Vegetation plays a major role in soil protection against erosion effects,and studies have also highlighted its importance in retaining sediments from roadside slopes.Yet,hydro-sedimentological studies under natural pr...Vegetation plays a major role in soil protection against erosion effects,and studies have also highlighted its importance in retaining sediments from roadside slopes.Yet,hydro-sedimentological studies under natural precipitation conditions are still scarce in semi-arid areas due to difficulties in monitoring the few and very concentrated precipitation events.Quantifying sediment connectivity and yield at watershed scale,often highly impacted by the erosion of unpaved roads,is necessary for management plans.This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of native vegetation on roadside slope segments in Caatinga biome in retaining sediments and conserving the soil in a semi-arid area of Brazil.Surface runoff,sediment concentration,and yield measurements were measured from 34 natural precipitation events in four years on two slopes with and without vegetation.The runoff coefficients of the plot with no vegetation varied from 3.0%to 58.0%,while in the vegetated plot,they showed variation from 1.0%to 21.0%.The annual specific sediment yield ranged from 4.6 to 138.7 kg/(hm^(2)•a)for the vegetated plot and from 34.9 to 608.5 kg/(hm^(2)•a)for the unvegetated one.These results indicate a 4 to 12 times higher soil loss on the unvegetated slope in relation to the vegetated one and demonstrate that natural Caatinga vegetation acts as an effective barrier against surface-transported sediments.Moreover,natural Caatinga vegetation present on the slope plays an important role in breaking connectivity between sediment flows from unpaved roads and the watershed drainage system.These findings indicate that investments in unpaved road and roadside slope restoration,not only enhance road infrastructure but also promote environmental gains by reducing the impact of erosion.展开更多
基金the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for funding the field studies and for the research productivity fellowship (CNPq/PQ) awarded to Pedro Henrique Augusto MEDEIROS and José Carlos de ARAúJOthe Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for the doctoral scholarship awarded to Teresa Raquel Lima FARIAS (2117/13-4)the Foundation for the Support of Scientific and Technological Development in the State of Ceará (FUNCAP) for the master scholarship awarded to Maria Thereza Rocha CHAVES。
文摘Vegetation plays a major role in soil protection against erosion effects,and studies have also highlighted its importance in retaining sediments from roadside slopes.Yet,hydro-sedimentological studies under natural precipitation conditions are still scarce in semi-arid areas due to difficulties in monitoring the few and very concentrated precipitation events.Quantifying sediment connectivity and yield at watershed scale,often highly impacted by the erosion of unpaved roads,is necessary for management plans.This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of native vegetation on roadside slope segments in Caatinga biome in retaining sediments and conserving the soil in a semi-arid area of Brazil.Surface runoff,sediment concentration,and yield measurements were measured from 34 natural precipitation events in four years on two slopes with and without vegetation.The runoff coefficients of the plot with no vegetation varied from 3.0%to 58.0%,while in the vegetated plot,they showed variation from 1.0%to 21.0%.The annual specific sediment yield ranged from 4.6 to 138.7 kg/(hm^(2)•a)for the vegetated plot and from 34.9 to 608.5 kg/(hm^(2)•a)for the unvegetated one.These results indicate a 4 to 12 times higher soil loss on the unvegetated slope in relation to the vegetated one and demonstrate that natural Caatinga vegetation acts as an effective barrier against surface-transported sediments.Moreover,natural Caatinga vegetation present on the slope plays an important role in breaking connectivity between sediment flows from unpaved roads and the watershed drainage system.These findings indicate that investments in unpaved road and roadside slope restoration,not only enhance road infrastructure but also promote environmental gains by reducing the impact of erosion.
