Desertification is a process in which vegetation cover degrades followed by increased wind and water erosion. Plants adapted to moving sand conditions are able to reverse this process. They can stabilize die substrate...Desertification is a process in which vegetation cover degrades followed by increased wind and water erosion. Plants adapted to moving sand conditions are able to reverse this process. They can stabilize die substrate. Not much data is available on the soil stabilization capacity of plants. This study was conducted to investigate the wind-induced sand displacement around plants in relation to their biomass. Sand displacement is examined in relation to the biomass allocation pattern of three different plant species. A new method was developed to experimentally investigate plant sand-binding capacity. The relationship between sand displacement and plant biomass was not linear. Apart from the amount of biomass, species-specific plant characters like the biomass allocation pattern and plant structure may be very important in determining the sand-binding capacity.展开更多
文摘Desertification is a process in which vegetation cover degrades followed by increased wind and water erosion. Plants adapted to moving sand conditions are able to reverse this process. They can stabilize die substrate. Not much data is available on the soil stabilization capacity of plants. This study was conducted to investigate the wind-induced sand displacement around plants in relation to their biomass. Sand displacement is examined in relation to the biomass allocation pattern of three different plant species. A new method was developed to experimentally investigate plant sand-binding capacity. The relationship between sand displacement and plant biomass was not linear. Apart from the amount of biomass, species-specific plant characters like the biomass allocation pattern and plant structure may be very important in determining the sand-binding capacity.