Abstract
Nitrogen deposition will alleviate the nitrogen limitation in terrestrial ecosystems and greatly affect vegetation growth, thereby soil erosion. It is important to clarify the effects of nitrogen addition to the plant roots and soil properties on the soil erosion process. A nitrogen addition experiment was conducted in the grassland dominated by Bothriochloa ischaemum (Linn.) Keng (BI), which has received 0, 2.5, 5, and 10 g N m−2 yr−1 (N0, N2.5, N5 and N10, respectively) for three consecutive years. Then, a total of 150 undisturbed soil samples were collected (including bare soil control) and subjected to flowing water to test their soil detachment capacities under six shear stress levels (10.2 Pa to 29.9 Pa). Three-year nitrogen addition increased the soil bulk density, soil cohesion and nitrate nitrogen while decreasing the saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water-stable aggregates, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen. The root mass density and root diameter decreased with nitrogen addition. And the root length, surface area and volume density of the N0 and N5 treatments were larger than those of the other treatments, while the plant roots were significantly inhibited by N10. Additionally, the soil detachment capacity (Dc) and rill erodibility (Kr) of the N0 and N5 treatments were significantly less than those of the N2.5 and N10 treatments, of which the Dc (0.020 kg m−2 s−1) of the N0 treatment was 69.0%, 24.3% and 66.8% less than that of the N2.5, N5 and N10 treatments, respectively. The Kr of the N0 treatment was 0.0012 s m−1, which was 72.1%, 25.0% and 70.0% less than that of the others. This study implies that an increase in nitrogen addition likely exacerbates soil erosion in the early (approximately 2.5 g N m−2 yr−1) and late phases (more than 10 g N m−2 yr−1). However, when the nitrogen addition rate is approximately 5 g m−2 yr−1, soil erosion may be inhibited because of the responses of the plant roots and soil to nitrogen addition.
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Abbreviations
- Abb.:
-
Full name
- BI:
-
Bothriochloa ischaemum (Linn.) Keng
- BD:
-
Soil bulk density
- SC:
-
Soil cohesion
- K 10 :
-
Saturated hydraulic conductivity
- SWA:
-
Soil water-stable aggregates
- SOC:
-
Soil organic carbon
- TN:
-
Total nitrogen
- NO −3 -N:
-
Nitrate nitrogen
- NO +4 -N:
-
Ammonium nitrogen
- RMD:
-
Root mass density
- RD:
-
Root diameter
- RLD:
-
Root length density
- RSAD:
-
Root surface area density
- RVD:
-
Root volume density
- D c :
-
Soil detachment capacity
- K r :
-
Rill erodibility
- τ c :
-
Critical shear stress
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41771555, 41530858), the CAS “Youth Scholar of West China” Program (Grant No. XAB2019A04) and the Innovation Capability Support Program of Shaanxi (Grant No. 2022PT-23). The authors thank the members of the Ansai Research Station of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Recourses for their technical assistance.
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Li, Pp., Wang, B., Yang, Yf. et al. Effects of nitrogen addition on the soil detachment in the typical grasslands of the Loess Plateau. J. Mt. Sci. 19, 3503–3516 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7543-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7543-y