The effect of slope gradient on plant cover index (C) of faba bean crops grown on loess soil

Abstract

The effect of slope gradient on plant cover index (C) of faba bean crops grown on loess soil. In a period from 2002 to 2005, a single-element fi eld experiment was conducted at the Experimental Station in Mydlniki near Cracow. The fi eld top soil was a brown loess-derived soil. The main objective of the experiment was to determine the effect of slope gradient on the plant cover index C of small bean crops. The impact of two slope gradients (9% and 16%) on the level of surface soil losses was studied, as was, in the experiment, the amount of surface soils exported from fallowed plots and from the plots grown with faba beans. The experiment on the impacted 22.13 × 1.87 m plots was four times repeated in each gradient zone. It was stated that the plant cover index C was 0.187 in the case of faba beans grown and cropped on the slopes showing a 16% gradient, and, it was 0.154 on the slopes with a 9% gradient. The impact of the total area of plant top ends expressed by an index called LAI (Leaf Area Index) on the value of index C is described by exponential functions, i.e. in the case of slope gradient being 16%: y = 0.6081e–0.6016x, and the slope gradient of 9%: y = 0.5447e–0.6341x.