Estimating wind transport of sand on vegetated surfaces

Vegetation significantly reduces the transport of sand by wind. We report a generalization of Bagnold's transport equation by finding empirical mathematical expressions to describe the relationships between projected vegetation cover, wind speed outside the area of vegetation, and transport rates. Examples of the use of the equations are given, illustrating the effect of vegetation cover on sand transport, dune encroachment and soil nutrient loss during individual wind storms and over periods of many years.     

Prescribed‐fire effects on rill and interrill runoff and erosion in a mountainous sagebrush landscape

Changing fire regimes and prescribed‐fire use in invasive species management on rangelands require improved understanding of fire effects on runoff and erosion from steeply sloping sagebrush‐steppe. Small (0·5 m²) and large (32·5 m²) plot rainfall simulations (85 mm h^–1, 1 h) and concentrated flow methodologies were employed immediately following burning and 1 and 2 years post‐fire to investigate infiltration, runoff and erosion from interrill (rainsplash, sheetwash) and rill (concentrated flow) processes on unburned and burned areas of a steeply sloped sagebrush site on coarse‐textured soils. Soil water repellency and vegetation were assessed to infer relationships in soil and vegetation factors that influence runoff and erosion. Runoff and erosion from rainfall simulations and concentrated flow experiments increased immediately following burning. Runoff returned to near pre‐burn levels and sediment yield was greatly reduced with ground cover recovery to 40 per cent 1 year post‐fire. Erosion remained above pre‐burn levels on large rainfall simulation and concentrated flow plots until ground cover reached 60 per cent two growing seasons post‐fire. The greatest impact of the fire was the threefold reduction of ground cover. Removal of vegetation and ground cover and the influence of pre‐existing strong soil‐water repellency increased the spatial continuity of overland flow, reduced runoff and sediment filtering effects of vegetation and ground cover, and facilitated increased velocity and transport capacity of overland flow. Small plot rainfall simulations suggest ground cover recovery to 40 per cent probably protected the site from low‐return‐interval storms, large plot rainfall and concentrated flow experiments indicate the site remained susceptible to elevated erosion rates during high‐intensity or long duration events until ground cover levels reached 60 per cent. The data demonstrate that the persistence of fire effects on steeply‐sloped, sandy sagebrush sites depends on the time period required for ground cover to recover to near 60 per cent and on the strength and persistence of ‘background’ or fire‐induced soil water repellency. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of turbulent flow structures on saltation sand transport in the atmospheric boundary layer

The effect of turbulent flow structures on saltation sand transport was studied during two convective storms in Niger, West Africa. Continuous, synchronous measurements of saltation fluxes and turbulent velocity fluctuations were made with a sampling frequency of 1 Hz. The shear stress production was determined from the vertical and streamwise velocity fluctuations. The greatest stress-bearing events were classified as turbulent structures, with sweep, ejection, inward interaction, and outward interaction described according to the quadrant technique. The classified turbulent structures accounted for 63·5 per cent of the average shear stress during the first storm, and 56·0 per cent during the second storm. The percentage of active time was only 20·6 per cent and 15·8 per cent, respectively. High saltation fluxes were associated with sweeps and outward interactions. These two structures contribute positively (sweeps) and negatively (outward interactions) to the shear stress, but have in common that the streamwise velocity component is higher than average. Therefore, the horizontal drag force seems primarily responsible for saltation sand transport, and not the shear stress. This was also reflected by the low correlation coefficients (r) between shear stress and saltation flux (0·12 and 0·14, respectively), while the correlation coefficients between the streamwise velocity component and saltation flux were much higher (0·65 and 0·57, respectively). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vegetation and topographic controls on sediment deposition and storage on gully beds in a degraded mountain area

Active gully systems developed on highly weathered or loose parent material are an important source of runoff and sediment production in degraded areas. However, a decrease of land pressure may lead to a return of a partial vegetation cover, whereby gully beds are preferred recolonization spots. Although the current knowledge on the role of vegetation on reducing sediment production on slopes is well developed, few studies exist on the significance of restoring sediment transport pathways on the total sediment budget of degraded mountainous catchments. This study in the Ecuadorian Andes evaluates the potential of vegetation to stabilize active gully systems by trapping and retaining eroded sediment in the gully bed, and analyses the significance of vegetation restoration in the gully bed in reducing sediment export from degraded catchments. Field measurements on 138 gully segments located in 13 ephemeral steep gullies with different ground vegetation cover indicate that gully bed vegetation is the most important factor in promoting short‐term (1–15 years) sediment deposition and gully stabilization. In well‐vegetated gully systems ( ≥ 30% of ground vegetation cover), 0.035 m³ m^–1 of sediment is deposited yearly in the gully bed. Almost 50 per cent of the observed variance in sediment deposition volumes can be explained by the mean ground vegetation cover of the gully bed. The presence of vegetation in gully beds gives rise to the formation of vegetated buffer zones, which enhance short‐term sediment trapping even in active gully systems in mountainous environments. Vegetation buffer zones are shown to modify the connectivity of sediment fluxes, as they reduce the transport efficiency of gully systems. First calculations on data on sediment deposition patterns in our study area show that gully bed deposition in response to gully bed revegetation can represent more than 25 per cent of the volume of sediment generated within the catchment. Our findings indicate that relatively small changes in landscape connectivity have the potential to create strong (positive) feedback loops between erosion and vegetation dynamics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dune mobility and vegetation cover in the Southwest Kalahari desert

As part of a wider project investigating the palaeoenvironmental significance of partially vegetated linear dunes in the southwest Kalahari, data collected in the latter part of 1992 concerning dune movement and vegetation cover suggest that sediment transport is occurring on some dune surfaces, and that the majority of surface activity occurs on the crests and upper slopes of the dunes. The data suggest that the limiting variables on surface sediment movement vary on different parts of a dune. On interdunes and lower dune slopes the primary limiting variable is available wind energy, while on dune crests and upper slopes it is vegetation cover. Ground cover by litter has much greater importance in protecting the surface sediment from erosion than rooted vegetation. From individual data points, no evidence is found to support a threshold vegetation cover below which sediment movement occurs. Rather, a gradient of activity is suggested whereby a reduction in vegetation cover increases the potential for sediment movement and surface change. However, dunes with differing amounts of mean vegetation cover display differing degrees of surface activity, and at this scale, a vegetation cover threshold in the region of 14 per cent may be recognized.     

Effects of Time-dependent Moisture Content of Surface Sediments on Aeolian Transport Rates Across a Beach,Wildwood, New Jersey,U.S.A.

A one-day field investigation on an unvegetated backbeach documents the importance of surface sediment drying to aeolian transport. Surface sediments were well sorted fine sand. Moisture content of samples taken in the moist areas on the backbeach varied from 2·9 to 9·2 per cent. Lack of dry sediment inhibited transport prior to 08:50. By 09:10 conspicuous streamers of dry sand moved across the moist surface. Barchan-shaped bedforms, 30 to 40 mm high and composed of dry sand (moisture content <0·10 per cent), formed where sand streamers converged. The surface composed of dry sand increased from 5 per cent of the area of the backbeach at 09:50 to 90 per cent by 12:50 Mean wind speeds were beetween 5·6 and 8·6 m s⁻¹ at 6 m above the backbeach. Corresponding shear velocities were always above the entrainment threshold for dry sand and below the threshold for the moist sand on the backbeach. Measured rates of sand trapped (by vertical cylindrical traps) increased during the day relative to calculated rates. The measured rate of sand trapped on the moist foreshore was higher than the rate trapped on the backbeach during the same interval, indicating that the moist foreshore (moisture content 18 per cent) was an efficient transport surface for sediment delivered from the dry portion of the beach upwind. Measured rates of sand trapped show no clear relationship to shear velocities unless time-dependent surface moisture content is considered. Results document conditions that describe transport across moist surfaces in terms of four stages including: (1) entrainment of moist sediment from a moist surface; (2) in situ drying of surface grains from a moist surface followed by transport across the surface; (3) entrainment and transport of dry sediment from bedforms that have accumulated on the moist surface; and (4) entrainment of sand from a dry upwind source and transport across a moist downwind surface. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Large roughness element effects on sand transport,Oceano Dunes,California

The effect of large roughness elements on sand transport efficiency was evaluated on a coastal sand sheet by measuring sand flux with two types of sand traps [Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE) and the Cox Sand Catcher (CSC)] at 30 positions through a 100 m‐long × 50 m‐wide roughness array comprised of 210 elements each with the dimensions 1·17 m long × 0·4 m high × 0·6 m wide. The 210 elements were used to create a roughness density (λ) of 0·022 (λ = n bh/S, where n is the number of elements, b the element breadth, h the element height, and S is the area of the surface that contains all the elements) in an area of 5000 m². The mean normalized saltation flux (NSF) values (NSF = outgoing sand flux/incoming sand flux) at the furthest downwind distance for the two trap types were 0·44 and 0·41, respectively. This is in excellent agreement with an empirical model prediction of 0·5. The reduction in saltation flux is similar to an earlier separate study for an equivalent λ composed of elements of similar height (0·36 m), even though the roughness element forms were different (rectangular in this study as opposed to circular) as were the horizontal porosity of the arrays (49% versus 16%). This corroborates earlier results that roughness element height is a critical parameter that enhances reduction in sand transport by wind for similar λ configurations. The available data suggest the form of the relationship between transport reduction efficiency and height is likely a power relationship with two limiting conditions: (1) for elements ≤ 0·1 m high the effect is minimized, and (2) as element height matches and then exceeds the maximum height of the saltation layer (≥ 1 m), the effect will stabilize near a maximum of NSF ≈ 0·32. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Soil hydrological response under simulated rainfall in the Dehesa land system (Extremadura,SW Spain) under drought conditions

Soil hydrology was investigated in the Guadelperalón experimental watershed in order to determine the influence of land use and vegetation cover on runoff and infiltration within the Dehesa land system. Five soil–vegetation units were selected: (1) tree cover, (2) sheep trials, (3) shrub cover, (4) hillslope grass and (5) bottom grass. The results of the simulated rainfall experiments performed at an intensity of 56·6 mm h⁻¹ during one hour on plots of 0·25 m², and the water drop penetration time test indicate the importance of water repellency in the Dehesa land system under drought conditions. Low infiltration rates (c. 9–44 mm h⁻¹) were found everywhere except at shrub sites and in areas with low grazing pressure. Soil water repellency greatly reduced infiltration, especially beneath Quercus ilex canopies, where fast ponding and greater runoff rates were observed. The low vegetation cover as a consequence of a prolonged drought and grazing pressure, in conjunction with the soil water repellency, induces high runoff rates (15–70 per cent). In spite of this, macropore fluxes were found in different locations, beneath trees, on shrub-covered surfaces, as well as at sites with a dominance of herbaceous cover. Discontinuity of the runoff fluxes due to variations in hydrophobicity causes preferential flows and as a consequence deeper infiltration, especially where macropores are developed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aeolian mass transport near the saltation threshold

Aeolian mass transport was investigated in a desert field experiment where the wind speeds were near the saltation threshold. Bed transport was observed during 45 min runs even though the calculated values of bed shear stress using conventional laboratory equations for mass transport predicted that there should be no transport. We therefore investigated the possibility of predicting mass transport using quasi-instantaneous wind speeds, i.e. values derived at a time scale similar to that of the saltation process. Quasi-instantaneous wind speeds are able to predict mass transport associated with the stronger gusts. Predicted mass transport values compare fairly well with observation, but the accuracy of the prediction is very sensitive to correct estimation of the surface roughness and the saltation threshold for the particular sand bed. When these values differ by only 10 percent from the values that optimize the estimation, predicted mass transport can differ by up to ±50 per cent. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of cryptogamic crust disturbance to wind erosion on sand and loam rangeland soils

A portable field wind tunnel was used to assess the sediment flux rates of loam and sand textured soils in the Mallee region of southeastern Australia. Three levels of crust disturbance (nil, moderate and severe) simulating stock trampling were investigated. The results demonstrated the importance of cryptogamic crusts in binding the soil surface and providing roughness after the soil was moderately disturbed. On the loamy soil, the crust helped maintain sediment flux rates below the erosion control target to 5 g m⁻¹ s⁻¹ for a 65 km h⁻¹ wind measured at 10 m height. Once the crust was severely disturbed, sediment fluxes increased to 1·6 times the erosion target. On the sandy soil, even with no crust disturbance the sediment flux was 1·6 times the erosion control target. Disturbing the crust increased sediment fluxes to a maximum of 6·7 times the erosion control target. Removal of the crust also decreased the threshold wind velocity that resulted in an increase to the risk of erosion from <5 per cent to 20 per cent. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of single vegetation elements on wind speed and sediment transport in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso

Soil loss caused by wind erosion is a widespread phenomenon in the Sahelian zone of West Africa. According to Sahelian farmers, scattered vegetation standing in amongst the crop has the potential for a wind erosion control strategy. This study was conducted to study the effect of single vegetation elements on the pattern of average wind speed and sediment transport. This was done by two experiments that were carried out during the rainy seasons of 2002 and 2003 in north Burkina Faso, West Africa. Wind speeds were measured using three sonic anemometers, at a sampling frequency of 16 Hz. Sediment transport was determined by calculating the mass fluxes from 17 MWAC catchers. In this study, a shrub was defined as a vegetation element with branches until ground and a tree as a vegetation element with a distinctive trunk below a canopy. Behind shrubs wind speed near the soil surface was reduced up to approximately seven times the height of the shrub. The observed reduction in wind speed in the area where wind speed was reduced was 15 per cent on average. At the sides of the shrub, wind speed was increased, by on average 6 per cent. As the area of increase in wind speed is one‐third of the area of decrease in wind speed, the net effect of a shrub is a reduction in wind speed. A similar pattern was visible for the pattern of sediment transport around a shrub. Downwind of a shrub, sediment transport was diminished up to seven times the height of the shrub. Probably most of this material was trapped by the shrub. Trees showed a local increase of wind around the trunk, which is expected to relate to an increase in sediment transport around the trunk. Mass flux measurements of sediment transport were not made, but visual observations in the field substantiate this. Behind the canopy of a tree, a tree acts similarly to a shrub regarding its effects on average wind speed, but as a tree is generally a larger obstacle than a shrub the extent of this effect is larger than for shrubs. Thus, whereas shrubs are more effective than trees regarding their direct effect on soil loss by trapping sand particles near the soil surface, trees are more effective in affecting soil loss indirectly by reducing the wind speed downwind more effectively than shrubs. Therefore, to reduce soil loss in an area, the presence of both trees and shrubs is crucial. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

WIND ENERGY VARIATIONS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN KALAHARI DESERT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR LINEAR DUNEFIELD ACTIVITY

The southwestern Kalahari linear dunefield, which displays marked morphological variability, possesses a partial but temporally and spatially variable vegetation cover and has frequently been described as a palaeodunefield. Palaeo status has been ascribed on the basis of several criteria including the presence of vegetation, but also because dunes are thought to be out of alignment with modern resultant potential sand-moving wind directions and because present-day wind energy is regarded as low. For the period 1960–1992, wind data from eight dunefield meteorological stations are analysed in detail to examine these assertions. Potential sand transport directions, including spatial and temporal variations, and potential drift directions for the windiest three month periods, are calculated and explained. It is concluded that the present-day potential sand transport environment is markedly variable from year to year and from place to place. While periods of low sand transport energy do occur, it is also noted that the 1980s possessed considerable potential for sand transport in the dunefield. Directional variability is also relatively high, perhaps exceeding that under which linear dunes can be expected to form. Because linear dune aeolian activity has a number of states, however, the present-day wind environment may allow dune surface aeolian activity to occur which does not alter the overall pattern of the dunes.     

Predicting sediment transport by interrill overland flow on rough surfaces

Modelling soil erosion requires an equation for predicting the sediment transport capacity by interrill overland flow on rough surfaces. The conventional practice of partitioning total shear stress into grain and form shear stress and predicting transport capacity using grain shear stress lacks rigour and is prone to underestimation. This study therefore explores the possibility that inasmuch as surface roughness affects flow hydraulic variables which, in turn, determine transport capacity, there may be one or more hydraulic variables which capture the effect of surface roughness on transport capacity suffciently well for good predictions of transport capacity to be achieved from data on these variables alone. To investigate this possibility, regression analyses were performed on data from 1506 flume experiments in which discharge, slope, water temperature, rainfall intensity, and roughness size, shape and concentration were varied. The analyses reveal that 89·8 per cent of the variance in transport capacity can be accounted for by excess flow power and flow depth. Including roughness size and concentration in the regression improves that explained variance by only 3·5 per cent. Evidently, flow depth, when used in combination with excess flow power, largely captures the effect of surface roughness on transport capacity. This finding promises to simplify greatly the task of developing a general sediment equation for interrill overland flow on rough surfaces. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Land degradation assessment with the aid of geo‐information techniques

This research integrated selected land degradation indicators (vegetation cover, proportion of drifting sand area, desertification rate, and population pressure) with geo‐information techniques (remote sensing, geographic information system and global positioning system) to assess the severity of land degradation risk. The northern part of Shaanxi province in China was taken as a case study. A computerized land degradation severity assessment was implemented, and ERmapper ver.6.2 and ARC/INFO GIS ver.8.3 environments were used to manage and manipulate thematic data, and to process satellite images and tabular data. Two Landsat TM images in October 1987 and October 1999 were used to produce land use/cover maps of the study area based on the maximum likelihood classification method. These maps were then used to generate land use, land cover change, vegetation degradation and land degradation maps for the study area during the study period, and their corresponding data were integrated into a systematic analysis. Results showed that the overall severity of land degradation in the study area worsened during the study period from 1987 to 1999 with severely, highly and moderately degraded land accounting for 73·8 per cent of the total area. While the area affected by desertification has increased, the rate of desertification has also accelerated to reach 41·5 km² a^?1. Risk of land degradation in the study area has increased, on average, by 39·4 per cent since 1987. Incorporation of both natural and anthropogenic factors in the analysis provided realistic assessment of the risk of desertification. The study area, in general, is exposed to a high risk of land degradation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The significance of rainsplash in the surficial debris cascade of the colorado front range foothills

The surficial characteristics and precipitation regime of sparsely vegetated hillslopes in the montane zone of the Colorado Front Range suggest that rainsplash may be an important component of the surficial debris cascade. Site sediment flux data from two study periods reveal marked spatial and temporal variability. Comparison of these date with sediment movement data from splashcups suggests the following conclusions: (1) Detachment rates of the rainsplash process appear great enough to account for the sediment flux in the open Gerlach-type traps; (2) Areal extrapolation of rainsplash transport suggest that 88 per cent of the fine sediment flux in 1982 can be attributed to rainsplash; (3) Estimates of rainfall energy and changes in the potential energy of hillslopes by mass transport suggests a process efficiency of 0.05 per cent for rainsplash. If this procedure is applied to sediment flux values from open traps, the low precipitation-energy cascade of 1982 appears to be largely rainsplash-transported sediment. Extrapolation with the 1981 data suggests more aggressive overland flow erosion and transport.     

Air flow over foredunes and implications for sand transport

More than 4000 hourly wind profiles measured on three topographically different foredunes are analysed and discussed. Wind flow over the foredunes is studied by means of the relative wind speed: the ratio between wind speed at a certain location and the reference wind speed at the same height. Relative wind speeds appear to be independent of general wind speed but dependent on wind direction. For perpendicular onshore winds the flow over the foredune is accelerated due to topographic changes and decelerated due to changes in surface roughness. Accelerations dominate over decelerations on the seaward slope. The pattern of acceleration and deceleration in relation to wind direction is more or less comparable for different foredunes, but the magnitudes differ. An increase in foredune height from 6 to 10m leads to an increase in speed-up near the top of the seaward slope from 110 to 150 per cent during onshore wind, but further increase of foredune height from 10 to 23m appears to have little effect, due to increased roughness and deflection of flow. Topography also influences the direction of the flow. Between beach and top, the flow deflects in the direction of the normal during onshore winds. During offshore winds the flow is deflected to the parallel. Near the dunefoot, deflection is always in the direction of the parallel, and increases with steeper topography. The maximum deflection near the dunefoot was 90°, over a 23 m high dune, observed during offshore winds. Patterns of erosion and sedimentation resulting from winds from different directions can be explained by the observed accelerations and decelerations. Owing to speed-up on the seaward front of the foredune, sand transport capacity of the wind increases, which results in erosion if vegetation is absent. During strong onshore wind, sand is lifted near the dunefoot and moves over the foredune in suspension. During weaker winds, vertical wind velocities do not exceed fall velocities of the sand grains, and most of the sand is deposited near the dunefoot.     

Energetics prediction of frequency-dependent suspended sand transport rates on a macrotidal beach

The on–offshore (cross-shore) transport of sand on beaches is highly time-variable, which has made it difficult to model or predict. In this paper, simple energetics modelling is used to compare velocity moment predictions with field observations of suspended sand transport rates. Separate consideration is given to transport associated with the three main frequency-dependent cross-shore transport processes: that associated with the short (incident) waves, that due to the long (infragravity) waves, and transport associated with the mean flow. Direct comparison between the depth-averaged model predictions, and the in-situ point measurements was facilitated by making the first order assumption that the time-averaged suspension profile is exponential and the wave velocity profile is vertically uniform. An appropriate rippled bed roughness was used to provide the drag coefficient in the energetics model and the vertical length scale of the exponential suspension profile. Despite these simple assumptions, comparison of the velocity moment predictions with the field observations of suspended sand fluxes reveals that this approach has the capacity to predict transport magnitudes due to short wave, long wave, and mean flow components to within about one order of magnitude. However, owing to the limitations of the model, the transport direction of the short wave component could not, on occasion, be correctly determined, probably due to ‘reverse’ transport over ripples. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulated effects of cropland expansion on seasonal temperatures over China

Human activities result in deforestation, expansion of cropland, grassland degradation, urbanization and other large-scale land use/cover change; among these, cropland expansion is one of the most important processes. To understand the effects of cropland expansion on seasonal temperatures over China, two 21-year simulations (spanning January 1, 1980–December 31, 2000), using the Regional Integrated Environmental Model System (RIEMS 2.0), were performed. The two simulations comprised current realistic land use/cover patterns and the previous vegetation cover without crop expansion, to investigate the impact of crop expansion on seasonal temperatures over China. The results showed that due to cropland expansion: (1) the most obvious changes occurred in the maximum temperatures, followed by the mean surface air temperatures, and the minimum temperatures were the least affected; (2) the summer mean maximum temperatures decreased in most parts of eastern China, and the temperatures changed significantly in most parts of northeast China, north China and central China (p < 0.05); (3) the surface air temperatures, maximum temperatures and minimum temperatures in summer decreased in the different regions by between −0.03 and −0.76 °C (the greatest temperature changes occurred in southwest China, and the smallest were in northeast China); (4) the net radiation flux and latent heat flux increased, while the sensible flux decreased, when semi-desert vegetation was replaced by dry land crops, in both summer and winter seasons, and the converse occurred when irrigated crops were replaced by dry land crops. In addition, the net radiation flux and sensible heat flux decreased, and the latent heat flux increased when short grass and tall grass were replaced dry land crops, as well as when dry land crops were replaced by irrigated crops.     

Aeolian sediment transport on a human‐altered foredune

Changes in wind speed and sediment transport are evaluated at a gap and adjacent crest of a 2 to 3 m high, 40 m wide foredune built by sand fences and vegetation plantings on a wide, nourished fine sand beach at Ocean City, New Jersey. Anemometer masts, cylindrical sand traps and erosion pins were placed on the beach and dune during two obliquely onshore wind events in February and March 2003. Results reveal that: (1) changes in the alongshore continuity of the beach and dune system can act as boundaries to aeolian transport when winds blow at an angle to the shoreline; (2) oblique winds blowing across poorly vegetated patches in the dune increase the potential for creating an irregular crest elevation; (3) transport rates and deflation rates can be greater within the foredune than on the beach, if the dune surface is poorly vegetated and the beach has not had time to dry following tidal inundation; (4) frozen ground does not prevent surface deflation; and (5) remnant sand fences and fresh storm wrack have great local but temporary effect on transport rates. Temporal and spatial differences due to sand fences and wrack, changes in sediment availability due to time‐dependent differences in surface moisture and frozen ground, combined with complex topography and patchy vegetation make it difficult to specify cause–effect relationships. Effects of individual roughness elements on the beach and dune on wind flow and sediment transport can be quantified at specific locations at the event scale, but extrapolation of each event to longer temporal and spatial scales remains qualitative. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Soil water dynamics under different forest vegetation cover: Implications for hillslope stability

Though it is well known that vegetation affects the water balance of soils through canopy interception and evapotranspiration, its hydrological contribution to soil hydrology and stability is yet to be fully quantified. To improve understanding of this hydrological process, soil water dynamics have been monitored at three adjacent hillslopes with different vegetation covers (deciduous tree cover, coniferous tree cover, and grass cover), for nine months from December 2014 to September 2015. The monitored soil moisture values were translated into soil matric suction (SMS) values to facilitate the analysis of hillslope stability. Our observations showed significant seasonal variations in SMS for each vegetation cover condition. However, a significant difference between different vegetation covers was only evident during the winter season where the mean SMS under coniferous tree cover (83.6 kPa) was significantly greater than that under grass cover (41 kPa). The hydrological reinforcing contribution due to matric suction was highest for the hillslope with coniferous tree cover, while the hillslope with deciduous tree cover was second and the hillslope with grass cover was third. The greatest contributions for all cover types were during the summer season. During the winter season, the wettest period of the monitoring study, the additional hydrological reinforcing contributions provided by the deciduous tree cover (1.5 to 6.5 kPa) or the grass cover (0.9 to 5.4 kPa) were insufficient to avoid potential slope failure conditions. However, the additional hydrological reinforcing contribution from the coniferous tree cover (5.8 to 10.4 kPa) was sufficient to provide potentially stable hillslope conditions during the winter season. Our study clearly suggests that during the winter season the hydrological effects from both deciduous tree and grass covers are insufficient to promote slope stability, while the hydrological reinforcing effects from the coniferous tree cover are sufficient even during the winter season. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.