Soil erosion by water under forest cover is a serious problem in southern China.A comparative study was carried out on the use of leaf area index(LAI) and vegetation fractional coverage(VFC) in quantifying soil loss u...Soil erosion by water under forest cover is a serious problem in southern China.A comparative study was carried out on the use of leaf area index(LAI) and vegetation fractional coverage(VFC) in quantifying soil loss under vegetation cover.Five types of vegetation with varied LAI and VFC under field conditions were exposed to two rainfall rates(40 mm h-1 and 54 mm h-1) using a portable rainfall simulator.Runoff rate,sediment concentration and soil loss rate were measured at relatively runoff stable state.Significant negative exponential relationship(p < 0.05,R2 = 0.83) and linear relationship(p < 0.05,R2 = 0.84) were obtained between LAI and sediment concentration,while no significant relationship existed between VFC and sediment concentration.The mechanism by which vegetation canopy prevents soil loss was by reducing rainfall kinetic energy and sediment concentration.LAI could better quantify such a role than VFC.However,neither LAI nor VFC could explain runoff rate or soil loss rate.Caution must be taken when using LAI to quantify the role of certain vegetation in soil and water conservation.展开更多
This article investigates the soil properties in two soil profiles from the terraces of the Nam Co Lake in Tibet,China. Profile 1,with a slope aspect to east,is 37 m,and profile 2,to southwest,is 32 m above the lake l...This article investigates the soil properties in two soil profiles from the terraces of the Nam Co Lake in Tibet,China. Profile 1,with a slope aspect to east,is 37 m,and profile 2,to southwest,is 32 m above the lake level. Twelve and nine layers were identified in profile 1 and profile 2,respectively,based on the color,texture,structure,moisture content,presence of carbonate,and root density. Grain sizes and measurements of water content,total organic carbon,total inorganic carbon,total carbon,pH value and electrical conductivity were all analyzed for each sample. The results show that soil is poorly developed because of sparse vegetation coverage and weak chemical weathering in the cold and arid area. The results also indicate that the soil properties are different between the two profiles and suggest that soil is better developed in profile 1 than in profile 2. These differences are ascribed to the dissimilarity of landform,vegetation and timing. Profile 1 faces to east as compared with profile 2 facing to southwest and gets less insolation and therefore less evaporation. Thus,vegetation grows better in profile 1 than in profile 2. Radiocarbon dating and OSL dating show that profile 1 underwent a longer soil forming process than profile 2,which is helpful for the soil development in profile 1.展开更多
基金the support for this research from the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2007CB407206)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.40921061)The National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2010CB950702)
文摘Soil erosion by water under forest cover is a serious problem in southern China.A comparative study was carried out on the use of leaf area index(LAI) and vegetation fractional coverage(VFC) in quantifying soil loss under vegetation cover.Five types of vegetation with varied LAI and VFC under field conditions were exposed to two rainfall rates(40 mm h-1 and 54 mm h-1) using a portable rainfall simulator.Runoff rate,sediment concentration and soil loss rate were measured at relatively runoff stable state.Significant negative exponential relationship(p < 0.05,R2 = 0.83) and linear relationship(p < 0.05,R2 = 0.84) were obtained between LAI and sediment concentration,while no significant relationship existed between VFC and sediment concentration.The mechanism by which vegetation canopy prevents soil loss was by reducing rainfall kinetic energy and sediment concentration.LAI could better quantify such a role than VFC.However,neither LAI nor VFC could explain runoff rate or soil loss rate.Caution must be taken when using LAI to quantify the role of certain vegetation in soil and water conservation.
基金supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. kzcx2-yw-104)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40730101 and 40671023)
文摘This article investigates the soil properties in two soil profiles from the terraces of the Nam Co Lake in Tibet,China. Profile 1,with a slope aspect to east,is 37 m,and profile 2,to southwest,is 32 m above the lake level. Twelve and nine layers were identified in profile 1 and profile 2,respectively,based on the color,texture,structure,moisture content,presence of carbonate,and root density. Grain sizes and measurements of water content,total organic carbon,total inorganic carbon,total carbon,pH value and electrical conductivity were all analyzed for each sample. The results show that soil is poorly developed because of sparse vegetation coverage and weak chemical weathering in the cold and arid area. The results also indicate that the soil properties are different between the two profiles and suggest that soil is better developed in profile 1 than in profile 2. These differences are ascribed to the dissimilarity of landform,vegetation and timing. Profile 1 faces to east as compared with profile 2 facing to southwest and gets less insolation and therefore less evaporation. Thus,vegetation grows better in profile 1 than in profile 2. Radiocarbon dating and OSL dating show that profile 1 underwent a longer soil forming process than profile 2,which is helpful for the soil development in profile 1.
