赣南红壤丘陵崩岗侵蚀区表土孢粉组合及其生态指示意义

以赣南红壤崩岗侵蚀区野外调研孢粉资料为基础,分析了8个表土样品。结果发现:赣南红壤崩岗侵蚀区表土样品孢粉种属类型丰富,共鉴定出131种,统计有效孢粉2 694粒;表土孢粉组合为乔木、灌木、草本、蕨类和苔藓植物,其中乔木和蕨类植物的孢粉占优势,平均分别为48.49%和37.10%,灌木和草本花粉含量较低,平均为3.00%和8.43%。乔木植物中的马尾松(Pinus massoniana)平均浓度为28.0%,蕨类植物中里白厥(Hicriopterisglauca)平均浓度为26.09%,均具有超代表性;植物花粉亚热带特征明显;不同母岩崩岗侵蚀区优势科属种方面存在一定的差异;孢粉组合反映出马尾松、里白蕨对红壤崩岗生态环境的适应性和代表性。该研究为今后在这一地区开展第四纪古植被、古气候和古环境等研究提供参考性依据,同时也为南方崩岗治理筛选先锋植物提供参考。     

基于GIS的小流域土壤侵蚀与产沙的简化模拟

将泥沙输移能力公式与USLE公式相结合,建立了一个简化的分布式小流域产沙模型,并将其应用于川中丘陵区小流域的土壤侵蚀与泥沙输移的空间分布模拟。得到的主要结论:1.该模型适用于川中丘陵区小流域产沙的模拟;2.魏城河流域1980—1987年8 a平均土壤侵蚀量为16.8×104t,侵蚀模数为675.8 t/(km2.a),模拟得到的输沙模数为238.6 t/(km2.a),泥沙输移比为0.35;3.魏城河流域主要以微度侵蚀为主,占到全流域总面积的68%,强度侵蚀占流域面积的1%,主要分布在坡度较陡的流域边缘地带;4.相对其他因子,降雨与坡度对该流域侵蚀产沙的影响更为突出。     

流域侵蚀产沙人类活动影响指数研究——以长江上游为例

流域产沙是土壤侵蚀的重要反映, 受降雨等自然要素和人类活动的共同作用。采用退 耦理论的思想和差分方法推导出流域侵蚀产沙人类活动影响指数的简易估算方法, 并对长江 上游的金沙江、乌江、嘉陵江、岷江分别计算人类活动总体贡献率。结果表明, 各流域人类 活动对侵蚀产沙变化的贡献率达72%～97%,总体上属于抑制侵蚀的正向活动。长江上游输 沙量呈阶段梯级变化, 根据流域侵蚀产沙人类活动影响指数的距平累积变化的突变特征将 1955～2009年划分为5个阶段并分析了每个阶段人类活动的主要特点及其对侵蚀产沙的影响。 其中, 20世纪80年代中期以前河流输沙量较大, 主要与“一五”、“大炼钢铁”、“三线建设”、 农村改革前期不稳定因素等密切相关, 而70年代河流输沙量较小是受当时大搞农田基本建设 和采取“挑沙面土”、“边沟背沟”等传统水土保持措施的影响, 80年代中期后河流输沙量明 显减少, 主要受社会经济稳定有序发展、水保工程的实施及大兴水库建设等影响。     

Palaeosurfaces and major valleys in the area of the Kjǿlen Mountains,southern Norway - consequences of uplift and climatic change

Protected area management in Norway is undergoing institutional changes with the implementation of management models aimed at increased public participation. At the same time tourism enterprises are increasing in number within the protected areas. Greater levels of interaction with stakeholders place new demands on lead institutions in terms of communication, transparency, involvement, and power sharing. A governance perspective was used to examine some facets of the interaction between a local council managing a national park in Norway and tourism companies using the park for their operations. The main objective was to assess how the tourism sector perceives the cooperation and interface with the management institution. Semi-structured interviews were used, together with a framework of United Nations Development Programme principles of good governance: legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability, and fairness. The results showed rather negative evaluations by the tourism sector, and operators expressed views, implying that the current management model fails to achieve most of the principles of good governance. Although based on a one-sided view by one group of stakeholders, the study suggests that lack of access to important processes and decisions, perceived bias towards traditional conservation, neglect of cultural heritage, and undue restrictions on access could have serious implications for developing an effective management model.     

Quaternary uplift of northern England

Upland flats, attributable to erosion, have long been recognised in the landscape of the Lake District region of NW England, at altitudes of up to ~ 800 m O.D. Extrapolation using uplift rates derived from dated Pleistocene sites (karstic caves and other features) in the adjacent Pennine uplands suggests that if this succession of flats formed close to sea-level they date from the Middle Pliocene onwards, indicating a subsequent time-averaged uplift rate of almost 0.3 mm a^− 1. Numerical modelling indicates that erosion of surrounding areas at a typical rate of 0.2 mm a^− 1 since 3.1 Ma could have caused this uplift, as well as constraining the local effective viscosity of the lower crust as ~ 4 × 10¹⁸ Pa s and the typical local Moho temperature as ~ 650 °C. It is thus feasible that most of the topography of northern England has developed since the Middle Pliocene, as a consequence of coupling between erosion and the resulting induced flow in the lower continental crust. The much faster vertical crustal motions indicated in this part of northern England, compared with SE England, are thus mainly a consequence of much greater mobility of the lower crust in the north, due to its younger thermal age and the heating effect of radioactive Palaeozoic granites. Uplift of this magnitude, which has previously gone unrecognised, may have affected post-Pliocene global climate.     

Insects as zoogeomorphic agents: an extended review

Insects are the largest and most diverse group of living organisms on Earth, playing a critical but underestimated role as agents of geomorphic change. Burrowing insects create micro-scale landforms such as subterranean tunnels and surface mounds and, by this way, exert an influence on hydrology, soil erosion and sediment transfer at a wider landscape scale. However, social insects represented by ants and termites were the main taxa studied as geomorphic agents and ecosystem engineers. This article proposes an extended and critical literature review of insects as zoogeomorphic agents, with reference to various taxonomic orders and families of insects having a burrowing behaviour. It provides a large overview of their primary and secondary impacts on Earth surface systems, both supported by naturalistic evidence and available quantitative data. Some evolutionary insights are discussed based on fossil evidence of geomorphic work by insects and, at finer temporal scale, on recent advances in radiometric and luminescence dating of insect mounds. Finally, this article explores the fruitful links between geomorphology and entomology, and suggests several research perspectives in order to develop an integrated understanding of the importance of insects in Earth surface processes and landforms. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of subsurface water level on gully headcut retreat in tropical highlands of Ethiopia

Gully erosion is a major cause of soil loss and severe land degradation in sub-humid Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate the role and the effect of subsurface water level change on gully headcut retreat, gully formation and expansion in high rainfall tropical regions in the Ethiopian highlands. During the rainy seasons of 2017–2019, the expansion rate of 16 fixed gullies was measured and subsurface water levels were measured by piezometers installed near gully heads. During the study period, headcut retreats ranged from 0.70 to 2.35 m, with a mean value of 1.49 ± 0.56 m year⁻¹, and average depth of the surface water level varied between 1.12 and 2.82 m, with a mean value of 2.62 m. Gully cross-section areas ranged from 2.90 to 20.90 m², with an average of 9.31 ± 4.80 m². Volumetric retreat of gully headcuts ranged from 4.49 to 40.55 m³ and averaged 13.34 ± 9.10 m³. Soil loss from individual gullies ranged from 5.79 to 52.31 t year⁻¹ and averaged 17.21 ± 11.74 t year⁻¹. The headcut retreat rate and sediment yield were closely related over the three study seasons. Elevated subsurface water levels facilitated the slumping of gully banks and heads, causing high sediment yield. When the soil was saturated, bank collapse and headcut retreat were favoured by the combination of elevated subsurface water and high rainfall. This study indicates that area exclosures are effective in controlling subsurface water level, thus reducing gully headcut retreat and associated soil loss.     

Model prediction capacity of ephemeral gully evolution in conservation tillage systems

Ephemeral gully (EG) erosion has an important impact on agricultural soil losses and increases field surface hydrology connectivity and transport of pollutants to nearby water bodies. Watershed models including an EG component are scarce and not yet properly evaluated. The objective of this study is to evaluate the capacity of one such tool, AnnAGNPS, to simulate the evolution of two EG formed in a conservation tillage system. The dataset for model testing included runoff measurements and EG morphological characteristics during 3 years. Model evaluation focused on EG evolution of volume, width, and length model outputs, and included calibration and testing phases and a global sensitivity analysis (GSA). While the model did not fully reproduce width and length, the model efficiency to simulate EG volume was satisfactory for both calibration and testing phases, supporting the watershed management objectives of the model. GSA revealed that the most sensitive factors were EG depth, critical shear stress, headcut detachment exponent coefficient b, and headcut detachment leading coefficient a. For EG outputs the model was additive, showing low sensitivity to interactions between the inputs. Prediction of EG spatial evolution on conservation tillage systems requires improved development of gully erosion components, since many of the processes were developed originally for traditional tillage practices or larger channel systems. Our results identify the need for future research when EG form within conservation tillage systems, in particular to study gully headcut, soil erodibility, and width functions specific to these practices.     

Convergent development of experimental landforms with differing rainfall and substrate properties

Four runs of experimental landform development, with the same uplift rate, different rainfall intensity, and the same material of different permeability adjusted by the degree of compaction, showed complicated effects of rainfall and mound-forming material. In the run with more rainfall on less permeable material, low separated ridges developed in the uplifted area, because abundant overland flow promoted valley erosion and slope processes from early stages. In the run with less rainfall on less permeable material, valley incision proceeded mostly in major valleys where surface water converges. Canyons developed during early stages and later a high massive mountain emerged. The effect of rainfall difference, however, appeared completely opposite on more permeable material accompanied by lower shear strength. In the run with more rainfall on more permeable material, a massive mountain similar to that with less rainfall on less permeable material appeared, and low separated ridges appeared in the run with less rainfall on more permeable material as in the run with more rainfall on less permeable material. In the former case, similar amount of water available for Hortonian overland flow in early stages estimated from rainfall rate and permeability can explain the development of similar landforms. In the latter case, while abundant surface water with more rainfall on less permeable material made fluvial erosion active from early stages, the deficiency in surface water with less rainfall on more permeable material apparently attenuated fluvial erosion but possibly accentuated slope processes and slope failures by seepage water flow through more permeable material of low shear strength. The active erosion from early stages apparently resulted in the development of enduring similar low landforms later in the dynamic equilibrium stage. These experimental results indicate that similar landforms can emerge from different environmental and lithologic controls, and that process does not necessarily follow from form.