Abstract
Benggang erosion is caused by a special type of gully erosion in southern China that seriously endangers the local ecology and environment. In this study, typical Benggang collapsing-wall soils were used as the study area to investigate the effects of different initial moisture contents and dicranopteris linearis root weight densities, as well as their interactions on disintegration in orthogonal test method. The results showed that the rate of soil disintegration decreased as a linear function of the initial moisture content. The soil disintegration rate tended to rise and then fall as the root weight density increased, reflecting an optimum root weight density of 0.75–1.00 g/100 cm3. The incorporation of dicranopteris linearis roots was most effective for soil consolidation in the shallow layers of soil. In addition, the disintegration rate of the collapsing-wall soils increases as the soil layer deepened. The dicranopteris linearis root system and initial moisture content had an interactive effect that was more pronounced in deeper soils. However, the combined effect of these processes was always dominated by the initial moisture content. Moderate initial soil moisture content (0.20–0.24 g/g) and the addition of a high root density in dicranopteris linearis (0.75–1.00 g/100 cm3) were the optimal combinations that reduced the disintegration rate. In conclusion, maintaining a suitable natural moisture content in collapsing-wall soils and taking measures that use plants to consolidate soil can effectively prevent and control the occurrence of Benggang erosion. The results of this study provided further insight into the factors that influence soil disintegration and offered a scientific basis for soil erosion management in the southern China.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Special Projects of the Central Government Guiding Local Science and Technology Development in China (Guike. ZY21195022), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.42007055 and 42107350).
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He, L., Deng, Ys., Tang, Qy. et al. Effects of the Dicranopteris linearis root system and initial moisture content on the soil disintegration characteristics of gully erosion. J. Mt. Sci. 19, 3548–3567 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7448-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7448-9