Ecological impact of rain splash erosion on saline-alkali grassland surfaces under photovoltaic panels

Abstract

Photovoltaic panels (PVPs) in grasslands are arranged in such a way that they capture rainfall, which subsequently drips from the edges and causes splash erosion in the grassland, ultimately destroying the natural ecological environment. As such, PVPs can adversely affect fragile saline-alkali habitats, but the precise ecological impact of PVP-caused rainfall splash erosion on saline-alkali grassland has yet to be quantified. To explore the impact of splash erosion on the saline-alkali grassland under PVPs, an investigation was performed here on various surfaces commonly underneath PVPs. These surfaces were typical bare saline-alkali surface (B), Suaeda glauca surface (S) and Leymus chinensis surface (L), and all were positioned under PVPs in the Songnen Plain saline-alkali grassland. The soil splash erosion ditch morphology, the plant community status, and the field-measured soil properties of the three underlying surfaces were all analyzed as part of this investigation in accordance with the observed impact of splash erosion on the three underlying surface ecosystems. Ultimately, the splash erosion generated four ditches in the underlying surfaces, with the degree of soil loss ranked from greatest to smallest as B > S > L. According to the RDA results, vegetation coverage was the main factor affecting splash ditch morphology. The vegetation of the S. glauca surface was fragmented following splash erosion. Much of the S. glauca in the splash erosion ditch died, resulting in a 33.47 %–64.66 % reduction in coverage. In contrast, L. chinensis maintained a higher coverage, which means that it inhibited splash erosion more effectively. For the bare surface, the rainfall splash reduced pH and Ec, and S. glauca began to grow along the edge of the ditch. Collectively, our study quantified the impact of rain splash erosion under PVPs in a saline-alkali grassland ecosystem, comparing the difference in the degree of splash erosion among three different underlying surfaces.