Substantive Characteristics of Water and Soil Conservation and Ecological Civilization Construction in China

Water and soil conservation is an important part of eco-civilization con-struction. It is a major part of eco-construction and lifeline of social and economy development. Therefore, water and soil conservation is of great significance in maintaining eco-safety. The research concluded status quo and characters of water and soil losses in China and analyzed water and soil conservation and construction of eco-civilization from the perspectives of water and soil conservation and con-struction of eco-civilization.

Effect of Typical Vegetation Restoration Pattern on Soil and Water Conservation in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley of Yunnan Province

In Yuanmou dry-hot valley of Yunnan Province,three typical vegetation restoration patterns including production forest transformed from sloping fields to terracing,ecological afforestation within the gully and ecological aforestation in gully head and slope were selected to compare their effects on soil and water conservation.Soil and water loss,soil infiltration rate and the soil moisture dynamics of soil profile with the depth of 0-100 cm of these three patterns and their controls were observed by established standard observation plots in rainy season.The results showed that the soil and water loss of ecological afforestation and production forest terrace reduced by over 30% and 60% compared with their controls（without growth of any vegetation）respectively,showing significant control effect on the soil and water loss.Vegetation restoration also apparently increased the infiltration rate of soil（increased by 100%-200%）.In rainy season,the soil moisture content of ecological afforestation and production forest terrace increased by over 30% and 100% compared with their controls.This indicated that vegetation restoration will not lead to soil aridity during the rainy season;vegetation restoration not only reduced the loss of surface water and soil fine particles,but also enhanced the infiltration of precipitation.These two effects made the soil moisture content increase throughout the profile.

Study on Relative Soil and Water Conservation Benefits of Ridge Tillage in Different Terrain Conditions in the Black Soil Area of Northeast China

Ridge tillage, which is a very common and important tillage measure in the black soil area of northeast China, has some soil and water conservation bene- fits, but has little attention. It is very important to explore the spatial distribution of the ridge direction of the arable land and its soil and water conservation benefits in different terrain conditions in the black soil area. So Binxian County of Heilongjiang Province was selected as the study area, and 168 field investigation units were ex- tracted by stratified sampling method and investigated. According to equations of slope gradient factor and slope gradient in ridge direction, and based on the soft- ware of Arcmap, SPSS and Excel, the investigation data of soil and water loss in Binxian County were analyzed and counted, The results show that in plain, hilly and mountainous areas, the average ground slope gradients are 1.92°, 6.20° and 8.27° respectively, and the average slope gradients along ridge direction are 1.33°, 4.52°and 6.45° respectively, which account for about 70%, 73% and 78% of the average ground slope gradients in the same terrain condition; the relative quantities of soil erosion in the present ridge tillage condition account for about 55%, 69% and 67% respectively of that in down-slope ridge tillage conditions, so the present ridge tillage has obviously relative soil and water conservation benefits. Based on these results, the reasons of the present ridge tillage status were analyzed, and some reform measures were proposed. The results could not only help to comprehend the spatial distribution and soil and water conservation benefits of ridge tillage in the black soil area of Northeast China, but also provide scientific references for the layout of local soil and water conservation measures.

Spatiotemporal features of soil and water loss in Three Gorges Reservoir Area of Chongqing

Soil and water loss has been the most serious eco-environmental problem in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of Chongqing.In this paper the authors studied the spatiotemporal features of soil and water loss from 1999 to 2004 based on RS and GIS techniques.The results showed that:(1) The soil and water loss area decreased from 1999 to 2004.(2) Soil and water loss mainly exists in purple soil,yellow soil,limestone soil,paddy soil and yellow brown soil distributed areas.(3) The dry slope land and sparse woodland that are intensively influenced by human activities experienced most serious soil and water loss.(4) Soil and water loss in the study area indicated an obvious vertical differentiation characteristic.(5) There is a significant correlation between soil and water loss and slope.(6) There is no obvious correlation between soil and water loss and aspect.(7) Soil and water loss mainly exists in the values of R between 300 and 340 distribution area.The very-high soil and water loss has obvious correlation with R.

IMPACTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF LAND USE ON PROCESSES OF SOIL AND WATER LOSS OVER PURPLE SOIL SLOPELAND

Based on natural precipitation observations, impacts of different types of land use on processes of soil and water loss over purple soil related slopeland were studied by simulated rainfall experiments. Measurement data revealed that rainstorms and slope length are the essential factors accountable for soil and water loss on purple soil slopeland for intense rill erosion can be caused on 10 meter long purple soil slopes by high intensity rainfall. Under circumanstances of rainstorms, annual hedge plants grown on slopeland of 25 degrees can cause a reduction of runoff by 22 43 percent and that of erosion induced sand content by 94 98 percent. Stone bund horizontal terraces can lead to a runoff reduction by 62 67 percent in comparison with steep slopelands and that of erosion induced sediment by 97.8 99 percent. Soil and water loss can be substantially decreased on steep slopes by hedge plants with a cost of only 10 20 percent that of the stone bund horizontal terraces. Hence it is an effective way to control soil and water loss in terms of slopeland amelioration and utilization in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.

Soil and water loss in the Lancang River-Mekong River watershed (in Yunnan section, China) and its control measures

According to a lot of hydrological and environmental monitoring data, the condition of soil and water loss in the Lancang River Mekong River watershed (in Yunnan section, China) is described. The occurrence and development of soil and water loss is analyzed. The conclusion is that: (1) generally, the situation of soil and water loss in the Lancang River Mekong River watershed (in Yunnan section, China) is light, however, soil and water loss in some regions is serious, especially in the middle reach area of the river; (2) soil and water loss in the Lancang River Mekong River (in Yunnan section, China) watershed presents developing tendency and it is mainly caused by human beings. In accordance with these results, the control measures for soil and water loss are discussed.

Impacts of water and soil erosion in upstream watershed of Nenjiang River

Making a brief analysis of the water and soil loss present situation in Daxing＇anling area which locates to the upstream region of Nenjiang River, and giving the water and soil loss of this area that have been made near 20 years, as well as the factors of the water and soil loss. According to the factors corresponding prevention measure and forecast model have been put forward, make a brief introduction to this model in this article. It is helpful to improve the local soil conservation and sustainable development.

A policy and technical measures for controlling soil and water loss in the Loess Plateau of China

Loess Plateau is the most serious region of soil and water loss in China and the world. The sediment carried into the Yellow River amounts to 1.6 billion tons every year. This paper reviews the factors and reasons for erosion in this area, and puts forward a comprehensive controlling policy on the basis of the principles of ecology and practise of Chinese scientists for 40 years. In conformity with the policy, a number of technical measures for controlling soil and water loss are suggested.

Topographic differentiation simulation of crop yield and soil and water loss on the Loess Plateau

De-farming slope farmland has been an effective measure in recent years for the improvement of the eco-environment and the mitigation of soil and water loss on the Loess Plateau. This paper, taking the Yangou Basin as a case study and using day-by-day mete- orological data of Yah＇an station in 2005, simulated and analyzed the quantitative relation between crop yield, soil and water loss and topographic condition with the aid of WIN-YIELD software. Results show that： 1） topographic gradient has important influence on crop yield. The bigger gradient is, the lower the crop yield. Yields of sorghum and corn decrease by 15.44% and 14.32% respectively at 25° in comparison to the case of 0°. In addition, yields of soya, bean and potato decrease slightly by 5.26%, 4.67% and 3.84%, respectively. The influences of topographic height and slope aspect on crop yield are slight. 2） Under the same topographic condition, different crops＇ runoff and soil loss show obvious disparity. Topographic gradient has important influence on soil and water loss. In general, the changing trend is that the soil and water loss aggregates with the increase of gradient, and the maximal amount occurs around 20°. The influence of topographic height is slight. Topographic aspect has a certain effect, and the fundamental characteristic is that values are higher at the aspect of south than north. 3） Topographic gradients of 5° and 15° are two important thresholds. The characteristic about soil and water loss with the variation of topographic gradients show that： the slope farmland with gradient less than 5° could remain unchanged, and the slope farmland more than 15° should be de-farmed as early as possible.

Impact of slash disposal on soil and water loss and the growth of planted seedlings

The three methods of slash disposal in this experiment were no treatment, strip piling and burning. The results obtained from this study showed that the soil erosion, water and nutrient loss were higher in the logged areas by burning than in the logged areas by no treatment and strip piling. The soil and water loss was not serious when the slope degree of the logged area was less than 16o. The survival rate of planted seedlings was higher and the growth was better in the logged areas followed by burning than in the logged areas by no treatment and strip piling. Burning should not be used when the slope was more than 23o.

Study on Soil and Water Loss Characteristic of the Railway Construction in Mountain Area

The factor of human project activity is often the immediate cause resulting in soil and water loss. The Baoji-Lanzhou second railway in construction is an example. The soil and water loss law caused by earth and stone mountain railway engineering construction in the northwestern China is studied systematically and that caused possibly by the road bed project, the road moat project, the field project, the tunnel project and the service road project in construction is probed. At the same time, the type, t...

Application of Temporary Technology for Soil and Water Conservation in Crop Protection

The increasing of highway engineering construction makes soil and water loss surrounding highway and also influences the growth of crops around, To control soil and water loss, new engineering measures are put forward to protect soil and water and prevent crops from being damaged.

Risk Assessment and Change Monitoring of Soil and Water Loss in Ruijin City Based on RS and GIS

The land use information extraction technology for the high-resolution remote sensing images of the Gaofen No. 1 satellite was construc-ted. According to the spectral, band, texture and shape attributes, land use types were divided, and the changing laws of land use types were ana- lyzed. Aftewards,according to the Table of Grading Standard of Sooil Erosion Intensity（SL190-96）,as well as vegetation coverage index NDVI slope, the risks of soil and water loss were assessed. Meanwhile, the level, scale, location and scope of changes in the risks of soil and water loss were monitored by using spatial visualization and spatial statistical techniques. The results showed that the area of areas without soil erosion and moderate soil erosion areas decreased obviously from 2015 to 2017, and the decreases were up to 22.929 3 and 13.626 3 km2 respectively. The ar-ea of mild soil erosion areas increased fast, and the increase reached 31.140 0 km2. The area of extremely strong soil erosion areas increased by 7.267 4 km2. In the city, moderate and strong soil erosion areas reduced, while extremely strong soil erosion patches increased fast, which was mainly related to road construction and construction and development of orchards. The extremely strong soil erosion areas were distributed in the shape of a banded loop, surrounded the suburbs of the city, and shrank towards the center of Ruijin City. The constructed technology to monitor the changes in land use and soil and water loss, as well as the changing laws of land use and soil and water loss provide the theoretical basis and plan-ning basis of soil and water conservation for urban planning departments and soil and water conservation departments.

Soil Erosion Changes over the Past Five Decades in the Red Soil Region of Southern China

This paper reports the dynamic changes of soil and water loss in the red soil region of Southern China since the 1950s. The red soil region covers eight provinces: Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and Hainan. From the 1950s to 1986, the annual rate of soil erosion increased by 3.4%. From 1986 to 1996 and from 1996 to 2000, the annual rates of soil erosion decreased by 2.0% and 0.32%, respectively. Field surveys showed that from 2000 to 2005, the area of soil and water loss decreased annually by 1.2%. This decrease was a result of large-scale erosion control activities across China. Although the eroded soil has been restored, the restoration process is very slow and full restoration will take a long time. Our report suggests that controlling soil and water loss is a challenging task, and additional measures must be taken to effectively control the soil erosion in the red soil region.

Study of Spatial and Temporal Processes of Soil Erosion on Sloping Land Using Rare Earth Elements As Tracers

Rare earth elements (REE) were used to study the temporal and spatial processes of soil erosion from different depths and sections of a slope. Two simulated rainfall events were applied to a prepared plot with a slope of 22°. The total runoff and sediment yield were collected every minute during the rainfall events. During the first twenty minutes of the first rainfall event, the average rate of rill erosion and the accumulated sediment yield due to rill erosion was 0.5 and 0.3 times higher than for sheet erosion. During this time, most of the erosion occurred on the lower one third of the plot. After 20 min, rill erosion became the dominant process on the slope. The average acceleration in the rate of rill erosion, the rate of rill erosion and the accumulated sediment yield due to rill erosion were 42, 6 and 4 times higher than that of sheet erosion, respectively. During the first 35 minutes of the second rainfall event, the average acceleration in the rate of rill erosion was 6～9 times higher than that of sheet erosion. Afterwards, the slope became nearly stable with little change in either rill or sheet erosion rates. Initially, most of the rill erosion occurred in the lower third of the slope but later the preexisting rillhead in the middle section of the slope became reactivated and erosion in this section of the slope increased rapidly. These results indicate that REE tracer technology is a valuable tool for quantifying spatial and temporal changes in erosion from a soil slope.

Impact of Different Contour Hedgerows on Runoff,Nutrient and Soil on Sloping Farmland in Danjiangkou Reservoir Region of China

Soil and water loss has been a major environmental problem in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region.A study of 14°sloping farmland was performed on impact of different contour hedgerows on runoff,losses of soil and nutrients during 2008 and 2011,with five treatments and three replications.The winter wheat and summer maize were used as the test crops.Treatments consisted of four hedgerows:Amorpha(Amorpha fruticosa L.),Honeysuckle(Lonicera japonica Thunb.),Day-lily flower(Hemerocallis citrina Baroni.),and Sabaigrass(Eulaliopsis binata),and a control without hedgerow.Result showed that the runoff under the control treatment was much higher than that of hedgerows.Amorpha could reduce the runoff by 35.2%compared with the control.Soil losses in four hedgerows showed significant reduction in four years(e.g.,Amorpha:78.3%;Honeysuckle:77.1%).Nutrient losses in winter were much higher than that in summer,especially total nitrogen,total phosphorus and total potassium,even though there was an abundant precipitation in summer.Hedgerows greatly affected the soil and nutrient losses on slopping farmland compared with the control treatment,especially Amorpha treatment.The present study found that the Amorpha could be used as the hedgerow species for reducing soil and water loss in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region.

Effect of potassium on soil conservation and productivity of maize/cowpea based crop rotations in the north-west Indian Himalayas

Plots under conservation tillage may require higher amount of potassium(K) application for augmenting productivity due to its stratification in upper soil layers, thereby reducing K supplying capacity in a medium or long-term period. To test this hypothesis, a field experiment was performed in 2002-2003 and 2006-2007 to study the effect of K and several crop rotations on yield, water productivity, carbon sequestration, grain quality, soil K status and economic benefits derived in maize(Zea mays L)/cowpea(Vigna sinensis L.) based cropping system under minimum tillage(MT). All crops recorded higher grain yield with a higher dose of K(120 kg K2 O ha-1) than recommended K(40 kg K2 O ha-1). The five years' average yield data showed that higher K application(120 kg K2 O ha-1) produced 16.4%(P<0.05)more maize equivalent yield. Cowpea based rotation yielded 14.2%(P<0.05) higher production than maize based rotation. The maximum enhancement was found in cowpea-mustard rotation. Relationship between yield and sustainable indices revealed that only agronomic efficiency of fertilizer input was significantly correlated with yield. Similarly, higherdoses of K application not only increased the water use efficiency(WUE) of all crops, but also reduced runoff and soil loss by 16.5% and 15.8% under maize and 23.3% and 19.7% under cowpea cover, respectively. This study also revealed that on an average 16.5% of left over carbon input contributed to soil organic carbon(SOC). Here, cowpea based rotation with the higher K application increased carbon sequestration in soil. Potassium fertilization also significantly improved the nutritional value of harvested grain by increasing the protein content for maize(by 9.5%) and cowpea(by 10.6%). The oil content in mustard increased by 5.0% and 6.0% after maize and cowpea, respectively. Net return also increased with the application of the higher K than recommended K and the trend was similar to yield. Hence, the present study demonstrated the potential yield and profit gains along with resource conservation in the Indian Himalayas due to annual additions of higher amount of K than the recommended dose. The impact of high K application was maximum in the cowpea-mustard rotation.

Simulated rainfall in Brazil:An alternative for assesment of soil surface processes and an opportunity for technological development

Rainfall simulators(RS)have been used,above all,to evaluate hydrological processes related to soil water infiltration,surface runoff and soil erosion.They allow repeatability of rain application with different precipitation intensities in field and/or laboratory conditions and should produce events with physical characteristics similar to natural rain.In this manuscript,we carried out a bibliometric and scientometric analysis of studies with simulated rainfall in Brazil to assess the temporal evolution of publications,the main topics addressed and the degree of technological development of the equipment.We searched for the terms“rainfall simulator”OR“simulated rainfall”AND“Brazil”in the Scopus,Web of Science,SciELO and Google Scholar databases.We found 143 articles published in the last 37 years(1985-2022).Our findings indicate that the main research areas covered in papers are soil erosion(57.34%),soil water infiltration(24.47%),nutrient losses(9.8%)and RS development and calibration/assessment(8.39%).In recent years,the number of published papers in international high-impact factor journals has increased.Most of the papers(49.65%)refer to studies carried out by institutions located in the south and southeast regions of Brazil.Moreover,there is a large gap of studies on simulated rainfall in other regions of Brazil,where important biomes such as the Cerrado,Amazon,Caatinga,and their transitions are located.This study informs research priorities on soil erosion under simulated rainfall and provides a bibliographic database that can assist in more detailed future analyses.

Analysis on Status and Development Trend of Wind Erosion in Black Earth Region of Northeast China

In this paper,areas and main factors of wind erosion in black earth region of Northeast China were systematically analyzed,as well as the development trend of wind erosion in black earth region of Northeast China.In addition,development trend of wind erosion in black earth region of Northeast China was analyzed from the aspects of the geographic position,climatic change law in recent 40 years and effects of northeast sand land desertification on wind erosion in black earth region,which had provided references for the research and prevention of wind erosion in soil of black earth region of Northeast China.

Research of Ecological Restoration of Jari Agricultural Demonstration Site in Ethiopia

In order to resolve the issue of soil erosion in East African plateau, a micro-landscape irrigation region was established in Ethiopia plateau to research status quo of agricultural demonstration site in Jari in Ethiopia and to analyze the relation between structure and function of inner elements in different landscapes of demonstration site. Furthermore, in accordance with ecology, silviculture, agriculture and economics, the ecological landscapes were classified as per landscape functions; lands returning from farming were classified and re-used; ecosystems of grassland, river, agriculture and courtyard were researched; the feasibility of ecological restoration and sustainable development in demonstration site was demonstrated; the model for rational irrigation and water conservation was proposed. The research guarantees sustainable development of agriculture and animal husbandry and provides references for undeveloped countries with similar problems.