Effects of vegetation cover of natural grassland on runoff and sediment yield in loess hilly region of China. (9th August 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Xining; Chen, Xiaoli; Huang, Jun; Wu, Pute; Helmers, Matthew J
• Is Part Of: Journal of the science of food and agriculture. Volume 94:Number 3(2014:Feb. 15)
• Page Start: 497
• Page End: 503
• Publication Date: 2013-08-09
• Subjects: Food -- Periodicals; Agriculture -- Periodicals; 664
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.6275
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-5142

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jsfa6275-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="jsfa6275-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>BACKGROUND</title> <p id="jsfa6275-para-0001"> <bold>The effects of vegetation cover (VC) on runoff and sediment yield were investigated from rainfall simulation experiments in the Loess Plateau of China. Five VCs from 0% to 80% and three different rainfall intensities (<italic>I</italic><sub>2.0, 1.5, 0.75</sub>) were implemented.</bold> </p> </sec> <sec id="jsfa6275-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>RESULTS</title> <p id="jsfa6275-para-0002"> <bold>The results indicated that runoff and sediment yields in slopes were significantly affected by <italic>I</italic> and VC, and when the VC amounted to 40% there occurred obvious benefits of runoff and sediment reductions and then amplitude decreased with the increase of VC. The runoff reduction benefits at <italic>I</italic><sub>1.5</sub> and <italic>I</italic><sub>0.75</sub> were much greater than that at <italic>I</italic><sub>2.0</sub>, while the sediment reduction benefits had no significant difference among different rainfall intensities. At <italic>I</italic><sub>2.0</sub>, the natural grassland slopes with high VC exhibited the characteristics of high runoff but low sediment production. There existed a power function relationship between cumulative runoff and sediment yield. The increase in cumulative sediment yield was less than the increase in cumulative runoff with increasing VC, and the sediment reduction benefit was greater than runoff reduction on natural grassland slopes.</bold> </p> </sec> <sec id="jsfa6275-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>CONCLUSION</title> <p id="jsfa6275-para-0003"> <bold>The ratio of runoff reduction to sediment reduction can be used as a comprehensive index for assessing the benefits of runoff and sediment reduction in natural grassland. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry</bold> </p> </sec> </abstract>