Effect of Napier grass shoots characteristics on runoff and sediment outflow under concentrated overland flow conditions

Abstract

Vegetation cover is very effective measure to control environmental conditions. In this study, the potential of Napier grass to reduce soil erosion was evaluated. Parameters include number of stems, shoot length, number of leaves, leaf area index and experiments were performed using a hydraulic tilting flume and controlled water circulation system. Extensive experiments were carried out using (i) control (ii) whole plant plot and (iii) roots plot at 2% slope with 10.7 l/s/m discharge rate. Results summarized that Napier grass produced significantly lesser soil erosion and runoff as compared to the control. Further, it was observed that the sediment outflow and runoff generation significantly decreased with the growth stage of Napier grass. Roots were found more effective in controlling sediment rates, while shoots were more effective in reducing runoff rate. The correlation analysis indicated that runoff and sediment outflow was highly negatively correlated with the leaf area index and the number of stems, respectively.