How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?

Vegetation plays a critical role in influencing runoff processes and soil loss during gully bed erosion. However, it is still unclear how the stem coverage affects gully bed erosion processes by altering the runoff hydraulics and soil sedimentation. A series of in situ scouring experiments were cond...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lin Liu, Donghong Xiong, Baojun Zhang, Dan Yang, Yong Yuan, Binyan Zhang, Wenduo Zhang, Liangtao Shi, Xiaodan Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2025-06-01
Series:International Soil and Water Conservation Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633925000036
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850067281867964416
author Lin Liu
Donghong Xiong
Baojun Zhang
Dan Yang
Yong Yuan
Binyan Zhang
Wenduo Zhang
Liangtao Shi
Xiaodan Wang
author_facet Lin Liu
Donghong Xiong
Baojun Zhang
Dan Yang
Yong Yuan
Binyan Zhang
Wenduo Zhang
Liangtao Shi
Xiaodan Wang
author_sort Lin Liu
collection DOAJ
description Vegetation plays a critical role in influencing runoff processes and soil loss during gully bed erosion. However, it is still unclear how the stem coverage affects gully bed erosion processes by altering the runoff hydraulics and soil sedimentation. A series of in situ scouring experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of shrub stem coverage on the concentrated flow pathway characteristics, hydrodynamic parameters, and sediment concentration during gully bed erosion processes. The Flow pathway characteristics expressed by the Number of flow pathways (FN), total Flow path Width (FW), Tortuosity Ratio (TR), and Fractal Dimension (FD) were quantified by analyzing photographs of the gully bed surface taken during experimental periods. Structural equation model was used to analyze the comprehensive effect of stem coverage on hydraulic erosion of gully beds. The results showed that FN, FW, and TR increased linearly, and FD increased exponentially as stem coverage increased. Compared with the bare gully bed, the flow velocity and shear stress of gully beds with shrub stem covers decreased by 17.47%–25.19% and 4.75%–11.42%, respectively, while the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor increased by 35.94%–68.71%. The sediment concentration of stem-covered gully beds decreased by 11.82%–26.93%. The increasing stem coverage promoted concentrated flow branching and significantly increased FW, which in turn altered hydraulic parameters, particularly reducing flow velocity, and ultimately reducing sediment concentrations indirectly. These results contribute to partially explaining the differences in flow hydraulics and soil loss of vegetated gully beds in previous studies that failed to account for changes in flow pathways.
format Article
id doaj-art-822c73c66ca6412c9d07caaf330cbecc
institution DOAJ
issn 2095-6339
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
record_format Article
series International Soil and Water Conservation Research
spelling doaj-art-822c73c66ca6412c9d07caaf330cbecc2025-08-20T02:48:22ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Soil and Water Conservation Research2095-63392025-06-0113233434710.1016/j.iswcr.2025.01.002How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?Lin Liu0Donghong Xiong1Baojun Zhang2Dan Yang3Yong Yuan4Binyan Zhang5Wenduo Zhang6Liangtao Shi7Xiaodan Wang8Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China; Branch of Sustainable Mountain Development, Kathmandu Center for Research and Education, CAS-TU, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal; Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637009, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, ChinaTropical Eco-Agriculture Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuanmou, 651300, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, ChinaTropical Eco-Agriculture Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuanmou, 651300, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Environment Evolvement and Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Chengdu, 610041, ChinaVegetation plays a critical role in influencing runoff processes and soil loss during gully bed erosion. However, it is still unclear how the stem coverage affects gully bed erosion processes by altering the runoff hydraulics and soil sedimentation. A series of in situ scouring experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of shrub stem coverage on the concentrated flow pathway characteristics, hydrodynamic parameters, and sediment concentration during gully bed erosion processes. The Flow pathway characteristics expressed by the Number of flow pathways (FN), total Flow path Width (FW), Tortuosity Ratio (TR), and Fractal Dimension (FD) were quantified by analyzing photographs of the gully bed surface taken during experimental periods. Structural equation model was used to analyze the comprehensive effect of stem coverage on hydraulic erosion of gully beds. The results showed that FN, FW, and TR increased linearly, and FD increased exponentially as stem coverage increased. Compared with the bare gully bed, the flow velocity and shear stress of gully beds with shrub stem covers decreased by 17.47%–25.19% and 4.75%–11.42%, respectively, while the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor increased by 35.94%–68.71%. The sediment concentration of stem-covered gully beds decreased by 11.82%–26.93%. The increasing stem coverage promoted concentrated flow branching and significantly increased FW, which in turn altered hydraulic parameters, particularly reducing flow velocity, and ultimately reducing sediment concentrations indirectly. These results contribute to partially explaining the differences in flow hydraulics and soil loss of vegetated gully beds in previous studies that failed to account for changes in flow pathways.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633925000036Vegetation restorationVegetation stemGully erosionConcentrated flowSediment yield
spellingShingle Lin Liu
Donghong Xiong
Baojun Zhang
Dan Yang
Yong Yuan
Binyan Zhang
Wenduo Zhang
Liangtao Shi
Xiaodan Wang
How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?
International Soil and Water Conservation Research
Vegetation restoration
Vegetation stem
Gully erosion
Concentrated flow
Sediment yield
title How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?
title_full How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?
title_fullStr How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?
title_full_unstemmed How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?
title_short How does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion?
title_sort how does shrub stem coverage affect the hydraulic properties of concentrated flow and sediment yield during gully bed erosion
topic Vegetation restoration
Vegetation stem
Gully erosion
Concentrated flow
Sediment yield
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633925000036
work_keys_str_mv AT linliu howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT donghongxiong howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT baojunzhang howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT danyang howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT yongyuan howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT binyanzhang howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT wenduozhang howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT liangtaoshi howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion
AT xiaodanwang howdoesshrubstemcoverageaffectthehydraulicpropertiesofconcentratedflowandsedimentyieldduringgullybederosion