Surface Runoff and Its Erosion Energy in a Partially Continuous System: An Ecological Hydraulic Model

Abstract

Plant community and ground surface form a partially continuous ecosystem in conveying surface runoff and its erosion energy. It is one of the mechanisms for maintaining the stable development of a partially continuous ecosystem that the plant community and ground surface dissipate the erosion energy produced by surface runoff so as to control the soil erosion process of the ecosystem. Based on the energy fundamentals of hydraulics and by idealizing the structure of plant community, we obtain an ecological hydraulic model in this paper through a series of mathematical deductions, which includes three equations: (1) the equation on approaching energy balance of surface runoff moving across plant community and ground surface; (2) the equation on the process of dissipating energy of surface runoff by plant community and ground surface in an ecosystem; (3) the equation on the relationship among the pattern of plant community, ground surface and energy dissipation of surface runoff. Theoretically, the ecological hydraulic model can be used to calculate the dynamical process of energy dissipation of surface runoff by plant community and ground surface in a partially continuous ecosystem and to discuss the optimization of plant community pattern in a given section of the ecosystem.