The distribution of and factors influencing the vegetation in a gully in the Dry-hot Valley of southwest China

Impacts of headcut height on flow energy, sediment yield and surface landform during bank gully erosion processes in the Yuanmou Dry‐hot Valley region, southwest China

“…The total evaporation is approximately six times the precipitation, coupled with the high temperature, which accounts for the dry‐hot climate in this region (Zhong, ). The dominant soils at the surface of the study area are dry‐red soil (classified as Ustic Ferrisols in Chinese Taxonomy) and Vertisols, with a mean dry bulk density of 1.4 to 1.8 g cm −3 (Dong et al ., ; Su et al ., ). The zonal vegetation type in the valley region is mainly tropical bushveld with few trees, and the dominant herb species are Heteropogon and Bothriochloa pertusa .…”

“…The frequent erosive precipitation events in the rainy season and special lithological conditions are the major causes of the well‐developed gullies in this region (Zhong, ). An experimental programme supported by the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has obtained some significant observations for gully erosion research in recent years (Chen et al ., , ; Dong et al ., , ; Su et al ., , , ; Yang et al ., , ; Zhang et al ., , ).…”

Hydraulic properties of concentrated flow of a bank gully in the dry‐hot valley region of southwest China

“…To monitor and experimentally study initiation and development of gully erosion and collapse in addition to determining efficient gully prevention and control measures, an ongoing experimental research programme was initiated at the Yuanmou Gully Erosion and Collapse Experimental Station in 1992, a field station in the dry‐hot valley region of southwest China operated by the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences. To date, this research programme has investigated and derived the following observations: (1) morphology and the critical topographic threshold of bank gullies were investigated (Dong et al , ); (2) steady soil erosion rates were attained for gully beds and the upstream catchment area of a bank gully under concentrated flows while non‐steady state heacut erosion rates were observed due to abrupt gully headcut collapse (Chen et al , ; Su et al , ); (3) significant differences in values of the soil erosion rate, infiltration rate, Darcy–Weisbach friction factor (resistance f ), and energy consumption per unit soil loss (Δ E u ) were found in the upstream catchment area of a bank gully under different land use types (Su et al , ); (4) the distribution of and factors influencing vegetation in a downstream gully bed were investigated (Dong et al , ); (5) and the impact of grass on hydraulic properties and headcut processes in a bank gully was assessed (Yang et al , ). Despite these investigations, few systematic studies have addressed the effect of hydraulic properties on bank gully erosion.…”

Climatic Controls on Spring Onset of the Tibetan Plateau Grasslands from 1982 to 2008

“…The monthly mean air temperature over most TP regions varies betweeń 10˝C and 10˝C [1,30], while the regional precipitation regime follows a northwesterly gradient of declining precipitation mainly affected by the Indian Ocean Monsoon [1,2]. The TP interior is dominated by alpine meadow, steppe and desert grasslands depending on local temperature and moisture conditions [30], while alpine forests and shrublands are found in surrounding mountains with more abundant precipitation [24,31,32].…”