Soil crusting and infiltration on steep slopes in northern Thailand

Predicting the rate at which rain infiltrates on steep slopes is very uncertain. There is no consistent information in the literature. We have therefore related infiltrability to slope gradient under field conditions by experimenting on a gravelly loamy soil occupying the upper half of a cultivated convex hill in northern Thailand. Fifteen 1 m × 1 m plots with slope gradients ranging from 16 to 63% were established, and simulated rain was allowed to fall on them at controlled rates and for fixed times. We obtained the following results. The surface fell 0.4–7.2 mm due to compaction and soil loss. The proportions of crust (0–40%) and embedded gravel (10–60%), the runoff coefficient (0.05–0.78 mm mm^?1), the mean sediment concentrations (0–5.6 g l^?1), and soil detachment (10–313 g m^?2) were more pronounced on the gentle slopes than on the steep ones. The steady final infiltration rate (1–107 mm hour^?1) increased sharply with increasing slope gradient. Microaggregates tended to behave like sand and become tightly packed on gentle slopes (packing crust). These results suggest that the vertical component of kinetic energy, which is greater on gentle slopes, has a dominant role. Nevertheless, the differences in compaction and in sediment concentration could not be ascribed to the vertical component of kinetic energy alone. On steep slopes the horizontal component of the kinetic energy is transformed into shear stress, hampering the development of crusts so that water can still infiltrate. On steeper slopes, the water film was thinner, thereby limiting the role of splash. We conclude that the relationship between slope gradient and infiltrability depends on the nature of the soil and must be examined in the light of surface crusting processes.     

Effect of compost on erodibility of loamy sand under simulated rainfall

Three types of composts [vegetable, fruit and yard waste compost (VFYW), garden waste compost (GW), and spent mushroom compost (SM)] were applied at a rate of 30 m³ ha⁻¹ for 10 years to loamy sand, to determine its effect on the aggregate stability and susceptibility to water erosion. Aggregate stability was measured using the stability index derived from the wet sieving method while a laboratory rainfall simulator was used to measure runoff, sheet and splash erosion. Only GW recorded a significant increase (45%) in aggregate stability. Runoff, sheet erosion, and splash erosion did not show significant improvement for any of the compost types. SM application resulted in a significant increase (51%) in the shear strength of the soil after rainfall. Long term compost application does not appreciably improve the resistance of loamy sand to water erosion.     

种植大豆地表土壤溅蚀效应及其空间分布特征

为系统研究种植大豆条件下农地溅蚀速率变化特征并建立简单易用的模型,评价大豆种植对土壤溅蚀的影响,采用室内模拟降雨的方法,测定了不同降雨强度(40 mm h-1和80 mm h-1)、不同大豆生长阶段(始花期、盛花期、结荚期和始粒期)下的穿透雨强度和溅蚀速率,分析了大豆冠下溅蚀速率与叶面积指数和穿透雨强度的关系,探讨了冠下溅蚀速率的空间分布特征.结果表明:与裸地相比,在大豆全生育期,大豆冠下平均溅蚀速率在设计雨强40 mm h-1和80 mm h-1下,分别减少了62.85％和60.74％.冠下平均溅蚀速率随叶面积指数增加呈显著的增加趋势,且随降雨强度的增大而显著增加.冠下各点溅蚀速率受相应各点的穿透雨强度影响在80 mm h-1设计雨强下较为显著,随穿透雨强度的增加而增加.大豆冠下溅蚀速率的空间分布与穿透雨的分布具有一定的对应性,即冠下穿透雨较为集中的区域会在一定程度上增加溅蚀的发生,并导致冠下溅蚀速率分布不均,大豆冠下穿透雨是冠下溅蚀产生和分布的主要能量来源.该研究提出的大豆冠下溅蚀速率模型可为坡耕地土壤侵蚀防治和农田灌溉有效利用提供理论支持.     

THE EFFECT OF SOIL TYPE, SLOPE, RAIN INTENSITY AND THEIR INTERACTIONS ON SPLASH DETACHMENT AND TRANSPORT

From a factorial experiment using a graded sand and three soils (sand, clay loam, and clay), five slopes (0.0, 3.5, 7.0, and 14.0 per cent) and four intensities (50, 80, 110, and 140 mm h^?1), splash detachment and splash transport are described in terms of the direct effects and the first and second order interactions of these variables. The graded sand and three soils tested are significantly different in the mean weight of soil detached and transported. They can be placed in rank order of graded sand, sand, clay, and clay loam with increasing resistance to splash detachment. The amount of material transported is in the order of graded sand > clay > sand > clay loam. For each soil there are significant increases in splash detachment and splash transport with increasing rainfall intensity. Both splash parameters are significantly correlated with slope steepness. The most important interactions that influence splash detachment and splash transport are soil × intensity and slope × intensity respectively. Significant interactions show that the factors are not independent of each other; the simple effects of a factor differ, and the magnitude of any simple effect varies according to the level of the other factors of the interaction term. These interactions have not been explicitly studied in previous research on splash erosion. Power equations are established between splash activity and the above variables and reasonable working ranges for the exponents are suggested.     

Specific ion effects on soil aggregate stability and rainfall splash erosion

Soil interparticle forces can pose important effects on soil aggregate stability and rainfall splash erosion. Meanwhile, these interparticle forces are strongly influenced by specific ion effects. In this study, we applied three monovalent cations (Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺) with various concentrations to investigate the influence of specific ion effects on aggregate stability and splash erosion via pipette and rainfall simulation methods. The specific ion effects on soil interparticle forces were quantitatively evaluated by introducing cationic non-classical polarization. The results showed that aggregate stability and splash erosion had strong ion specificity. Aggregate breaking strength and splash erosion rate at the same salt concentration followed the sequence as Li⁺ > Na⁺ > K⁺. With decreasing salt concentration, the difference in aggregate breaking strength or splash erosion rate between different cation systems increased initially (1–10^–2 mol L^–1) and later was nearly invariable (10^–2–10^–4 mol L^–1). The experimental results were well quantitatively explained by soil interparticle forces considering cationic non-classical polarization. Furthermore, both aggregate breaking strength and splash erosion rate of three cations revealed a strong positive linear relation with net force subjected to cationic non-classical polarization (R² = 0.81, R² = 0.81). These results demonstrated that different non-classical polarization of cations resulted in different soil interparticle forces, and thus led to differences in aggregate stability and splash erosion. Our study provides valuable information to deeply understand the mechanisms of rainfall splash erosion.     

Erosion Potential under Miconia calvescens Stands on the Island of Hawai‘i

This study provides evidence that Miconia calvescens has the potential to accelerate surface erosion in stands where it invades by (i) reducing under‐canopy light levels, thereby reducing the establishment of ground cover vegetation, and (ii) producing highly erosive throughfall drops on large leaves in a single‐layer canopy. The throughfall energy in a stand of invasive miconia on the Island of Hawai‘i (USA), assessed by measuring the drop size and drop velocity distributions with a laser disdrometer, was significantly higher than that in a stand of native ‘ōhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha) and ambient rainfall. Median throughfall drop size for miconia (3·83 mm) was twice that of ambient rainfall (1·62 mm). Highly erosive throughfall resulted from large drops forming on large miconia leaves and relatively high fall velocities associated with the single‐story miconia canopy. In contrast, multi‐storied natural ‘ōhi‘a had a larger median drop size; however, a lower fall height reduced throughfall effective kinetic energy. Furthermore, the effective kinetic energy for miconia was high because large drops (> 3·8 mm) with high kinetic energy accounted for 60 per cent of the total energy (versus 30–40 per cent for other vegetation types). Consequently, unit kinetic energy of throughfall was 28 J m⁻² mm⁻¹ under miconia, compared with <24 J m⁻² mm⁻¹ for rainfall and <20 J m⁻² mm⁻¹ under ‘ōhi‘a . These data, combined with the observation of limited protective ground cover under miconia, show the potential for accelerated erosion occurring on forest floors in stands of invasive miconia. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of organic litter on the erosive effects of raindrops and of gravity drops released from desert shrubs

This paper reports on a laboratory study of the effects of water drop impacts on litter and sand splash beneath desert shrubs. Individual drops of 5.7 mm diameter were released from heights of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 m (selected to encompass the height range of typical desert shrubs) onto targets of bare or partially litter-covered, saturated fine sand. The natural litter, largely derived from the saltbush Atriplex vesicaria, was collected from desert shrubland sites in western New South Wales (NSW). The drop impacts caused both sand and litter particles to undergo splash displacement. The mass of sand splashed was found to increase with drop fall height, while mass of litter particles splashed did not vary significantly with fall height. Weights of sand moved by airsplash were significantly diminished by surface litter applied at the rate of 200 g/m². These findings indicate that gravity drops released from desert shrubs may provide both an erosive force beneath these plants, and a means for dispersing litter from the plant base into the surrounding landscape, where litter may continue to affect hydrologic and erosional processes. By restricting splash of mineral particles, litter acts to limit soil splash from beneath shrubs, and in this way may contribute to the persistence of plant mound microtopography that is common in desert shrublands. Under open-field conditions, large raindrops delivered in convective showers must cause similar airsplash transport of litter particles, thus playing a role in the distribution of litter within the landscape.     

Splash distance and size distributions for various soils

Splash is an important process in interrill erosion because it produces movement of soil fragments. However, this process is technically difficult to measure and little is known about its size selectivity. In this study, a splash ring device was used to characterise the spatial variation of the quantity and the aggregate size distribution of splashed soil fragments. Soil aggregates were placed at the centre of an experimental device subjected to a 29 mm h⁻¹ simulated rainfall with a kinetic energy of 17 J mm⁻¹. Splashed soil fragments were collected in concentric rings and analysed for masses and fragment size distributions. Four different soils, with various textures, were tested.Soils fragments were splashed across the whole splash device up to 45 cm from the source, and the quantity of splashed fragments decreased exponentially with the distance. For the four tested soils, the splash parameters were significantly correlated to the results of aggregate stability measurements with r=−0.96 and r=0.95, respectively, for the total splashed mass and the mean weight diameter (MWD) of the whole splashed fragments. The measurement of the splashed fragment size distributions showed that fragments up to 2000 μm were transported by raindrop impacts. The mass percentage of the coarsest fractions of splashed soil fragments exponentially decreased with the distance from the source. The extent of this decrease depends on the soil type. The size distributions of splashed soil fragments were compared with those of soil fragments produced by breakdown. Comparison of splash data to aggregate breakdown data showed an enrichment of the 200–1000 μm size fraction in the splashed fragments.     

利用纳米磁性材料表征地表溅蚀特征的初探

磁性示踪研究坡面土壤侵蚀已取得一定成果,但目前的磁性示踪方法不能满足次降雨后的溅蚀特征研究。因此,在无磁性的石英砂上施用不同浓度(1.5%、2.5%、3.5%)和不同粒径(20 nm、200 nm)的纳米磁性材料,而后进行人工模拟溅蚀试验,利用磁化率仪和3D手持微地形扫描仪研究地表磁性变化与溅蚀后地表特征变化之间的关系,研究利用纳米磁性材料表征溅蚀特征的可行性。结果表明:20 nm磁性材料提高石英砂磁性背景值的幅度远高于200 nm磁性材料且不同浓度的磁性差异极显著,两种纳米磁性材料均呈现出布设浓度越大,示踪时间越长的特点;溅蚀后表层磁化率随溅蚀时间的延长而逐渐衰减,二者呈现出相关性较高的χ_1=aln(t)+b对数函数关系;20 nm磁性材料在3.5%浓度下可有效定量表征出石英砂溅蚀量的变化(p0.01),二者之间的相关关系可用χ_2=a Mb幂函数表示;20 nm磁性材料在溅蚀3 min内的磁化率变化与微地形高差变化呈极显著相关关系(p0.01),说明20 nm磁性材料可以在短时间内有效表征出溅蚀地表的侵蚀程度,可表征出的侵蚀厚度在-5~10 mm内。该研究证明20 nm磁性材料表征溅蚀地表特征的方法在一定程度上是可行的,可为磁性示踪法的深入研究提供新的思路和方法。     

Estimation of soil splash detachment rates on the forest floor of an unmanaged Japanese cypress plantation based on field measurements of throughfall drop sizes and velocities

To study and model the interrill erosion process in an unmanaged Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) plantation, soil splash detachment rates were estimated based on the quantification of throughfall raindrop indices. Throughfall drops and soil splash detachment were simultaneously observed in the field, and observed data were compared with estimates produced by previous models. Observations took place over five months in 2005, during six observation periods. Raindrop indices of kinetic energy (KE), momentum (M), and momentum multiplied by the drop diameter (MD) were calculated from drop diameters and velocities. The median volume diameter of 1.99 mm for the overall observation period was well bounded by those from other Japanese cypress plantations. Throughfall consisted of large drops, generated as drips, exceeding 3 mm in diameter. The fall height was insufficient for the drops to attain terminal velocity, with 91% of the drops reaching less than 90% terminal velocity. The observed throughfall raindrop indices had strong correlation with throughfall rainfall intensity, even though throughfall raindrops occurred in seven rainfall events with different meteorological conditions. The values of observed KE and M were lower than previous model-derived estimations. Earlier models tended to overestimate throughfall KE and M, partly because the expected velocity was greater than that observed, and partly because they did not consider the effect of the splash water component during throughfall. The splash detachment rate in forests was weakly correlated with the total-amount raindrop indices but strongly correlated with the maximum value of raindrop indices over a short time scale such as 1 h. This result indicates that continuous and concentrated raindrop impacts over a short time duration cause splash detachment in the forest floor. Development of a comprehensive model of the process of forest floor soil surface erosion requires more detailed measurement of actual throughfall drops.