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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2017, Vol. 9 Issue (1): 76-86    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-016-0088-6     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-016-0088-6
Orginal Article     
Impacts of land disturbance and restoration on runoff production and sediment yield inthe Chinese Loess Plateau
Ning AI1,2,3,4, Tianxing WEI1, Qingke ZHU1,*(), Fangfang QIANG2, Huan MA1, Wei QIN3
1 School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
2College of Life Science, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, China;
3China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100048, China
4International Research and TrainingCenter on Erosion and Sedimentation, Beijing 100048, China
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Abstract  

Land disturbance and land restoration are important factors influencing runoff production and sediment yield in the semi-arid loess regions of China.This study compared the runoff production and sediment yield during the early stage after land disturbance (ESLD) with those during restoring stage after land disturbance (RSLD). Grey relational analysis was used to analyse the importance of each one of the influencing factors (vegetation, rainfall, soil and topography) in affecting the runoff production and sediment yield. Our results showed that during ESLD, topography was the most critical factor controlling the runoff production, while soil was the most important factor controllingthe sediment yield. DuringRSLD, vegetation was more important in affecting runoff production, while rainfall was more important in affecting sediment yield. In additional, this study demonstrated that both the runoff production and the sediment yield can be effectively reduced by restoring vegetation on severely-disturbed lands, thus providing an important theoretical basis for better implementations of the Grain for Green Program.Our results revealed that the vegetation types of Hippophaerhamnoides+Pinustabulaeformis and H.rhamnoides are better plant selections for land restoration in this area, especially for relatively gentle slopes (i.e., less than 20 degrees).

Key words： land disturbance/restoration      grey relational analysis      runoff      sediment yield      Loess Plateau     
Received: 05 June 2015      Published: 31 July 2017
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Ning AI
Tianxing WEI
Qingke ZHU
Fangfang QIANG
Huan MA
Wei QIN
Cite this article:

Ning AI, Tianxing WEI, Qingke ZHU, Fangfang QIANG, Huan MA, Wei QIN. Impacts of land disturbance and restoration on runoff production and sediment yield inthe Chinese Loess Plateau. Journal of Arid Land, 2017, 9(1): 76-86.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-016-0088-6     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2017/V9/I1/76

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