TY - JOUR

T1 - Tree species and functional traits but not species richness affect interrill erosion processes in young subtropical forests

AU - Seitz, Steffen

AU - Goebes, Philipp

AU - Song, Zhengshan

AU - Bruehlheide, Helge

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Kühn, Peter

AU - Li, Ying

AU - Scholten, Thomas

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements. This study was financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG FOR 891/2) in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). We are grateful to the Sino-German Center for Science Promotion for organising summer schools and providing travel grants (GZ 1146). Thanks go to Chen Lin and Zhiqin Pei for organisation and translation in China, Milan Daus and Kathrin Käppeler for assistance during field work, Bertram Bläschke for the installation of the first ROPs, Shunhe Lian, Yangmeng Liu and Wuchai Liu for technical support in China and finally to our numerous, tireless Chinese field workers. Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) 2016.

PY - 2016/1/21

Y1 - 2016/1/21

N2 - Soil erosion is seriously threatening ecosystem functioning in many parts of the world. In this context, it is assumed that tree species richness and functional diversity of tree communities can play a critical role in improving ecosystem services such as erosion control. An experiment with 170 micro-scale run-off plots was conducted to investigate the influence of tree species and tree species richness as well as functional traits on interrill erosion in a young forest ecosystem. An interrill erosion rate of 47.5 Mg ha −1 a −1 was calculated. This study provided evidence that different tree species affect interrill erosion differently, while tree species richness did not affect interrill erosion in young forest stands. Thus, different tree morphologies have to be considered, when assessing soil erosion under forest. High crown cover and leaf area index reduced interrill erosion in initial forest ecosystems, whereas rising tree height increased it. Even if a leaf litter cover was not present, the remaining soil surface cover by stones and biological soil crusts was the most important driver for soil erosion control. Furthermore, soil organic matter had a decreasing influence on interrill erosion. Long-term monitoring of soil erosion under closing tree canopies is necessary, and a wide range of functional tree traits should be considered in future research.

AB - Soil erosion is seriously threatening ecosystem functioning in many parts of the world. In this context, it is assumed that tree species richness and functional diversity of tree communities can play a critical role in improving ecosystem services such as erosion control. An experiment with 170 micro-scale run-off plots was conducted to investigate the influence of tree species and tree species richness as well as functional traits on interrill erosion in a young forest ecosystem. An interrill erosion rate of 47.5 Mg ha −1 a −1 was calculated. This study provided evidence that different tree species affect interrill erosion differently, while tree species richness did not affect interrill erosion in young forest stands. Thus, different tree morphologies have to be considered, when assessing soil erosion under forest. High crown cover and leaf area index reduced interrill erosion in initial forest ecosystems, whereas rising tree height increased it. Even if a leaf litter cover was not present, the remaining soil surface cover by stones and biological soil crusts was the most important driver for soil erosion control. Furthermore, soil organic matter had a decreasing influence on interrill erosion. Long-term monitoring of soil erosion under closing tree canopies is necessary, and a wide range of functional tree traits should be considered in future research.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - tree species identity

KW - ecosystem functioning

KW - soil erosion

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014556647&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.5194/soil-2-49-2016

DO - 10.5194/soil-2-49-2016

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 2

SP - 49

EP - 61

JO - SOIL

JF - SOIL

SN - 2199-398X

IS - 1

ER -