Guidelines for integrating ecological and biological engineering technologies for control of severe erosion in mountainous areas – A case study of the Xiaojiang River Basin, China

Abstract

Ecological environment issues caused by soil erosion have always been the attractive and significant problems all over the world. Under the background of global warming, debris flow, landslide, and other intense gravitational erosion activities have become aggravated, which leads to the decrease of biological diversity, ecosystem stability, resistance, productivity, and the like, which presents new challenges to traditional measures of soil and water conservation. This article, based on research conducted on controlling mountain hazard on the Xiaojiang River basin over the last 30 years, summarizes the managerial achievement of typical ecological engineering technologies and analyzes the principles and application of each type of treatment. The results indicated that established ecological engineering technologies play a significant role in the prevention and treatment of intense gravitational erosion caused by mountain hazard. However, there are still a great deal of limitation of application condition and maneuverability during management process. How to furtherly develop the rational combining pattern between ecological engineering (e.g. contour hedgerow) and geotechnical engineering (e.g. slit dam) and how to strengthen the risk control and improve management strategy will be the key points for preventing intense gravitational erosion in future by ecological engineering. Keywords: Soil and water conservation, Ecological engineering, Gravitational erosion, Risk control, Mountain hazards