Lithology‐mediated soil erodibility characteristics after vegetation restoration in the karst region of Southwest China

Abstract

Ecological restoration projects have significantly increased global vegetation cover and reduced soil erosion. However, it is very challenging to clarify the complex soil erosion mechanisms of limestone and dolomite in the southwest karst region and to identify the key factors affecting erosion. The study site has a subtropical monsoon climate with precipitation concentrated during the rainy season from May to September. In this study, four plantation restoration measures with a recovery time of approximately 16 years were selected, which included arbor forest, orchard, grassland, and cropland (control). Soil physical–chemical properties and soil erodibility K values were used to evaluate the soil erosion characteristics. The results showed that both limestone and dolomite exhibited lower soil bulk density as well as higher capillary porosity, and soil water‐stable aggregates after revegetation. The limestone and dolomite K values were reduced by 12%–15% and 15%–17%, respectively. However, the K value of limestone was 17.9% higher than that of dolomite, indicating that dolomite exhibited a higher stability. Through redundancy analysis and structural equation modeling, revegetation was found to reduce soil erosion by influencing the soil particle composition. The silt was the key factor influencing soil erosion, accounting for 84.4% and 78.2% of the variation in the limestone and dolomite K values, respectively. These findings suggest that vegetation restoration enhances soil erosion resistance; however, the effectiveness of restoration is controlled by the lithology in the southwest karst region. These findings provide a reference for soil and water management and vegetation restoration.

The influence of forest vegetation on the physical properties of chernozems in the steppe zone of Ukraine

“…The growth of forest plantations and natural forest vegetation on chernozems led to an increase in the content of water-resistant aggregates of fractions > 5, 3-5, 2-3, 1-2 and 0.5-1.0 mm in the 0-20 cm layer and a decrease in the content of fractions 0.25-0.50 and <0.25 mm compared to ordinary chernozems under steppe vegetation. Research results by Liang et al (2023) also indicate an increase in the content of water-stable aggregates in soils during the restoration of forest vegetation. Cheng et al (2023) obtained results confirming the predominance of water-stable aggregates in the surface soil layer (0-20 cm) under the forest.…”

Mechanisms of influence of forest ecosystems on the aggregate composition and water stability of soil aggregates in the semi-arid area of southeast Ukraine

“…The aggregate composition of soils is an important indicator of their resistance to wind erosion (Le Bissonnais et al, 2017;Zheng et al, 2023), and the water resistance of aggregates is an important indicator of resistance to water erosion (Liang et al, 2023). The aggregate composition and content of water-resistant aggregates in the soil depends on many factorsparticle size distribution (Gao & Yang, 2023), characteristics of soil organic matter (Li et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2023), type of vegetation, ecosystems and land use (Dou et al, 2020;Yang et al, 2024).…”