Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (4): 1212-1221.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022.04.22

• Soil Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Soil wind erosion rule of two types of rodent mounds in a degraded grassland area of the Yellow River source zone

ZHAI Hui1(),LI Guorong1,2(),LI Jinfang1,ZHU Haili1,2,ZHAO Jianyun1,2,LIU Yabin1,2,CHEN Wenting1,2,HU Xiasong1,2   

  1. 1. Department of Geological Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Resource & Environment in Northern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China
  • Received:2022-03-17 Revised:2022-05-11 Online:2022-07-15 Published:2022-09-26
  • Contact: Guorong LI E-mail:1838334135@qq.com;qdliguorong@163.com

Abstract:

To clarify the characteristics and rules of soil wind erosion of rodent mounds in alpine grassland, studies were conducted on the Ochotona curzoniae and Eospalax baileyi mounds of He’nan County in Qinghai Province. The characteristics and rules of soil wind erosion and nutrient loss of the two types of rodent mounds were analyzed through a field-simulated wind erosion test, and the differences in soil wind erosion between the two types of rodent mounds were also compared and analyzed. The results of this analysis provide a theoretical basis for elucidating the characteristics of soil loss in rodent-infested degraded areas and reveal the degradation mechanism as well as the possible ways to protect the grassland ecological environment in the Yellow River Source Zone. The key results are as follows: (1) Under the action of 9 m·s-1 constant wind speed erosion, the loss of soil particles was concentrated in the first 15 min, and the soil loss of the Ochotona curzoniae mound was significantly higher than that of the Eospalax baileyi mound, which was approximately 1.5 times that of the Ochotona curzoniae mound. (2) With respect to the form of soil erosion, the amount of soil lost from the mounds was in the following order: surface creep > saltation > suspension, and the amount of soil lost in each of these forms in the Ochotona curzoniae mound was 1.45, 1.58, and 1.50 times the corresponding values in the Eospalax baileyi mound. (3) The nutrient content of the rodent mound soil was significantly lower than that of the original meadow soil; the order of nutrient content was original meadow soil > Ochotona curzoniae mound soil > Eospalax baileyi mound soil. (4) The soil nutrient loss law was similar to that of the rodent mounds, and the nutrient loss mainly depended on the degree of soil loss. The soil nutrient loss of the Ochotona curzoniae mound was 1.42-3.53 times higher than that of the Eospalax baileyi mound.

Key words: the Yellow River source zone, degraded grassland area, mounds, soil wind erosion, nutrient loss