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Quantifying the effects of the plant canopy, plant roots, and biological soil crust on soil detachment by overland flow

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The plant canopy, plant roots, and biological soil crusts play important roles in soil detachment by overland flow. This study aims to quantify and analyze the effects of the plant canopy, plant roots, and soil crust on soil detachment via in situ experiments.

Materials and methods

Two typical dominant species, Bothriochloa ischaemum (Linn.) Keng (an herb) and Sophora davidii (Franch.) Skeel (a shrub) on the Loess Plateau, China, were selected. Four treatments were denoted T0 (bare land), T1 (canopy + root + crust), T2 (root + crust), and T3 (root) and subjected to flow scouring with a discharge of 5 L min−1 on a 20° slope.

Results and discussion

The soil detachment rate (SDr) in all treatments decreased sharply in the first 3 min due to changes in the internal force of the soil particles. As the effects of the canopy, roots, and soil crust were subsequently superimposed, the SDr decreased by 87.42–93.42% compared with that of the bare land. The plant canopy, roots, and soil crust contributed 8.57–9.54%, 92.36–95.27%, and −1.90 to −3.84% of the soil detachment reduction (SDR), respectively. Additionally, the naturally restored herb roots decreased soil detachment by flowing water more significantly than shrub roots in the study area.

Conclusions

The effects of canopy, roots, and soil crust on SDr in grassland were similar to those in shrubland. Roots played a crucial role in strengthening soil resistance to detachment. Although shrubland had a greater effect on soil detachment reduction than grassland, herbs are strongly recommended for reducing soil erodibility due to the greater erosion-reducing potential of roots and their drought resistance on the Loess Plateau.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article.

Abbreviations

SDr:

Soil detachment rate

RSDr:

Relative soil detachment rate

SDR:

Soil detachment reductions

CR:

The contributions of different factors to soil detachment reduction

CMD:

Canopy biomass density

CC:

Canopy coverage

SN:

Stem number

RLD:

Root length density

RSAD:

Root surface area density

RMD:

Root mass density

MRD:

Mean root diameter

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Funding

Financial assistance for this work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41977061, 42077058) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2019TS014, GK202103150).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710119, China

    Junyang Liu, Zhengchao Zhou, Bingbing Zhu & Xuemeng Su

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  1. Junyang Liu
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  2. Zhengchao Zhou
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  4. Xuemeng Su
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Correspondence to Zhengchao Zhou.

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Liu, J., Zhou, Z., Zhu, B. et al. Quantifying the effects of the plant canopy, plant roots, and biological soil crust on soil detachment by overland flow. J Soils Sediments 22, 457–469 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-021-03089-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-021-03089-5

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