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Lithology-mediated soil erodibility characteristics after vegetation restoration in the karst region of southwest China
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  • Peining Liang,
  • Xing Wang,
  • Qinxue Xu,
  • Jun Zhang,
  • Rongjie Fang,
  • Zhiyong Fu,
  • Hongsong Chen
Peining Liang
Guilin University of Technology
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Xing Wang
Guangxi Institute of Water Resources Research
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Qinxue Xu
Guilin University of Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jun Zhang
Institute of Subtropical Agriculture Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Rongjie Fang
Guilin University of Technology
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Zhiyong Fu
Institute of Subtropical Agriculture Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Hongsong Chen
Institute of Subtropical Agriculture Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Abstract

Ecological restoration projects have significantly contributed to the global increase in vegetation cover and the reduction of soil erosion. However, the impact of lithology in the karst ecosystem on changes in soil erosion characteristics during vegetation restoration remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the soil erosion characteristics of hillslopes under different vegetation restoration strategies in the fragile karst areas composed of limestone and dolomite. The restoration strategies mainly include arbor forest (AF), orchard (OC), and grassland (GL), with cropland (CR) as the control. Soil physical-chemical properties and soil erodibility factors (K EPIC, K NOMO) were used to evaluate soil erosion characteristics. The results showed that, in comparison to cropland, both limestone and dolomite in restoration strategies exhibited lower soil bulk density (BD) and soil erodibility K values, as well as higher capillary porosity (CP) and soil water-stable aggregates (WSA). However, the K value of limestone (17.9%) was significantly higher compared to dolomite. Additionally, limestone exhibited significant changes ( p < 0.05) in soil properties, such as BD, organic matter content (OMC), CP, and WSA. Conversely, dolomite did not show significant changes in these soil properties. These findings indicate that vegetation restoration was effective in improving soil structure and erosion resistance, and dolomite exhibit higher stability compared to limestone. Through redundancy analysis, it was observed that soil texture, represented by silt content, was the primary parameter indicating changes in soil erosion characteristics following vegetation modification. The silt content explained 84.4% and 78.2% of the variation in K values for limestone and dolomite, respectively. Moreover, the changes in K values for dolomite were also controlled by OMC, whereas limestone was solely controlled by soil texture. These findings suggest that the interactions between soil properties contribute to the improvement of stability in dolomite. Accordingly, vegetation restoration enhances soil erosion resistance; however, the effectiveness of restoration was controlled by the lithology in the southwestern karst region.
28 Jun 2023Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
28 Jun 2023Submission Checks Completed
28 Jun 2023Assigned to Editor
01 Jul 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
01 Jul 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Aug 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Major
13 Sep 20231st Revision Received
13 Sep 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
13 Sep 2023Submission Checks Completed
13 Sep 2023Assigned to Editor
14 Sep 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
24 Sep 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
27 Sep 20232nd Revision Received
27 Sep 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Sep 2023Submission Checks Completed
27 Sep 2023Assigned to Editor
28 Sep 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
14 Oct 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
17 Oct 20233rd Revision Received
17 Oct 2023Assigned to Editor
17 Oct 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
17 Oct 2023Submission Checks Completed
17 Oct 2023Editorial Decision: Accept