Soil–vegetation interaction on slopes with bush encroachment in the central Alps – adapting slope stability measurements to shifting process domains

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
Generally, an established perennial vegetation cover improves the mechanical anchoring of the soil and the regulation of the soil water budget, including run-off generation and erosion. However, changing vegetation composition affects many other above- and below-ground properties like root density, diversity and geometry, soil structure, pore volume and acidity. Each combination of these properties can lead to a distinct scenario of dominating surface processes. The study of soil properties along a chronosequence of green alder (alnus viridis) encroachment on the Unteralptal in central Switzerland revealed that shrub encroachment changes soil and vegetation properties towards an increase of resistance to run-off related erosion processes, but a decrease of slope stability against shallow landslides.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2014, vol. 39, n°. 4, p. 509-521, nombre de pages : 13, Références bibliographiques : 1 p.

Date :
2014

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley