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Comprehensive analysis of relationship between vegetation attributes and soil erosion on hillslopes in the Loess Plateau of China

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Abstract

In soil and water conservation research, vegetation is considered to be a primary factor affecting soil erosion. Many studies focus on the relationship between soil erosion and a given attribute of vegetation. Few studies have attempted a comprehensive analysis of vegetation attributes. Thus, the aim of this study is to explain the relationship between vegetation and soil erosion in detail. We studied 104 vegetation plots and 104 soil samples in the Yangjuangou catchment, Loess Plateau, Shaanxi Province, China. According to a correlation analysis of the vegetation attributes and soil 137Cs inventories, vegetation cover exerts a positive effect on soil erosion. In addition, vegetation aggregation increases with increasing soil loss. During this period of study, plant diversity can have different relationships with soil erosion according to the vegetation pattern. When vegetation distribution is relatively homogeneous, plant cover decreases with increasing diversity, and the soil loss increases. When vegetation pattern distributes between homogeneous and heterogeneous, the relationship between vegetation diversity and soil erosion is not obvious. When vegetation distribution is in a heterogeneous pattern, cover increases with increasing diversity, and soil loss decreases.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the State Forestry Administration (No. 201004058), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40930528) and the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams of “Ecosystem Processes and Services”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 2871, Beijing, 100085, China

    Jian Hou, Bojie Fu, Shuai Wang & Huoxing Zhu

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  1. Jian Hou
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  2. Bojie Fu
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  3. Shuai Wang
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  4. Huoxing Zhu
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Correspondence to Bojie Fu.

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Hou, J., Fu, B., Wang, S. et al. Comprehensive analysis of relationship between vegetation attributes and soil erosion on hillslopes in the Loess Plateau of China. Environ Earth Sci 72, 1721–1731 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3076-1

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