Field evaluation of relationships between a vegetation structural parameter and sheltering against wind erosion

Measurements of natural vegetation canopies and of threshold friction velocities for soil movement were made at three arid and semiarid field sites. Threshold friction velocities for the vegetated surface and for bare soil were used to evaluate the partitioning of shear stress between that absorbed by the plant canopies and that absorbed by the soil surface (this potentially causing movement of soil particles). Canopy measurements were used to estimate lateral cover (total frontal-silhouette area per unit ground area), a parameter shown by previous laboratory studies to be a good predictor of shear stress partitioning. The relationship between lateral cover and shear stress partitioning for the field sites agreed with the laboratory results of Gillette and Stockton (1989). Results indicate that the protective influence of vegetative cover against wind erosion can be successfully predicted using simple measurements of vegetation canopy structure.