Patch dieback of Colophospermum mopane in a dysfunctional semi‐arid African savanna

Abstract Patch dieback occurred in an almost monospecific Colophospermum mopane (Kirk ex Benth.) Kirk ex J. Léonard woodland in the Northern Province, South Africa, following severe droughts in 1988–1989 and 1991–1992. Discrete patches of dieback and adjacent paired areas of ‘healthy’ vegetation lost an average of 87 and 13% of basal area to mortality, respectively. Whole trees mostly died on ‘dead’ plots, while single‐stem mortality prevailed on ‘live’ plots. Tree mortality decreased with increasing stem number per tree. Patch dieback did not occur on sandy soils. On fine‐textured soils, variation in soil type, topography or slope did not affect dieback. Dieback was influenced by vegetation structure, soil surface condition and soil chemistry. Intense intertree competition, shown by self‐thinning occurring prior to dieback, was a precondition for dieback. Intertree competition had heightened during the 30 years prior to dieback because of an increase in woody cover. Dieback patches had changed from functioning as sinks of water and sediment to sources of these as a result of loss of perennial herbaceous cover, decreased water retention on bared surfaces, and accelerated erosion during 50 years of livestock ranching. Vegetation had thus become increasingly drought‐prone, exacerbated in places by soils with a high sodium concentration. Dieback had occurred because the water requirements of C. mopane could no longer be met during drought years on the dysfunctional patches.     

细沟发育与形态特征研究进展

细沟发育导致坡耕地表土和养分流失,严重危害农业生产和生态环境;而细沟形态对坡面径流和侵蚀具有重要影响。分析了细沟发育过程、细沟形态特征及二者耦合关系的研究进展,指出了各自研究中存在的主要问题,并提出了细沟发育与形态特征研究中需要加强的重点领域。     

黄土区露天煤矿排土场不同微地貌土壤种子库特征

黄土区露天煤矿排土场边坡水力冲刷强烈，不同植被恢复模式与水力作用耦合形成的不同微地貌可通过对种子的不同拦截作用而影响植被的恢复及发展。为了探讨排土场不同微地貌对种子的拦截效益及不同植被恢复模式的恢复潜力，选取不同恢复模式下形成的细沟、丛岛和草带三种微地貌为研究对象，以邻近裸坡为对照，研究不同微地貌土壤种子库特征及其拦截力。结果表明：（1）在不同微地貌中土壤种子库均以一年生藜科和禾本科植物为主；丛岛微生境的土壤种子库中有较丰富的物种和较高的多样性指数。（2）各微地貌的土壤种子库均具有表层聚集现象；草带微地貌中的土壤种子库总储量最大，且草带的0-2 cm土层处的土壤种子库密度显著高于各微地貌的各个土层（P<0.05）。（3）细沟和丛岛在上坡位对种子的拦截效果更好，草带在下坡位对种子的拦截效果更好。综上所述，沙蒿恢复模式形成的丛岛有利于增加土壤种子库的物种多样性，草带有利于增加土壤种子库的储量，故在黄土区排土场进行植被恢复时可以利用不同微地貌对土壤种子库分布特征的优势构建适宜的复合植被恢复模式。     

黄土坡面细沟侵蚀形态试验

基于同一降雨强度下的室内连续模拟降雨试验,研究了典型坡度条件下黄土坡面细沟侵蚀形态,分析了细沟的空间分布特征、发育状况及距细沟沟头长度、细沟宽度和深度关系。结果表明:第1次降雨坡面以断续细沟为主,侵蚀方式主要为溯源侵蚀,细沟累积长度为39.3 m,坡面细沟总面积占试验土槽面积的14.2%;第2次降雨坡面以连续细沟为主,细沟沟壁崩塌增强,坡面的破碎程度增加,细沟累积长度增加32.1%,坡面细沟总面积增加115.6%。与第1次降雨相比,第2次降雨后细沟平均宽度、深度和坡面细沟侵蚀平均深度均增加,且在4—7 m坡段内增加幅度最大。单位斜坡长上细沟平均宽度和深度随斜坡长度的增加呈现先增加后减小的趋势,表明径流能量的消长对坡面细沟侵蚀发育过程及形态特征有明显影响。第1次降雨单条细沟长度均小于3 m,细沟宽度随距细沟沟头长度的增大而增大,第2次降雨则呈现先增大后减小的趋势,细沟深度随距细沟沟头长度的增加一直呈现先增大后减小的趋势,细沟宽度与深度的拟合关系最好,细沟深度随宽度的增加而增大,后趋于稳定。     

壤中流和土壤解冻深度对黑土坡面融雪侵蚀的影响

融雪侵蚀是东北黑土区土壤流失的一种重要形式,而目前有关壤中流和土壤解冻深度对融雪径流侵蚀的影响研究较少。本研究采用室内模拟试验,设计两个融雪径流量(1和4 L·min^-1)和两个土壤解冻深度(5和10 cm),以及有、无壤中流处理,分析壤中流和土壤解冻深度对黑土区坡面融雪侵蚀的影响。结果表明: 1)壤中流处理下坡面融雪径流深度和侵蚀量分别是无壤中流处理的1.1～1.2倍和1.3～1.9倍。两个融雪径流量下,当土壤解冻深度由5 cm增加到10 cm时,无壤中流处理下坡面融雪径流深度和侵蚀量分别增加10.0%～13.5%和15.4%～37.1%;而有壤中流处理下坡面融雪径流深度增加6.5%～8.5%,融雪侵蚀量则无显著变化。2)坡面细沟发育受壤中流、土壤解冻深度和融雪径流量的综合影响,各处理下细沟侵蚀量占坡面融雪侵蚀量的72%以上。3)壤中流发生使坡面径流流速和径流剪切力分别增加20.3%～23.2%和37.0%～51.3%,Darcy-Weisbach阻力系数减少9.0%～21.4%,从而增加了坡面融雪侵蚀量;且壤中流发生促进了坡面细沟发育,其细沟侵蚀量较无壤中流处理增加43.6%～69.9%,也导致坡面融雪侵蚀量增加。无壤中流条件下,土壤解冻深度加剧坡面融雪侵蚀的主要原因是随着土壤解冻深度的增加,坡面径流侵蚀能力和可蚀性物质来源增加,导致融雪径流侵蚀量增加。此外,土壤解冻深度对壤中流条件下细沟形态发育也有明显的影响,土壤解冻深度为5 cm时,细沟横向加宽作用显著;而土壤解冻深度为10 cm时,细沟下切侵蚀作用更显著。本研究加深了对黑土区融雪侵蚀机理的认识,可为水蚀模型的研发提供理论指导。     

Empirical Bayes small area prediction under a zero-inflated lognormal model with correlated random area effects

Many variables of interest in agricultural or economical surveys have skewed distributions and can equal zero. Our data are measures of sheet and rill erosion called Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation - 2 (RUSLE2). Small area estimates of mean RUSLE2 erosion are of interest. We use a zero-inflated lognormal mixed effects model for small area estimation. The model combines a unit-level lognormal model for the positive RUSLE2 responses with a unit-level logistic mixed effects model for the binary indicator that the response is nonzero. In the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) data, counties with a higher probability of nonzero responses also tend to have a higher mean among the positive RUSLE2 values. We capture this property of the data through an assumption that the pair of random effects for a county are correlated. We develop empirical Bayes (EB) small area predictors and a bootstrap estimator of the mean squared error (MSE). In simulations, the proposed predictor is superior to simpler alternatives. We then apply the method to construct EB predictors of mean RUSLE2 erosion for South Dakota counties. To obtain auxiliary variables for the population of cropland in South Dakota, we integrate a satellite-derived land cover map with a geographic database of soil properties. We provide an R Shiny application called viscover (available at https://lyux.shinyapps.io/viscover/ ) to visualize the overlay operations required to construct the covariates. On the basis of bootstrap estimates of the mean square error, we conclude that the EB predictors of mean RUSLE2 erosion are superior to direct estimators.     

Performance of Vegetation in Reclaimed Slopes Affected by Soil Erosion

Soil erosion in reclaimed mines may affect plant colonization and performance, and may compromise restoration success; however, the magnitude of this effect has seldom been quantified. We monitored the dynamics of vegetation (seed bank density, seedling emergence, plant mortality, and seed production) during a growing season (2003–2004) in three constructed slopes with differing past erosion rates. The slopes are located in the Utrillas coalfield in Spain, which experiences a Mediterranean‐continental climate. In the most eroded slope, soil water availability was lower—especially in the interrill areas—and seedling emergence rate, plant survival, and seed production were also significantly lower than on the less eroded slopes. We found that vegetation recovery is dramatically constrained when rill erosion rate is 17 t ha^?1 yr^?1 and plant cover is 30%, but this effect disappears when plant cover is higher than 60%. Soil erosion in constructed slopes appears to inhibit natural plant colonization processes by increasing runoff water loss over the long‐term. Thus, when rill erosion networks develop, human intervention would be needed to minimize the loss of water and facilitate vegetation colonization.