Soil resistance to flowing water erosion of seven typical plant communities on steep gully slopes on the Loess Plateau of China

Zhang, Baojun; Zhang, Guanghui; Yang, Huichao; Wang, Hao

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2018.10.036

Cited by 87 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…() and Zhang et al . () who found that the K r of shrubland on the hillslopes and gully slopes was greater than that of grasslands. This indicated that the influence of land use on reduction in K r depends on changes in geomorphological situation (gully heads, hillslopes and gully slopes).…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 53%

“…A significant difference in the mean soil Dr of gully heads was found among the four land use types ( P < 0.05, Figure a). This result agreed with the conclusion of previous studies on hillslopes and gully slopes of the Loess Plateau (Li et al ., ; Zhang et al ., ). The Dr (1.101 kg m ‐2 s ‐1 ) of slope cropland was 7.0 times, 9.7 times and 22.85 times greater than those of the grasslands, woodlands and shrubland, respectively, indicating that the land‐use conversion at gully heads can significantly reduce soil erosion by concentrated flow.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Moreover, the Cleistogenes caespitosa is also the main grass species under the shrubland (SHR); thus, the combination of the shrub ( Hippophae rhamnoides ) and the grass ( Cleistogenes caespitosa ) with fibrous roots could be considered as the optimal vegetation restoration types for controlling soil erosion of gully heads. However, compared with previous studies, it was found that the two grasslands dominated by Carex lanceolate and Poa sphondylodes (fibrous roots) on the hillslopes had relatively lower soil Dr values than those of the other grassland types (Li et al ., ; Wang et al ., ), and the mixed grasslands of Artemisia giraldii and Artemisia sacrorum (tap root) on the gully slopes had the greatest soil detachment reduction benefits (Zhang et al ., ). This comparison further indicated that the optimal vegetation restoration type for controlling soil erosion of gully heads is significantly different from that for the hillslopes and gully slopes and also clarified that grasses with fibrous roots have a greater advantage to some extent than those with tap roots when paired with shrubs for controlling soil erosion of gully heads (De Baets et al ., ; Wang et al ., ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…(), and were one‐order of magnitude less than those of the gully slopes reported by Zhang et al . (). These differences were mainly due to the differences in plant type which is the most important cause of changes in soil properties during vegetation restoration (Stolte et al ., ; Demenois et al ., ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Similarly, Zhang et al . () concluded that the Dr of the grasslands on gully slopes was 61.5% less than that of shrubland, indicating that grass communities are more effective in reducing the Dr than shrub communities. The difference might be related to the difference in geomorphological situation, varying from hillslope and gully slope to gully heads, which caused the variation in plant species that affected the soil detachment process (De Baets et al ., ; Li et al ., ), and it also indirectly revealed that the optimal conversion from slope cropland to land use associated with revegetation for controlling soil erosion of different geomorphological situations should be seriously considered.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of different vegetation restoration options on gully head soil resistance and soil erosion in loess tablelands

Guo

Wang

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Vegetation restoration is identified as an effective approach to control soil erosion and affects soil detachment and resistance to concentrated flow on the Loess Plateau. However, the effects of vegetation restoration at gully heads in loess‐tableland remains unclear. This study was performed to investigate the effects of nine vegetation restoration types at gully heads on soil detachment rate (Dr) and soil resistance to concentrated flow (i.e. soil erodibility, Kr and critical shear stress, τc). Undisturbed soil samples were collected from nine vegetation‐restored lands and one slope cropland (as the control) and were subjected to a hydraulic flume to obtain Dr values of gully heads under six inflow discharges (0.5–3.5 L s‐1). The results showed that the Dr values of nine revegetated gully heads were 77.11% to 95.81% less than that of slope cropland, and the grassland dominated by Cleistogenes caespitosa and the shrubland dominated by Hippophae rhamnoides had a relatively greater decrease in Dr than those of other seven restoration types. The Dr value of nine revegetated gully heads could be better simulated by stream power than by flow velocity and shear stress and was also significantly affected by soil disintegration rate (positively), soil bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity, organic matter content, and water‐stable aggregate stability (negatively). Additionally, roots with diameters of 0 to 0.5 mm showed a greater effect on Dr than those with larger diameters. Compared to cropland, the nine restored types reduced Kr by 76.26% to 94.26% and improved τc by 1.51 to 4.68 times. The decrease in Kr and the increase in τc were significantly affected by organic matter content, water‐stable aggregate, mean weight diameter of aggregate and root mass density. The combination of grass species (Cleistogenes caespitosa) and shrub (Hippophae rhamnoides) could be considered the best vegetation restoration types for improving soil resistance of gully heads to concentrated flow. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 53%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Impacts of different vegetation restoration options on gully head soil resistance and soil erosion in loess tablelands

Guo

Wang

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Strong impact of management regimes on rhizome biomass across Central European temperate grasslands

Ottaviani

Lubbe

Lepš

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

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Grassland ecosystems account for approximately 40% of terrestrial biomes globally. These communities are characterized by a large allocation to belowground biomass, often exceeding its aboveground counterpart. However, this biomass investment cannot be entirely attributed to the acquisitive function of roots. Grassland plants also allocate to non-acquisitive, stem-derived, belowground organs, such as rhizomes. These organs are responsible for the key plant functions of space occupancy, resprouting after damage, and seasonal rest. However, biomass investment to rhizomes has rarely been studied. Here we gathered community-level aboveground and rhizome biomass data for 52 temperate grasslands in Czech Republic (Central Europe), differing in management intensity. We found that rhizome biomass scaled linearly with aboveground biomass, and more intensive management disproportionally (negatively) affected rhizome biomass. This finding may have important implications for the persistence of temperate grassland plants and their provision of ecosystem services (e.g., soil carbon sequestration, soil stabilization) in relation to changing environments.

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Soil erosion resistance of gully system under different plant communities on the Loess Plateau of China

Zeng,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Gully erosion, considered as a type of intensive erosion, is the dominant source of sediment at small watershed scales in certain environments. Variation of vegetation may result in the changes in near soil surface characteristics, which likely further affect the resistance of gully systems to erosion. However, the potential effects of near soil surface characteristics of plant communities on resistance to erosion are still unclear in gully systems. This study was performed to investigate the variations in resistance of gully systems to erosion under different plant communities and to identify the dominant influencing factors leading to these variations on the Loess Plateau. Five typical plant communities (two grasses, two shrubs and one forest) that distributed on different gully systems were selected. Six hundred undisturbed soil samples collected from different sites of gully systems were subjected to detach by overland flow under six different shear stresses (6.66 to 15.02 Pa). The results showed that the mean soil detachment capacity of gully systems covered by grass and shrub communities was 0.15 and 0.37 times to that of gully system covered by forest. Compared to forest gully systems, rill erodibility reduced by 29.8% to 85.6% for the other four plant communities. The relative rill erodibility of different vegetation communities generally increased from grass to shrub and forest communities. The critical shear stress of forest gully system was 58.7% and 63.8% of gully systems covered by grass (6.22 Pa) and shrub (5.73 Pa) communities. Bulk density, soil cohesion, water stable aggregate, root mass density, and the thickness of biological soil crust were the dominant factors affecting the resistance of gully systems to soil erosion. Rill erodibility decreased logarithmically with increasing soil cohesion, water stable aggregate and root mass density. Critical shear stress increased with the increase of soil cohesion and root mass density as a power function, and linearly with the increase of water stable aggregate. These results show how vegetation can mitigate against the erosion induced by concentrated flow in relatively stable gully systems.

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Soil resistance to flowing water erosion of seven typical plant communities on steep gully slopes on the Loess Plateau of China

Cited by 87 publications

References 60 publications

Impacts of different vegetation restoration options on gully head soil resistance and soil erosion in loess tablelands

Impacts of different vegetation restoration options on gully head soil resistance and soil erosion in loess tablelands

Strong impact of management regimes on rhizome biomass across Central European temperate grasslands

Soil erosion resistance of gully system under different plant communities on the Loess Plateau of China

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