Abstract
Alpine meadow is the predominant ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The firm turf of alpine meadow formed by sub-surface anfractuous roots can be effective in conserving water and soil. Alpine meadow is a primary contributor to the Chinese Water Tower. For quantitative assess anti-erosion ability of alpine meadow, this paper selected three typical meadow slopes with >60% vegetation coverage to evaluate soil erosion rates using 137Cs. The results showed that (1) soil erosion intensity of typical alpine meadow was slight to light. Erosion rates were 464 t km−2 a−1 in Malong Village, 415 t km−2 a−1 in Yeniugou Town and 875 t km−2 a−1 in Zhenqin Town respectively; (2) soil erosion rates were correlated negatively with vegetation coverage, and the relationship was clearer at the slope scale than plot scale; (3) the relationship between soil erosion and vegetation coverage showed that vegetation coverage was a predominant factor in retaining soil and water on slopes. With complete turf and high vegetation coverage, alpine meadow was of great significance for soil conservation and prevention of soil erosion.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Find the latest articles, discoveries, and news in related topics.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Tamura T, Jacobs D G. Structural implications in cesium sorption. Health Phys, 1960, 6: 391–398
Rogowshi A S, Tamura T. Movement of 137Cs by runoff, erosion and infiltration on the alluvial captina silt loam. Health Phys, 1965, 11: 1333–3340
Owens P N, Walling D E, He Q P. The behaviour of bomb-derived caesium-137 fallout in catchment soils. J Environ Radioactiv, 1996, 32: 169–191
Zhang X B, Li S L, Wang C H. The 137Cs research of the source of soil and sands in small basin of loess plateau. Chinese Sci Bull, 1989, 34: 210–213
Yang M Y, Tian J L, Liu P L, et al. The soil erosion and distribution characteristic of sediment space in small basin using 137Cs tracing method. Adv Nature Sci, 2001, 11: 71–75
Li R Y, Yang H, Zhao X G, et al. Application of 137Cs technique to study of soil erosion on loess plateau region. Soils, 2004, 36: 96–98
Wen A B, Zhang X B, Wang Y K, et al. Study on soil erosion rates using 137Cs technique in upper Yangtze river. J Soil Water Conserv, 2002, 16: 1–3
Wang Y K, Wen A B, Zhang X B. Study of soil erosion on cultivated slope land in severe soil loss regions of upper reaches of Yangtze River Basin using 137Cs technique. J Soil Water Conserv, 2003, 17: 77–80
Fang H J, Yang X M, Zhang X P, et al. Study on soil erosion and deposition of black soils on a sloping cultivated land using 137Cs tracer method. Acta Ecol Sin, 2005, 25: 1376–1382
Zhuang S Y, Wu C Y, Yang H. Distribution characteristics of 137Cs in erosion sediment in red soil region. J Soil Water Conserv, 2002, 16: 65–67
Pu L J, Zhao Y Y, Jin P H, et al. Application of 137Cs as tracing method to study soil erosion on sloping lands in the hilly red soil area—A case study in Fengcheng City, Jiangxi Province. Resour Environ Yangtze Basin, 2004, 13: 562–567
Yan P, Dong G R, Zhang X B, et al. Application of Caesim-137 technique on wind erosion in Gonghe basin, Qinghai Province (II)-137Cs reference inventory and 137Cs model for wind erosion estimation. J Desert Res, 2003, 23: 391–397
Yan P, Dong G R, Zhang X B, et al. Preliminary results of the study on wind erosion in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau using 137Cs technique. Chinese Sci Bull, 2000, 45: 1019–1024
Zhang C L, Zou X Y, Dong G R, et al. Characteristics of 137Cs deposition in steppe area. Chinese Sci Bull, 2002, 47: 848–853
Zhang C L, Gong J R, Zou X Y, et al. Estimates of soil movement in a study area in Gonghe Basin, northeast of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. J Arid Environ, 2003, 53: 285–295
Hu Y F, Liu J Y, Zhuang D F, et al. Distribution characteristics of 137Cs in wind-eroded soil profile and its use in estimating wind erosion modulus. Chinese Sci Bull, 2005, 50: 1155–1159
Liu J Y, Qi Y Q, Shi H D, et al. Estimation of wind erosion rates by using 137Cs tracing technique: A case study in Tariat-Xilin Gol transect, Mongolian Plateau. Chinese Sci Bull, 2008, 53: 751–758
Qi Y Q, Liu J Y, Shi H D, et al. Using 137Cs tracing technique to estimate wind erosion rates in the typical steppe region, northern Mongolian Plateau. Chinese Sci Bull, 2008, 53: 1423–1430
Li Y S, Wang G X, Wang J D, et al. 137Cs trace technique to study soil erosion at alpine meadow of Tibetan Plateau. J Mt Sci-engl, 2007, 25: 114–121
Xu X L, Liu J Y, Shao Q Q, et al. The dynamic changes of ecosystem spatial pattern and structure in the three river headwaters region in Qinghai Province during recent 30 years. Geogr Res, 2008, 27: 829–828
Walling D E, Quine T A. Use of Caesium-137 as a Tracer of Erosion and Sedimentation: Handbook for the Application of the Caesium-137 Technique (U. K. Overseas Development Administration Research Scheme R4579). Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, 1993. 15–34
Zhang X B, Li S L, Wang C H, et al. A study of sediment delivery from a small catchment in the loess plateau by the 137Cs method. Chinese Sci Bull, 1990, 35: 37–42
Walling D E, He Q. Improved models for estimating soil erosion rates from cesium-137 measurements. J Environ Qual, 1999, 28: 611–622
Zhang X B, Long Y, He X B, et al. A simplified 137Cs transport model for estimating erosion rates in undisturbed soil. J Environ Radioactiv, 2008, 99: 1242–1246
Zapata F. Handbook for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation using environmental radio nuclides. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002. 219
Fu J X, Zhang X B, Qi Y Q, et al. Penetration process model for 137Cs depth distribution in uncultivated soil without erosion. Nucl Tech, 2006, 29: 189–193
Qi Y Q, Zhang X B, He X B, et al. 137Cs reference inventories distribution pattern in China. Nucl Tech, 2006, 29: 42–50
Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China. SL190-96. Standards of Classification for Soil Erosion. Beijing: China Water Power Press, 1997
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Shao, Q., Xiao, T., Liu, J. et al. Soil erosion rates and characteristics of typical alpine meadow using 137Cs technique in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Chin. Sci. Bull. 56, 1708–1713 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4477-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4477-0