Vegetation Mitigates Rill Initiation and Network Evolution on Dump Slopes in Coalfields

Evidence From an In Situ Simulated Rainfall Experiment

Bibliographic Data

ID21648040
AuthorsWenxiu Xu (0000-0003-2829-3135, State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering (Institute of Soil and Water Conservation) Northwest A&F University Yangling Shanxi People's Republic of China), Hongliang Kang (0000-0001-7269-9795, School of Land Engineering Chang'an University Xi'an People's Republic of China), Wenlong Wang (0000-0001-8355-3863, State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering (Institute of Soil and Water Conservation) Northwest A&F University Yangling Shanxi People's Republic of China, corresponding author), Mingming Guo (0000-0002-4887-5688, State Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology Chinese Academy of Sciences Harbin People's Republic of China), Yibao Lou (School of Geography and Tourism Chongqing Normal University Chongqing People's Republic of China), Zhiqiang Cui (0000-0003-0992-1941, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources Yangling Shanxi People's Republic of China), Ruidong Li (0000-0002-0199-9069, State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering (Institute of Soil and Water Conservation) Northwest A&F University Yangling Shanxi People's Republic of China)
Year2025
Volume36
Issue16
Pages5817-5836
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLand Degradation and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1085-3278 • E-ISSN: 1099-145X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ldr.70040
OpenAlexW4411698677
LanguageEN
References cited76

Vegetation restoration is widely adopted to control soil erosion on dump slopes in mining areas worldwide, however, numerous rills still develop during heavy rainfall. The effects of vegetation on rill initiation and network evolution on dump slopes remain poorly understood. In this study, an in situ simulated rainfall experiment was conducted in a coalfield in Inner Mongolia, China, to evaluate the impacts of vegetation on rill network development on dump slopes under successive simulated erosive rainfall events. Test plots (5 m × 2 m) were constructed on a field dump slope with three types of vegetation treatments: Elymus dahuricus ( Elymus ), Artemisia ordosica ( Artemisia ), and a mixture of the two species ( Elymus + Artemisia ). A bare slope served as the control (CK). Six simulated rainfall events, each lasting 30 min, were conducted at intensities of 60 and 90 mm h −1 . Our results indicated that, compared with the CK, the Elymus treatment delayed the time of rill initiation by approximately 20–40 times, whereas the Artemisia and Elymus + Artemisia treatments delayed it by approximately 1.5–4 times. As the rainfall events progressed, the rill cross‐sections in the vegetation treatments primarily developed horizontally, becoming wider and shallower, with some widths exceeding the depths by 5–6 times. Moreover, vegetation inhibited rill network evolution by reducing the frequency and mode of rill piracy, preventing new rills, and increasing the rill inclination angle. Overall, vegetation mitigated rill initiation and network evolution under erosive rainfall. These results deepen the understanding of rill network development on vegetated slopes and provide scientific guidance for vegetation optimization for erosion control on dump slopes

Erosion · Geography · Geomorphology · Geotechnical engineering · In situ · Meteorology · Rill · Climate change and permafrost · Landslides and related hazards · Soil erosion and sediment transport · Geology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access