Growth Characteristics and Anti-Wind Erosion Ability of Three Tropical Foredune Pioneer Species for Sand Dune Stabilization

Jung-Tai Lee, Lin-Zhi Yen, Ming-Yang Chu, Yu-Syuan Lin, Chih-Chia Chang, Ru-Sen Lin, Kung-Hsing Chao and Ming-Jen Lee
Additional contact information
Jung-Tai Lee: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan
Lin-Zhi Yen: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan
Ming-Yang Chu: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan
Yu-Syuan Lin: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan
Chih-Chia Chang: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan
Ru-Sen Lin: Hsinchu Forest District Management Office, Forestry Bureau, Hsinchu 30046, Taiwan
Kung-Hsing Chao: Chiayi Forest District Management Office, Forestry Bureau, Chiayi 60049, Taiwan
Ming-Jen Lee: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: Rainstorms frequently cause runoff and then the runoff carries large amounts of sediments (sand, clay, and silt) from upstream and deposit them on different landforms (coast, plain, lowland, piedmont, etc.). Afterwards, monsoons and tropical cyclones often induce severe coastal erosion and dust storms in Taiwan. Ipomoea pes-caprae (a vine), Spinifex littoreus (a grass), and Vitex rotundifolia (a shrub) are indigenous foredune pioneer species. These species have the potential to restore coastal dune vegetation by controlling sand erosion and stabilizing sand dunes. However, their growth characteristics, root biomechanical traits, and anti-wind erosion abilities in sand dune environments have not been documented. In this study, the root growth characteristics of these species were examined by careful hand digging. Uprooting test and root tensile test were carried out to measure their mechanical strength, and wind tunnel (6 m × 1 m × 1.3 m, L × W × H) tests were executed to explore the anti-wind erosion ability using one-year-old seedlings. The results of root growth characteristics demonstrate that I. pes-caprae is superior to S. littoreus and V. rotundifolia . Moreover, uprooting resistance of V. rotundifolia seedlings (0.074 ± 0.032 kN) was significantly higher than that of I. pes-caprae (0.039 ± 0.015 kN) and S. littoreus (0.013 ± 0.005 kN). Root tensile strength of S. littoreus (16.68 ± 8.88 MPa) and V. rotundifolia (16.48 ± 4.37 MPa) were significantly higher than that of I. pes-caprae (6.65 ± 2.39 MPa). In addition, wind tunnel tests reveal that sand wind erosion rates for all three species decrease with increasing vegetation cover, but the anti-wind erosion ability of S. littoreus seedlings is significantly higher than I. pes-caprae and V. rotundifolia . Results of root tensile strength and anti-wind erosion ability clearly show that S. littoreus is superior to I. pes-caprae and V. rotundifolia . Taken together, our results suggest that I. pes-caprae and S. littoreus are beneficial for front line mixed planting, while V. rotundifolia is suitable for second line planting in foredune areas. These findings, along with the knowledge on adaption of foredune plants following sand accretion and erosion, provide us critical information for developing the planting strategy of foredune pioneer plants for the sustainable management of coastal foredune ecosystem.

Keywords: anti-wind erosion ability; foredune species; growth characteristics; root biomechanical properties; sand dune stabilization; wind erosion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3353/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3353/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3353-:d:347996

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().