Soil erodibility for water and wind erosion and its relationship to vegetation and soil properties in China's drylands

Yi Han; Wenwu Zhao; Jingyi Ding; Carla Sofia Santos Ferreira

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166639

Soil erodibility for water and wind erosion and its relationship to vegetation and soil properties in China's drylands

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 10:903:166639. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166639. Epub 2023 Aug 28.

Authors

Yi Han¹, Wenwu Zhao², Jingyi Ding¹, Carla Sofia Santos Ferreira³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Institute of Land Surface System and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Institute of Land Surface System and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: zhaoww@bnu.edu.cn.
³ Department of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-10691, Sweden; Research Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (CERNAS), Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Agrarian Technical School, Coimbra, Portugal.

PMID: 37647966
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166639

Abstract

Drylands with fragile socio-ecological systems are vulnerable to soil erosion. China's drylands face the dual threat of water (WAE) and wind erosion (WIE). To mitigate soil erosion in drylands, China has implemented numerous ecological restoration measures. However, whether vegetation and soil have different effects on soil erodibility for water erosion (soil erodibility, K) and wind erosion (soil erodible fraction, EF) in drylands is unclear, hindering decision makers to develop suitable ecological restoration strategies. Here, we conducted a large-scale belt transect survey to explore the spatial variation of K and EF in China's drylands, and examined the linear and nolinear effects of aridity (aridity index), vegetation (fractional vegetation cover and below-ground biomass), and soil properties (bulk density, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus) on K and EF. The results showed in China's drylands that the K ranges from 0.02 to 0.07, with high values recorded in the northern Loess Plateau and the eastern Inner Mongolia Plateau. The EF ranges from 0.26 to 0.98, and shows longitudinal zonation with higher values in the east and lower values in the west. Aridity has a negative linear effect on K and an inverse U-shaped nonlinear effect on EF. Aridity can affect K and EF by suppressing vegetation growth and disrupting soil properties. However, K and EF had different responses to some vegetation and soil variables. K and EF had opposite relationships with soil bulk density, and EF was significantly affected by fractional vegetation cover, while K was not. Overall, the effects of aridity and soil properties on soil erodibility were more pronounced than those from vegetation, whose effect on soil erodibility was limited. This study provides relevant information to support reducing soil water and wind erosion by highlighting the hotspot areas of soil erodibility, relevant for implementing vegetation restoration and soil conservation measures in drylands.

Keywords: Dryland; Ecological restoration; Soil erodibility; Water erosion; Wind erosion.