The effect of vegetation density on overland flow dynamics has been extensively studied, yet fewer investigations have focused on vegetation arrangements with different densities and position features. Flume experiments were conducted to investigate the hydrodynamics of flow through rigid emergent vegetation arranged in combinations with three densities (Dense, Middle, and Sparse) and three positions (summit, backslope, and footslope). This study focused on how spatial variations regulated hydrodynamic parameters from two dimensions: direction along the slope and water depth. The total hydrodynamic parameters of bare slopes were significantly different from those of vegetated slopes. The relationship between Re and f illustrated that Re was not a unique predictor of hydraulic roughness on vegetated slopes. In the slope direction, all hydrodynamic parameters on vegetated slopes exhibited fluctuating downward/upward trends due to the clocking effect before the vegetated area and the rapid conveyance effect in the vegetated area, whereas constant values were observed on bare slopes. The performance of hydrodynamics parameters suggested that the dense rearward arrangement (SMD) was the optimal vegetation pattern to regulate flow conditions. Specifically, the vertical profiles of the velocity and turbulence features of the SMD arrangement at different sections demonstrated the significant role of vegetation density in identifying the velocity layers along the water depth. The maximum velocity and Reynolds Stress Number (RSN) indicated the position where local scour was most likely to occur, which would improve our basic understanding of the mechanisms underlying hydraulic and soil erosion processes.

Sheet flow featured with shallow depth on vegetated slopes plays a key role on the dynamics of soil and water loss, yet the hydrodynamic characteristics of sheet flow pasting a vegetation stem simplified by an emergent cylinder have not been revealed. Laboratory flume experiments were conducted to investigate potential effects of a vegetation stem on velocity components, flow vortexes, and shear stress from time-averaged and time-resolved perspectives. Flow fields on the upstream flow of the cylinder at the symmetry plane were captured by using a high precision Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV, 63 pixel/mm) system. Four flow conditions with flow depths from 0.4 to 0.57 cm and cylinder Reynolds number from 2440 to 3806 were selected to fully evaluate the sheet flow condition. Time-averaged hydrodynamic features were analyzed in terms of streamlines, streamwise velocity, wall-normal velocity, and vorticity. Time-resolved features of two velocity components were then analyzed. Joint probability density functions of the two velocity components exhibited asymmetrical bimodal, indicating two preferred flow states occurred frequently, namely, backflow event and downflow event. Subsequently, analyses by linear stochastic estimation showed that the backflow event was induced by a reverse upstream flow starting from the leading edge of the cylinder and penetrating primary horseshoe vortex, which was motivated by the intermediate-flow mode proposed in previous open channel flow. Meanwhile, the downflow event was induced by a portion of fluid that was unable to penetrate the primary horseshoe vortex and then vertically impinged the flume bed, which was motivated by the downflow mode proposed in this study. As the critical hydrodynamic parameter for local scouring, shear stress was finally sketched. It was suggested that soil control measures should be implemented around the vegetation stem with a radius of 0.1D (D is the cylinder diameter), where the maximum shear stress mostly occurs. The newly defined flow mode could provide deeper insights into the mechanisms of sheet flow and promote the practice of soil erosion control on vegetated hillslopes.

The Karst plateau region has a unique natural erosion environment and sharp human–land conflicts. This study selected Bijie City, Northwest Guizhou, as the study area. To quantitatively analyze the human and natural impacts on soil erosion in this area, this paper evaluated the anthropogenic and natural soil erosion based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) coupled with the Quantitative Analytical Model (QAM). The results showed the following: (1) the total soil erosion modulus in the study area showed an increasing trend: 37.86 t/(ha·a) in 2010, 42.12 t/(ha·a) in 2015, and 48.67 t/(ha·a) in 2020; (2) human activities reduced soil erosion, with an anthropogenic soil erosion modulus of −13.79 t/(ha·a) in 2015 and −17.36 t/(ha·a) in 2020, indicating that human activities, such as projects of returning farmland to forests and rocky desertification control, played a key role in decreasing soil erosion in the study area.; and (3) the percentage of the area of soil erosion deterioration dominated by natural factors (AGN) is gradually decreasing, 89.47% in 2015 and 81.85% in 2020; the percentage of the area of soil erosion deterioration dominated by human activities (AGH) is increasing from 6.17% in 2015 to 13.80% in 2020; and the percentage of the area of soil erosion mitigation caused by human activities (ALH) and the area of soil erosion not affected by natural and human activities (NNH) showed no significant change. This result suggests more attention should be paid to the area of AGH to control soil erosion. This study analyzed the roles of natural factors as well as human activities in the Karst plateau, enriched the application scope of the QAM, and provided new ideas for theoretical research in this field.