Abstract
The problem of water loss and soil erosion in limestone slopes of Taihang Mountain is very serious, with different vegetations playing different roles in water loss and soil erosion. The aim of this paper is to find out the roles of the two common shrubs, false indigo and ryegrass, in conserving water, soil and nutrients on limestone slopes through experiments with simulated rainfall. The results show that compared with the control group, the runoff yield times of false indigo and ryegrass are extended by 226 s and 264 s, respectively; the slope surface runoffs of false indigo and ryegrass decreased by 32% and 47%, and their sediment yields decreased by 64% and 71%, respectively. From bare slopes, slopes with false indigo and slopes with ryegrass, the loss of particulate nitrogen accounted for 62%, 46% and 53% of the total loss of nitrogen, respectively; the loss of particulate phosphorus accounted for 81%, 69% and 74% of the total loss of phosphorus, respectively; and the loss of particulate potassium accounted for 99%, 97% and 99% of the total loss of potassium, respectively.
