation and slope), and their mean decrease accuracy values (IncMSE) exceeded 20%. Both forestland and shrubland were not considered as the most important factors for affecting global soil erodibility. Conversely, grassland, cropland and bare land were among the important factors. These results could guide the potential benefits of vegetation restoration strategies to meet soil conservation and ecosystem function goals in karst mountain ecosystems.

Lithology‐mediated soil erodibility characteristics after vegetation restoration in the karst region of Southwest China

“…In the limestone slope soil, there was a significant increase in OMC in the AF after restoration (Figure 2). This finding is consistent with those of previous studies (Feng et al, 2022; Gong et al, 2006; Zhu et al, 2010). Plants in natural ecosystems such as forests and pastures often have well‐developed litter layers and root systems (Zhang et al, 2021).…”

“…In previous studies, changes in soil erodibility K values were often ignored when modeling soil erosion (Ma et al, 2023). Soil erosion and soil properties are closely related (Feng et al, 2022). Soil properties, in turn, are correlated with the soil‐plant atmosphere‐continuum systems, which are important for evaluating the effectiveness of restoration (Cao et al, 2011; Tong et al, 2017; Zhang et al, 2021).…”

“…However, these methods are expensive and suitable only for small‐scale areas. Therefore, a wide range of estimation models, including the erosion‐productivity impact model (EPIC) and nomogram model (NOMO), have been proposed (Feng et al, 2022; Zhao et al, 2018). The K value is a measure of the ability of the soil to resist external erosion.…”

Interactive response and spatial heterogeneity of alpine grassland biodiversity to soil, topography, climate, and human factors on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

“…Path analysis can explore the complex causal path relationship between variables (Feng et al, 2022). The impact of soil, topography, climate and human factors on alpine grassland biodiversity on the QTP involved multiple variables (Figure 1).…”

Effects of vegetation restoration types on soil erosion reduction of a shallow karst fissure soil system in the degraded karst areas of Southwestern China

“…Therefore, revegetation is expected to influence vegetation types and growth conditions, affecting soil properties and erodibility between fissure and nonfissure zones. Nevertheless, current research has mainly focused on the impacts of revegetation and its associated vegetation types on the selection of surface soil erosion reduction indexes and soil erosivity of karst areas (Fan et al, 2011;Feng et al, 2022;Lan et al, 2022;Nabiollahi et al, 2018), while neglecting the erosion effect of runoff on fissure soil. The lack of systematic evaluation of the influence of vegetation type change induced by revegetation on the soil erosion reduction of the FSPS is not conducive to accurately predicting soil erosion of karst slopes and reasonably formulating soil and water conservation measures.…”