Effect of Root Architecture on Structural Stability and Erodibility of Topsoils during Concentrated Flow in Hilly Loess Plateau

Traditional vegetation techniques for the control of concentrated flow erosion are widely recognized, whereas only a few studies have experimentally investigated the impacts of belowground roots on the erodibility of topsoils in semi-arid areas. To quantify the effects of root architectures on soil erodibility and its relevant structural properties, simulated flow experiments were conducted at six-week intervals from 18 July to 20 October in 2012 in the hilly Loess Plateau. Five treatments were: 1) bare(control), 2) purple alfalfa(Medicago sativa), representing tap roots(T), 3) switchgrass(Panicum virgatum), representing fibrous roots(F), 4) purple alfalfa and switchgrass, representing both tap and fibrous roots(T + F), and 5) natural recovery(N). For each treatment, soil structural properties and root characteristics were measured at an interval of six weeks. Soil anti-scouribility was calculated. Results showed that grass planting slightly reduced soil bulk density, but increased soil aggregate content by 19.1%, 10.6%, 28.5%, and 41.2% in the treatments T, F, T + F, and N, respectively. Soil shear strength(cohesion and angle of internal friction(φ)) significantly increased after the grass was planted. As roots grew, soil cohesion increased by 115.2%–135.5%, while soil disintegration rate decreased by 39.0%–58.1% in the 21 th week compared with the recorded value in the 9th week. Meanwhile, root density and root surface area density increased by 64.0%–104.7% and 75.9%–157.1%, respectively. No significant differences in soil anti-scouribility were observed between the treatments of T and F or of T + F and N, but the treatments of T + F and N performed more effectively than T or F treatment alone in retarding concentrated flow. Soil aggregation and root surface-area density explained the observed soil anti-scouribility during concentrated flow well for the different treatments. This result proved that the restoration of natural vegetation might be the most appropriate strategy in soil reinforcement in the hilly Loess Plateau.

Estimating soil erosion response to land use/cover change in a catchment of the Loess Plateau, China

The vegetation restoration project, named the Grain to Green Program, has been operating for more than ten years in the upper reaches of the Beiluo River basin, located in the Loess Plateau of China. It is significant to be able to estimate the success of preventing soil erosion. In this study, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and the Sediment Distributed Delivery (SEDD) model were used to assess the annual soil loss derived from water erosion. The results showed that the study area suffered from primary land use changes, with increasing grassland and forest and decreasing farmland from 1990 to 2010. Based on that, the average soil erosion modulus decreased from 18,189.72 t/(km2 a) in 1990– 7408.93 t/(km2 a) in 2000 and 2857.76 t/(km2 a) in 2010. Compared with 1990, the average soil erosion modulus decreased by 59.0% and 84.3% for 2000 and 2010, respectively. Benefiting from the increased vegetation coverage and improved ecological environment, the soil erosion in this study area clearly declined. This research also found that the distribution of the three years of soil erosion was similarly based on topographic factors. The soil erosion modulus varied with different land use types and decreased in the order of residential area>farmland>grassland>forest. The average soil erosion modulus gradually increased with the increase of the slope gradient, and 76.08% of the total soil erosion was concentrated in the region with a gradient more than 15 degrees. The soil erosion modulus also varied with slope aspects in the order of sunny slope>half-sunny slope>half-shady slope>shady slope. This research provides useful reference for soil and water conservation and utilization in this area and offers a technical basis for using the RUSLE to estimate soil erosion in the Loess Plateau of China.

Gully Impact on Soil Moisture in the Gully Bank

In order to preliminarily look at rules for soil moisture changes in the bank of the gully and to provide some recommendations for vegetative restoration in gully bank regions in the Loess Plateau, changes of soil moisture with depth and distance to the gully edge and their dynamic changes with time were observed to study the soil water characteristics in the bank of the gully. The results showed that soil water content increased with increasing distance from the gully edge, whereas for the same time period, the closer the distance to the gully wall, the greater the water loss; and that the influential distance of side evaporation decreased as depth increased.