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| Titel |
Surface erosion at disturbed alpine sites: effects of vegetation cover and plant diversity |
| VerfasserIn |
C. Martin, M. Pohl, C. Alewell, C. Körner, A. Buttler, C. Rixen |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250029013
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The relationship between plant diversity and soil stability in disturbed alpine terrain
is poorly studied. In this paper, we investigated the influence of plant cover and
diversity on water run-off and sediment yield on ski slopes. Rainfall simulations were
conducted on a micro-scale (25 x 25 cm) to be able to replicate plots with different
degrees of vegetation cover. We selected plots with 10%, 30% and 60% of vegetation
cover containing different combinations of plant diversities: (i) grass, (ii) herb, (iii)
moss/ lichen, and all combinations of these plant groups. Each combination was
replicated five times with an applied rain intensity of 375 ml min-1 for about 5
minutes.
As could be expected, percent vegetation cover had a large effect on surface erosion:
sediment yield decreased with increasing vegetation cover. However, within the plots with
60% cover, sediment yield was lower at higher plant diversity and functional group
diversity.
The findings of this study support the view that beside the re-establishment of a closed
vegetation cover, plant diversity is a relevant factor to reduce surface erosion at disturbed sites
in alpine ecosystems. |
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