Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Efficient organic mulch thickness for soil and water conservation in urban areas

Wang, Bing ; Niu, Jianzhi ; Berndtsson, Ronny LU orcid ; Zhang, Linus LU orcid ; Chen, Xiongwen ; Li, Xiang and Zhu, Zhijun (2021) In Scientific Reports 11(1).
Abstract

The use of organic mulch is important for urban green applications. For urban areas in arid and semiarid regions receiving short high-intensive rainfall, rainfall characteristics, and soil slope play an important role for mulch functioning. These properties of mulch were studied. For this purpose, rainfall simulation experiments using organic mulching were conducted in Jiufeng National Forestry Park to analyze the influence of organic mulch under different slope and heavy rainfall events. The results showed that soil water content displayed a decreasing tendency with increasing mulch application. Compared to bare soil, a mulch application of 0.25 kg/m2 and 0.50 kg/m2 led to maximum soil water content and maximum... (More)

The use of organic mulch is important for urban green applications. For urban areas in arid and semiarid regions receiving short high-intensive rainfall, rainfall characteristics, and soil slope play an important role for mulch functioning. These properties of mulch were studied. For this purpose, rainfall simulation experiments using organic mulching were conducted in Jiufeng National Forestry Park to analyze the influence of organic mulch under different slope and heavy rainfall events. The results showed that soil water content displayed a decreasing tendency with increasing mulch application. Compared to bare soil, a mulch application of 0.25 kg/m2 and 0.50 kg/m2 led to maximum soil water content and maximum runoff decrease occurred for 0.50 kg/m2 mulch. Higher application rate of mulch displayed less soil water content and greater runoff. The runoff amount and runoff generation rate decreased by 28–83% and 21–83%, respectively, as compared to bare soil. With a mulch application of 0.25–1.00 kg/m2, soil drainage accounted for 56–60% of total rainfall. Overall, an efficient mulch application was found to be 0.25–0.50 kg/m2. The results of this study are relevant for arid and semiarid urban regions that experience heavy rainfall.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
11
issue
1
article number
6259
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:33737595
  • scopus:85102743221
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-021-85343-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bd038691-1652-4da1-8a5d-abf570175ed9
date added to LUP
2021-03-30 09:39:35
date last changed
2024-06-15 08:52:49
@article{bd038691-1652-4da1-8a5d-abf570175ed9,
  abstract     = {{<p>The use of organic mulch is important for urban green applications. For urban areas in arid and semiarid regions receiving short high-intensive rainfall, rainfall characteristics, and soil slope play an important role for mulch functioning. These properties of mulch were studied. For this purpose, rainfall simulation experiments using organic mulching were conducted in Jiufeng National Forestry Park to analyze the influence of organic mulch under different slope and heavy rainfall events. The results showed that soil water content displayed a decreasing tendency with increasing mulch application. Compared to bare soil, a mulch application of 0.25 kg/m<sup>2</sup> and 0.50 kg/m<sup>2</sup> led to maximum soil water content and maximum runoff decrease occurred for 0.50 kg/m<sup>2</sup> mulch. Higher application rate of mulch displayed less soil water content and greater runoff. The runoff amount and runoff generation rate decreased by 28–83% and 21–83%, respectively, as compared to bare soil. With a mulch application of 0.25–1.00 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, soil drainage accounted for 56–60% of total rainfall. Overall, an efficient mulch application was found to be 0.25–0.50 kg/m<sup>2</sup>. The results of this study are relevant for arid and semiarid urban regions that experience heavy rainfall.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wang, Bing and Niu, Jianzhi and Berndtsson, Ronny and Zhang, Linus and Chen, Xiongwen and Li, Xiang and Zhu, Zhijun}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Efficient organic mulch thickness for soil and water conservation in urban areas}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85343-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-021-85343-x}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}