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{"title":"Evolution of tidal reaches of the Yangtze River related to reduced non-uniform sediment after the impoundment of Three Gorges Reservoir","authors":"Hua Ge ,&nbsp;Lingling Zhu ,&nbsp;Bing Mao","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109462","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109462","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sharp reduction in non-uniform sediment, composed of particles of varying sizes, caused by climate change and human activities, has triggered significant evolution in the tidal reaches of the Yangtze River. Clarifying the intrinsic link between these changes is crucial for addressing water sustainability challenges, particularly the prolonged low-sediment-laden flow that may persist for hundreds of years. Based on over 70 years of observational data, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal variation of non-uniform sediment entering the tidal reaches of the Yangtze River and established its relationship with tidal reach evolution. The results show that non-uniform sediment entering these reaches has steadily declined over the past 70 years, with a sharp reduction of more than 70 % and coarsening of over 46 % following the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir, approximately 20 % of which was eroded from the riverbed from Hankou to Datong. This reduction triggered severe erosion in the tidal reaches, primarily within low-water channels. The amount of sediment with particle sizes greater than 0.125 mm showed a strong correlation (<span><math><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow></math></span> &gt; 0.8) with riverbed erosion on a large spatial scale. In the future, improved research on topography and sediment measurement technologies, along with the combined impacts of other human activities and oceanic processes, will support more accurate quantification of the evolution triggered by sediment reduction. These findings offer valuable insights for mitigating adverse effects and promoting sustainable development in the tidal reaches of the Yangtze River following the operation of upstream cascade reservoirs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109462"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145119335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of rock-soil interface on soil infiltration and spatio-temporal water distribution during ecosystem succession in karst areas","authors":"Zhimeng Zhao ,&nbsp;Hui Zhang ,&nbsp;Jin Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109474","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109474","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Karst areas feature unique geology and hydrology, where the rock-soil interface is vital for soil infiltration and ecosystem water cycling. In the study, we used dyeing tracer sprinkling test and irrigation test, combined with soil water content monitoring and soil physical property investigation, to systematically evaluate the preferential flow at rock-soil interface (PF-RSI) in grassland, shrubland and forestland. The results indicated that as the ecosystem succession progressed, the PF-RSI increased but the water transfer from overground rock to soil weakened, with a similar reduction in the rock-soil interface’s influence on soil infiltration. Furthermore, the spatial heterogeneity and temporal stability of soil water post-rain decreased, revealing differentiated ecohydrological functions of PF-RSI across ecosystems. In addition, it was found that soil properties like bulk density hindered soil infiltration but enhanced PF-RSI development, while macro-porosity and macro-aggregate content promoted soil infiltration but reduced PF-RSI. Our results emphasized the co-regulation of hydrological processes in karst areas by the complex system composed of vegetation, soil and rock-soil interface, and pointed out that karst ecosystem succession weakened the hydrological effect of rock-soil interface. This study deepens the understanding of soil water dynamics in karst areas and provides scientific basis for plant water utilization and ecological restoration. However, it should be pointed out that due to the research scope of specific geomorphic units, the universality of relevant conclusions in regions with significant differences in karst development needs to be further verified by multi-scale comparative studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109474"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145119231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Squeeze of Brazilian subtropical mangroves from a Holocene and Anthropocene perspective","authors":"Marcelo C.L. Cohen ,&nbsp;Neuza A. Fontes ,&nbsp;Erika Rodrigues ,&nbsp;Luiz C.R. Pessenda ,&nbsp;Marlon Carlos França ,&nbsp;Ed Garrett ,&nbsp;Junghyung Ryu","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109450","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109450","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Globally, mangroves are expected to expand into subtropical latitudes and higher elevations due to rising temperatures and sea-level over the coming decades. However, local geomorphology and coastal urbanization may strongly modulate these responses. Insights into mangrove responses to environmental changes can be gained from the last millennium, a key period marking the transition from natural to anthropogenic influence. Remote sensing and multi-proxy analyses from a subtropical Brazilian coast revealed the presence of mangroves on elevated flats (&gt;1.5 m above mean sea level, msl) around ∼1700 cal yr BP. These mangroves migrated to lower flats (∼70 cm below current msl) by ∼530 cal yr BP (1420 CE), in response to a relative sea-level (RSL) fall. This trend contrasts with the RSL rise since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA, ∼1300–1850 CE), which has since driven landward mangrove migration in the area. Additionally, recent warming in South America has facilitated the poleward expansion of <em>Rhizophora</em> species, contributing to an increase in mangrove canopy height (from 1 to 3.5 m) over recent decades. While global warming favors latitudinal expansion and canopy growth, the availability of suitable land is critical. Elevated terraces, which served as refuges for coastal wetlands during the mid-Holocene high sea-level stand, are now urbanized, limiting future establishment. Thus, mangrove expansion into temperate latitudes and landward migration hinge on horizontal space availability and the degree of urban development. Gentle terrain (slopes of 1.3–0.8 %) supports mangrove persistence, while steep slopes (&gt;14 %) and urban encroachment threaten their survival. Without adequate space for migration, the region may face a net mangrove loss—termed “mangrove squeeze”—between 2100 and 2160 CE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109450"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145119230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revealing multi-path runoff erosion process driven by rock-surface flow scouring on rocky desertification slopes","authors":"Zihong Wei ,&nbsp;Xudong Peng ,&nbsp;Wei Yang ,&nbsp;Zhuyu Zhang ,&nbsp;Quanhou Dai ,&nbsp;Ziqian Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109466","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109466","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rock surface flow (RSF) is a form of runoff resulting from the secondary redistribution of natural precipitation across exposed bedrock outcrops in karst regions. The RSF can scour the limited soils around the exposed bedrock outcrops from the surface and subsurface. However, it is still unclear what changes will occur in the multi-path runoff erosion process of complex rock–soil structures under the scouring of RSF. To address this problem, this study invented a simulated rock–soil structure device where the RSF enters the soil at an angle to scour the soils at the surface and rock–soil interface (RSI), simulating the scouring erosion driven by the RSF. Hence, a series of RSF scouring experiments on undisturbed soil at the RSI, collected from around outcrops in a representative rocky desertification control plot in a typical karst area of China, were conducted. Results demonstrate that the RSF primarily transforms into RSI flow and underground pore (UG) flow, with the flow volume ranked as UG &gt; RSI &gt; surface. This runoff transformation facilitates substantial subsurface soil loss, with RSI and UG flows contributing 44.4 % and 44.1 % of the total soil loss, respectively. The RSI and UG flows are the primary mechanisms driving subsurface soil leakage, with the RSI acting as a key conduit for stable soil loss. Sediment yield from the RSI showed a significant positive linear correlation with runoff yield (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). The RSF flow volume (<em>RSFfv</em>) was significantly (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) positively correlated with sediment yield across surface, RSI, and UG pathways, while the inclination of the rock surface (<em>IRS</em>) showed a non-significant positive trend. These findings provide novel insights into soil erosion processes on rocky desertification slopes with extensive outcrops. Incorporating RSF-induced erosion into predictive soil erosion models will improve their accuracy and reliability in karst rocky desertification (KRD) areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109466"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Post-fire recovery of temperate and mediterranean ecosystems: An interplay between fire severity, soil nutrients, and vegetation from early-stage to decadal-scale dynamics","authors":"Jhenkhar Mallikarjun ,&nbsp;Anna Gorbushina ,&nbsp;Yakov Kuzyakov ,&nbsp;Moritz Koester ,&nbsp;Rodrigo Castro ,&nbsp;Anna Yudina ,&nbsp;Khaled Abdallah ,&nbsp;Francisco J. Matus ,&nbsp;Michaela A. Dippold","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109431","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109431","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wildfires strongly alter soil properties, which in turn affect ecosystem recovery over extended periods, though long-term impacts are less certain. This study investigated a 14-year post-fire chronosequence in Chile’s mediterranean and temperate humid forests, revealing ecosystem-specific soil properties and nutrient recovery mechanisms. By analysing sites at successional stages, the chronosequence approach assessed temporal changes and ecosystem recovery, revealing long-term wildfire effects on soil dynamics and nutrients recovery.</div><div>Wildfires raised soil bulk density to 0.9 g cm⁻³ in humid temperate and 1.2 g cm⁻³ in mediterranean ecosystems. Mediterranean soils experienced greater compaction from organic matter loss, soil aggregate destruction, ash-clogged pores, and topsoil erosion. Soil texture shifts were ecosystem-dependent: mediterranean soils increased 10–12 % in clay and silt through ash redistribution and aggregation, while temperate soils saw sand content rise by 0.74 % and 0.32 % yearly at 0–5 and 5–10 cm depths from thermal disaggregation and erosion. Ground vegetation recovers quickly, but physical soil properties like bulk density require over 14 years to return to pre-fire conditions.</div><div>In humid temperate forests, ash input initially increased soil pH (4.8 to 5.8), reducing acidity, mitigating aluminium toxicity, while increasing nutrient availability. Base cation stocks increased in mediterranean woodlands (e.g., Ca: up to 0.41 Mg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) due to ash retention, lower leaching, and ash infiltration into subsoil. Nutrient stocks in humid forests recovered slowly (Ca: 0.087–0.13 Mg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) due to rainfall-driven leaching and low subsoil reserves. Carbon and N losses were restricted to the litter horizon in temperate forests, recovering via fire-resistant tree inputs, whereas mediterranean soils suffered severe C and N depletion from vegetation loss, erosion, and low N fixation.</div><div>Fire effects and recovery are ecosystem-specific, shaped by landscape, geology, hydrology, and vegetation resilience. Understanding how fire regimes affect soil and nutrient recovery is vital for improving projections in fire-prone regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109431"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of the synergistic effects of future climate change and land use on soil organic carbon stock in Northeast China","authors":"Zhuyuan Qing ,&nbsp;Huanjun Liu ,&nbsp;Xiangtian Meng ,&nbsp;Baicheng Du ,&nbsp;Shengqi Zhang ,&nbsp;Muxi Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109456","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109456","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The dynamic changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) are highly sensitive to climate change and changes in land use types, but there is still great uncertainty in the response of the carbon cycle under different land use types to future climate change. In this study, we integrated extensive soil observation data, digital soil mapping (DSM) technology, and machine learning (ML) models with a robust training strategy to develop an optimal spatiotemporal prediction model for assessing carbon stock trends in northeastern China and their response to future climate change. Between 1985 and 2020, the average SOC density in the study area declined by 5.51 MgCha⁻¹, with significant differences in positive and negative SOC density changes, indicating an overall trend toward carbon loss. In the future (2020–2100), carbon source areas will continue to appear in the southeast, especially under the high emission scenario SSP585, the SOC density will decrease by 14.19 MgCha⁻¹, and the carbon source area will spread from the southeast to the northeast over time. Under future climate scenarios, the SOC stocks will continue to be lost (1.8 Pg) in the high emission scenario (SSP585), while the low emission (SSP119) and medium emission (SSP245) scenarios will show dynamic changes with multiple carbon source and carbon sink conversions. Notably, regions with rich SOC stocks, such as forests and grasslands, are more vulnerable to climate change and face a higher risk of carbon depletion. Cultivated land and forests play a dominant role in future carbon stock changes, with cultivated land contributing significantly to carbon stock loss (sink-to-source transition) and forests playing a key role in carbon stock recovery (source-to-sink transition). This study provides important scientific basis for addressing climate change challenges, optimizing land management strategies, and maintaining regional carbon cycle balance in Northeast China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109456"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparing landslide patterns and failure mechanisms in restored and native forest ecosystems: Insights from geomorphology, lithology and vegetation","authors":"Ni An ,&nbsp;Zhisheng Dai ,&nbsp;Xie Hu ,&nbsp;Buqing Wang ,&nbsp;Zhitao Huo ,&nbsp;Yuexin Xiao ,&nbsp;Wei Zhan ,&nbsp;Yongyong Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109452","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109452","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change has led to an increasing frequency of extreme rainfall events, intensifying the group-occurring landslides on a global scale. However, the role of forest management measures, particularly the combined effects of geomorphology, lithology and vegetation conditions, in controlling the occurrence and characteristics of these landslides remains poorly understood. A detailed field investigation and statistical analyses based on an event with around 1,673 landslides in southeastern China are conducted herein. The results reveal distinct failure patterns and mechanisms associated with different lithology-vegetation systems. Restored forest ecosystems, typically established on thick residual soil, predominantly experience short and wide landslides. However, native forest ecosystems, where landslides are controlled by soil–bedrock discontinuities, exhibit elongated and slender failure patterns that may evolve into debris flows under favorable conditions. This work provides new insights into the failure mechanisms of group-occurring landslides in restored and native forest ecosystems, offering region-specific insights into the development of ecosystem-specific ecological management strategies in the geo-hazard prevention with broader implications for subtropical monsoon areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109452"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vegetation greening accelerates soil warming and drying in the southern Tibetan Plateau: Synthesis of field measurements, reanalysis, and numerical simulations","authors":"Ning Li ,&nbsp;Di Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109455","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109455","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vegetation greening across the Tibetan Plateau, a critical ecological response to climate warming and land-cover change, affects soil hydrothermal regimes, altering soil moisture (SM) and soil temperature (ST) dynamics. However, its effects on SM-ST coupling remain poorly understood. Using integrated field measurements from a vegetation-soil (V-S) network, reanalysis, and physics-based simulations, we quantify responses of SM, ST, and their coupling to vegetation changes across the Upper Brahmaputra (UB) basin, southern Tibetan Plateau. Results show that strong positive SM-ST correlations occur throughout 0–289 cm soil layers across the basin, consistent with the monsoon-driven co-occurrence of rainy and warm seasons. Spatially, SM-ST coupling strength exhibits pronounced spatial heterogeneity, demonstrating strongest coupling in central basin areas with weaker intensities in eastern and western regions.</div><div>Overall, vegetation greening consistently induces soil warming and drying: as leaf area index (LAI) increases from 20 % to 180 % of its natural levels, SM (0–160 cm) declines by 15 % to 29 % due to enhanced evapotranspiration and root water uptake. Mean ST simultaneously increases by 1.4 ± 0.9 °C. Crucially, sparsely vegetated regions sustain warming (1.4–2.1 °C), while densely vegetated areas transition from initial warming to gradual cooling. These findings advance our understanding of soil hydrothermal dynamics and their broader environmental impacts, improving climate model parameterizations and informing sustainable land management strategies in high-altitude ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109455"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Divergent accumulations of microbial-derived carbon and iron-bound organic carbon in mangrove soil organic matter fractions along a salinity gradient","authors":"Chun Liu ,&nbsp;Liqiong Li ,&nbsp;Chunhuan He ,&nbsp;Gan Zhang ,&nbsp;Xule Liu ,&nbsp;Chengxi Liu ,&nbsp;Yuhao Zhang ,&nbsp;Ping Li ,&nbsp;Yuheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Lisha Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109457","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109457","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite increasing recognition of mangrove ecosystems for their importance in mitigating climate change, the underlying mechanisms of mineral preservation and microbial necromass production for soil organic matter (SOM) sequestration in estuarine mangrove ecosystems remain poorly understood. Here, we fractionated the bulk SOM into particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) in mangrove soils and then analyzed the POM and MAOM fractions in tandem with soil mineral and microbial attributes along a salinity gradient. Our results showed that the POM proportion and soil organic carbon (SOC) content in bulk SOM decreased with increasing salinity, accompanied by increasing the contributions of microbial-derived carbon (MNC) and iron-bound OC (Fe-OC) to bulk SOC pool. Moreover, the MNC’s contribution to SOC increased in POM but decreased in MAOM with salinity, accompanied by a reduction in MNC contents in both POM and MAOM fractions. The contribution of Fe-OC in MAOM was similar to bulk SOM, accompanied by an increase in Fe-OC content as salinity increased. The bulk MNC accumulation was regulated by soil properties (total nitrogen, iron oxide (Fe_p), and pH), whereas the bulk Fe-OC accumulation was controlled by microbial attributes (MNC, microbial biomass) and Fe_p. Notably, MNC rather than Fe-OC was strongly related to SOC, and the fungal necromass was greater than the bacterial necromass, suggesting that the microbial necromass production was a key process in governing mangrove SOC accumulation by increasing fungal necromass abundance in POM pool. Our findings highlight the role of mineral preservation and microbial necromass production in the carbon sequestration of mangrove SOM in estuarine ecosystems under the influence of salinity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109457"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A preliminary study on estimating soil thickness on karst dolomite slopes using ground gamma radiation dose rate in Southwest China","authors":"Xinbao Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuemin Yue ,&nbsp;Liang Shi ,&nbsp;Lu Wang ,&nbsp;Shuai Yuan ,&nbsp;Xiling Zhang ,&nbsp;Mingming Sun ,&nbsp;Yi Zeng ,&nbsp;Yunqi Zhang ,&nbsp;Hongyan Liu ,&nbsp;Kelin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109472","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109472","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Karst landscapes, which occupy ∼15 % of the global terrestrial surface, are characterized by shallow, discontinuous soils that strongly influence vegetation dynamics and ecological processes. However, accurately estimating soil thickness in such heterogeneous environments remains a challenge, as existing methods are often labor-intensive, inefficient, or prone to substantial errors. This study introduces a novel approach to estimating soil thickness on karst dolomite slopes using ground gamma radiation measurements. The method is based on the principle that dolomite bedrock contains low concentrations of natural radionuclides, whereas overlying soils are comparatively enriched in radioisotopes, producing higher gamma dose rates. Calibration experiments at 15 depths revealed a positive correlation between soil thickness (<em>y</em>, cm) and gamma dose rate (<em>x</em>, µSv/h) within the range of 0–35 cm, from which a power function model was further developed with R² of 0.99. Field tests of 18 locations showed average soil thicknesses of 11.22 cm in shrublands and 0.47 cm in grasslands, consistent with results from prior large-scale excavations. This technique offers a simple, non-invasive, and accurate tool for assessing shallow soil distribution in karst regions, with implications for soil mapping, ecological restoration, and land use planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109472"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}