Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements
Soil water conditions play an important role in the formation of a collapsing gully, but we are still at the early stages of understanding how the soil water changes on the slope after different rainfall events due to a lack of high-frequency continuous field observations. This study aimed to reveal...
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/8/2272 |
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| author | Zhi-Yun Jiang Xue-Dan Wang Si-Yi Zhang Bin He Xiao-Li Zhao Fan-Ling Kong Dan Feng Yu-Chao Zeng |
| author_facet | Zhi-Yun Jiang Xue-Dan Wang Si-Yi Zhang Bin He Xiao-Li Zhao Fan-Ling Kong Dan Feng Yu-Chao Zeng |
| author_sort | Zhi-Yun Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil water conditions play an important role in the formation of a collapsing gully, but we are still at the early stages of understanding how the soil water changes on the slope after different rainfall events due to a lack of high-frequency continuous field observations. This study aimed to reveal the response of soil water dynamics to rainfall events for different slope aspects and positions based on continuous multi-depth observations of soil water on a typical collapsing gully slope from 2017 to 2019 in Wuhua County, Guangdong Province, China. The vegetation characteristics and soil properties were investigated, and the storage of soil water was also calculated. The results showed that the dynamics and storage of soil water varied with the slope aspect, slope position and vegetation cover. The response time of the soil water to intensive rainfall events on the sunny slope was shorter than that on the shady slope, while soil water storage in the sunny slope was significantly lower than in the shady slope (<i>p</i> < 0.01). For the different slope positions, the soil water response time to the intensive rainfall events on the upper slope was shorter than that in the middle slope, while the soil water storage in the middle slope was significantly higher than on the upper slope. This was mainly due to the redistribution runoff from the upper slope to middle slope, delaying the process by which rainwater infiltrated into the soil layers. Moreover, vegetation significantly allayed the response of soil water dynamics to an intensive rainfall event but increased the storage of soil water, owing to the protection of soil surface from rain and conservation of high soil clay content. The bare area in the middle position of the sunny slope was speculated to be the potential source of the collapsing gully because it lacked the cover of vegetation. Our findings highlight the importance of soil water dynamics on the formation of a collapsing gully and provided valuable insights for the optimization of soil conservation and management practices for collapsing erosion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:31:50Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:31:50Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-a292b5429a40498cbd8902e84554d9d22023-11-20T09:59:37ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-08-01128227210.3390/w12082272Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth MeasurementsZhi-Yun Jiang0Xue-Dan Wang1Si-Yi Zhang2Bin He3Xiao-Li Zhao4Fan-Ling Kong5Dan Feng6Yu-Chao Zeng7School of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, ChinaSchool of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, ChinaNational-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science & Technology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaNational-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science & Technology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, ChinaNational-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science & Technology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaNational-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science & Technology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaNational-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science & Technology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaSoil water conditions play an important role in the formation of a collapsing gully, but we are still at the early stages of understanding how the soil water changes on the slope after different rainfall events due to a lack of high-frequency continuous field observations. This study aimed to reveal the response of soil water dynamics to rainfall events for different slope aspects and positions based on continuous multi-depth observations of soil water on a typical collapsing gully slope from 2017 to 2019 in Wuhua County, Guangdong Province, China. The vegetation characteristics and soil properties were investigated, and the storage of soil water was also calculated. The results showed that the dynamics and storage of soil water varied with the slope aspect, slope position and vegetation cover. The response time of the soil water to intensive rainfall events on the sunny slope was shorter than that on the shady slope, while soil water storage in the sunny slope was significantly lower than in the shady slope (<i>p</i> < 0.01). For the different slope positions, the soil water response time to the intensive rainfall events on the upper slope was shorter than that in the middle slope, while the soil water storage in the middle slope was significantly higher than on the upper slope. This was mainly due to the redistribution runoff from the upper slope to middle slope, delaying the process by which rainwater infiltrated into the soil layers. Moreover, vegetation significantly allayed the response of soil water dynamics to an intensive rainfall event but increased the storage of soil water, owing to the protection of soil surface from rain and conservation of high soil clay content. The bare area in the middle position of the sunny slope was speculated to be the potential source of the collapsing gully because it lacked the cover of vegetation. Our findings highlight the importance of soil water dynamics on the formation of a collapsing gully and provided valuable insights for the optimization of soil conservation and management practices for collapsing erosion.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/8/2272soil water dynamicsrainfall eventsslope hydrologycollapsing gully |
| spellingShingle | Zhi-Yun Jiang Xue-Dan Wang Si-Yi Zhang Bin He Xiao-Li Zhao Fan-Ling Kong Dan Feng Yu-Chao Zeng Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements Water soil water dynamics rainfall events slope hydrology collapsing gully |
| title | Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements |
| title_full | Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements |
| title_fullStr | Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements |
| title_full_unstemmed | Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements |
| title_short | Response of Soil Water Dynamics to Rainfall on A Collapsing Gully Slope: Based on Continuous Multi-Depth Measurements |
| title_sort | response of soil water dynamics to rainfall on a collapsing gully slope based on continuous multi depth measurements |
| topic | soil water dynamics rainfall events slope hydrology collapsing gully |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/8/2272 |
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