Effect of Prosopis (mesquite) invasion and clearing on vegetation cover in semi-arid Nama Karoo rangeland,South Africa

The Nama-Karoo is the largest of the three biomes that comprise the semi-arid Karoo-Namib ecoregion of southern Africa. Large tracts of Nama-Karoo rangeland have been invaded by alien leguminous trees of the genus Prosopis. We assessed the impact of Prosopis invasion and clearing on vegetation cover in heavily grazed Nama-Karoo rangeland on two sheep farms in the Beaufort West district of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Our results suggest that, below critical threshold cover levels, Prosopis trees do not affect indigenous vegetation and add to overall rangeland vegetation cover. However, once Prosopis cover exceeds critical thresholds, the trees begin to negatively impact on indigenous vegetation (especially grasses) and overall vegetation cover. In addition, our data suggest that vegetation cover recovers after Prosopis clearing, being temporarily higher than pre-invasion levels possibly as a result of enhanced post-invasion soil fertility. Lastly, our results suggest that Prosopis trees reduce rangeland erosion potential at low cover and increase it after they exceed critical threshold cover. Information about thresholds of Prosopis impact can be used to direct clearing efforts for maximum benefit when resources are limited.     

生物多样性与地形及土壤因素对坡面产流产沙的耦合影响

生物多样性关系到生态系统的功能,而坡度和土壤因素是影响坡面产流产沙的重要因子。本研究基于黄土丘陵区生物多样性,并引入坡度、降雨前土壤含水量和土壤容重,探究其与坡面产流产沙总量的耦合关系。通过野外人工降雨试验,记录草本、灌木和乔木群落下的产流时间和产流产沙总量,并开展土壤植被调查。结果表明,与草本和乔木群落相比,灌木群落在延长产流开始时间和降低产沙总量上表现更优;植被群落功能离散度指数(FDiv)对产沙总量影响最大,Simpson指数(D)对产流总量影响最大,坡度仍然是不可忽视的第二重要影响因素;产流总量与坡度、土壤容重、D和功能丰富度指数(FRic)的回归关系优于产流总量分别与其的回归关系;产沙总量与坡度和FDiv指数的回归关系优于产沙总量分别与其的回归关系。植被保护与坡度改善将是该区水土保持规划工作的重点。     

水土侵蚀过程分析的小波精细积分法

将小波配置方法和精细积分方法相结合,提出了一种对水土侵蚀模型进行数值分析的新方法——小波精细积分法。与传统的有限元方法相比,本文方法属于半解析方法,对时间步长不敏感,可有效提高计算效率。数值分析结果表明了该方法的有效性。     

GIS在农业水土领域的应用与研究进展

介绍了近年来国内外GIS在农业灌溉管理、精确农业和农业区划、土壤利用和土壤侵蚀方面的研究和应用情况，并对GIS在该领域的研究进行归纳和总结，此外探讨了GIS在当前农业领域应用的主要发展方向。     

CFD技术在水轮机转轮抗空蚀改造中的应用

CFD是用计算机来模拟流体的流场，建立流体机械最佳流道的流体动态分析软件，是当今先进的流体动力学模拟分析工具。介绍了CFD技术的理论基础，并且将其成功应用于锦江电站水轮机转轮的抗空蚀改造中，取得了良好的效果。     

地表秸秆覆盖度图像识别技术的研究

农田地表秸秆覆盖是防止水土流失的一项主要措施,研究秸秆覆盖度与土壤风蚀、水蚀的定量关系对农田采取合理的覆盖形式有重要的指导意义。针对当前主要靠手工测试秸秆覆盖度存在效率低的问题,研究了如何应用MATLAB语言强大的图像处理功能来识别、分析秸秆图像。通过对样本图像类型的转换、灰度的均衡化和中值滤波等一系列的处理,得出较准确的秸秆覆盖面积和秸秆覆盖百分比,为准确快速测量秸秆覆盖度提供了测试手段。     

土壤风蚀影响因子分布规律研究的最大熵方法

土壤风蚀是一个综合的自然地理过程,包括气候、植被、土壤、地形地貌等多种因子。作为随机变量的风蚀因子,其分布规律直接或间接地影响着风沙的运动规律,一方面导致土壤风蚀程度及方向的变化,另一方面变量之间的非线性相互作用的结果导致风沙流的混沌特性。为此把影响风沙运动规律的各因子作为研究对象,应用最大熵原理与遗传算法相结合的方法,建立了风蚀影响因子概率密度函数模型,采用Matlab语言编制了相应的计算程序,并以阴山北部农牧交错带为例对所建模型的合理性和可行性进行了验证。结果表明,风蚀影响因子的熵概率密度函数不仅合理可行而且具有较高的精度。     

The use of a new portable erosion measuring device for assessing the erodibility of the surface layers of flood embankments

When a river overtops its flood banks, water running down the landward side of the bank can rapidly erode the soil surface and scour the bank, sometimes leading to breaches and collapse. A covering of living vegetation, particularly grass, can reduce this risk of water erosion. As part of a project to assess the effectiveness of different management regimes on bank vegetation cover, direct measurements were required of the erodibility of the soil surface. A portable erosion measurement device (EMD) was developed by LAB Coastal with the support of the Environment Agency. This could direct water flowing at known velocities across areas of the flood banks, and it was used to test directly the erosion resistance of vegetated grass banks at three sites. The EMD gave a direct measure of the erodibility of a small sample of flood bank. While measurements of soil strength and assessments of vegetation cover were useful, they did not always correctly characterize the stability of the bank surface as measured directly by the EMD. The EMD and its use are described and the results obtained are discussed. The results indicate that flood banks need to be mown at least once a year to make them less vulnerable to erosion.