Sustainable use of nature-based solutions for slope protection and erosion control

Soil loss is a global threat to the integrity and function of the Earth’s ecosystems [...

Integrated model for the hydro-mechanical effects of vegetation against shallow landslides

Shallow landslides are instability events that lead to dramatic soil mass wasting in sloping areas and are commonly triggered by intense rainfall episodes. Vegetation may reduce the likelihood of slope failure through different hydro-mechanical mechanisms that take place at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface. However, while vegetation’s mechanical contribution has been widely recognized, its hydrological effects have been poorly quantified. In addition, most of the existing models lack a holistic approach, require difficult to measure parameters or are commercially based, making them hardly transferable to land planners and other researchers.In this paper an integrated, robust and reproducible model framework is proposed and evaluated with the aim of assessing the hydro-mechanical effects of different vegetation types on slope stability using easily measureable and quantifiable input parameters. The output shows that the model framework is able to simulate the hydro-mechanical effects of vegetation in a realistic manner and that it can be readily applied to any vegetation, soil and climate types. It also demonstrates that vegetation has positive hydro-mechanical effects against shallow landslides, where plant biomass and evapotranspiration play an important role

A simple GIS-based tool for the detection of landslide-prone zones on a coastal slope in Scotland

Effective landslide detection is crucial to mitigate the negative impacts derived from the occurrence of these natural hazards. Research on landslide detection methods has been extensively undertaken. However, simplified methods for landslide detection requiring a minimum amount of data inputs are still lacking. Simple approaches for landslide detection should be particularly interesting for geographical areas with limited information or resources availability. The aim of this paper is to present a refined, simple, GIS-based tool for the detection of landslide-prone and slope restoration zones. The tool only requires a digital elevation model (DEM) dataset as input, it is interoperable at multiple spatial scales, and it can be implemented on any GIS platform. The tool was applied on a coastal slope prone to instability, located in Scotland, in order to verify the functionality of the tool. The results indicated that the proposed tool is able to detect both shallow and deeper landslides satisfactorily, suggesting that the spatial combination of steep and potentially wet soil zones is effective for detecting areas prone to slope failure