Abstract

Crops are one of the main factors affecting soil erosion in sloping fields. To determine the characteristics of splash erosion under crop canopies, corn, soybean, millet, and winter wheat were collected, and the relationship among splash erosion, rainfall intensity, and throughfall intensity under different crop canopies was analyzed through artificial rainfall experiments. The results showed that, the mean splash detachment rate on the ground surface was 390.12 g/m2·h, which was lower by 67.81% than that on bare land. The inhibiting effects of crops on splash erosion increased as the crops grew, and the ability of the four crops to inhibit splash erosion was in the order of winter wheat>corn>soybeans>millet. An increase in rainfall intensity could significantly enhance the occurrence of splash erosion, but the ability of crops to inhibit splash erosion was 13% greater in cases of higher rainfall intensity. The throughfall intensity under crop canopies was positively related to the splash detachment rate, and this relationship was more significant when the rainfall intensity was 40 mm/h. Splash erosion tended to occur intensively in the central row of croplands as the crop grew, and the non-uniformity of splash erosion was substantial, with splash erosion occurring mainly between the rows and in the region directly under the leaf margin. This study has provided a theoretical basis for describing the erosion mechanisms of cropland and for assisting soil erosion prediction as well as irrigation and fertilizer management in cultivated fields.

Highlights

  • Soil-particle splashing caused by raindrop impacts on the ground during rainfall is usually evenly distributed if farmlands are not covered with crops

  • This study has focused mainly on analyzing the variation and spatial distribution of splash erosion rates under corn, soybean, millet, and winter wheat canopies at different growth stages to reveal the effects of soil splash erosion and to provide a basis for soil erosion prediction based on previous studies

  • The mean splash detachment rate under the four crop canopies during the whole growth period was 390.12 g/m2?h, which was lower by 67.81% than on bare land, suggesting that crops can intensively inhibit splash erosion

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Summary

Introduction

Soil-particle splashing caused by raindrop impacts on the ground during rainfall is usually evenly distributed if farmlands are not covered with crops. Crop growth and coverage disturb this uniformity. Throughfall has the strongest influence on soil splash erosion. Due to the wide row spacing of cultivated crops, coverage in the center of the between-row area is usually very low during a large part of the growing season, and that throughfall in this position was significantly greater than in regions closer to the plants. The uniformity of throughfall distribution under a densely planted crop canopy was higher than under intertilled crops [2]. Emphasis should be placed on intertilled crops when studying the effects of crops on splash erosion

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