IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i10p1739-d936348.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of Vegetation Types for Prevention of Erosion and Shallow Slope Failure on Steep Slopes in the Southeastern USA

Author

Listed:
  • Homayra Asima

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Victoria Niedzinski

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.
    Current Address: School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.)

  • Frances C. O’Donnell

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA)

  • Jack Montgomery

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA)

Abstract

Shallow slope failures due to erosion are common occurrences along roadways. The use of deep-rooted vegetative covers is a potential solution to stabilize newly constructed slopes or repair shallow landslides. This study compared species that may provide slope stabilization for sites in the Piedmont region of the southeastern USA. Six species were tested on experimental plots under natural rainfall conditions, and vegetation health and establishment were monitored. Two methods were used to measure surface erosion, measurement of total suspended solids in collected runoff and erosion pins. While measurement uncertainty was high for both methods, differences were evident between species in the spatial distribution of surface erosion that was related to the quality of vegetation establishment. For three species that established well, soil cores were collected to measure root biomass at depths up to 40 cm. Vetiver grass ( Vetiveria zizaniodies ) had substantially higher mean root biomass (3.75 kg/m 3 ) than juniper shrubs ( Juniperus chinensis ; 0.45 kg/m 3 ) and fescue grass ( Lolium arundinaceum ; 1.28 kg/m 3 ), with the most pronounced difference in the deepest soil layers. Seeding with turf grass such as fescue is a common practice for erosion control in the region but replacing this with vetiver on steep slopes may help prevent shallow landslides due to the additional root reinforcement. Additional work is needed to measure the magnitude of the strength gain.

Suggested Citation

  • Homayra Asima & Victoria Niedzinski & Frances C. O’Donnell & Jack Montgomery, 2022. "Comparison of Vegetation Types for Prevention of Erosion and Shallow Slope Failure on Steep Slopes in the Southeastern USA," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:10:p:1739-:d:936348
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/10/1739/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/10/1739/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ujwalkumar Dashrath Patil & Austin J. Shelton III & Edriel Aquino, 2021. "Bioengineering Solution to Prevent Rainfall-Induced Slope Failures in Tropical Soil," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Dalton, P. A. & Smith, R. J. & Truong, P. N. V., 1996. "Vetiver grass hedges for erosion control on a cropped flood plain: hedge hydraulics," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 91-104, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Willy, Daniel Kyalo & Holm-Müller, Karin, 2013. "Social influence and collective action effects on farm level soil conservation effort in rural Kenya," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 94-103.
    2. Tomasz Tymiński & Tomasz Kałuża & Mateusz Hämmerling, 2022. "Verification of Methods for Determining Flow Resistance Coefficients for Floodplains with Flexible Vegetation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Kansanga, Moses Mosonsieyiri & Bezner Kerr, Rachel & Lupafya, Esther & Dakishoni, Laifolo & Luginaah, Isaac, 2021. "Does participatory farmer-to-farmer training improve the adoption of sustainable land management practices?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Sharma, K. D. & Joshi, N. L. & Singh, H. P. & Bohra, D. N. & Kalla, A. K. & Joshi, P. K., 1999. "Study on the performance of contour vegetative barriers in an arid region using numerical models," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 41-56, June.
    5. Wolka, Kebede & Mulder, Jan & Biazin, Birhanu, 2018. "Effects of soil and water conservation techniques on crop yield, runoff and soil loss in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 67-79.
    6. Piyada Wachirawongsakorn & Tongsai Jamnongkan & Mohd Talib Latif, 2015. "Removal of Cyanide-Contaminated Water by Vetiver Grasses," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(13), pages 252-252, December.
    7. Sayoni Mondal & Priyank Pravin Patel, 2020. "Implementing Vetiver grass-based riverbank protection programmes in rural West Bengal, India," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(1), pages 1051-1076, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:10:p:1739-:d:936348. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.