Quantifying the influence of individual trees on slope stability at landscape scale.

Silvopastoralism in New Zealand's highly erodible hill country is an important form of erosion and sediment control. Yet, there has been little quantitative work to establish the effectiveness of space-planted trees in reducing shallow landslide erosion. We propose a method to provide high-resolution spatially explicit individual tree influence models at landscape scale for the dominant species in pastoral hill country. The combined hydrological and mechanical influence of trees on slopes is inferred through the spatial relationship between trees and landslide erosion. First, we delineate individual tree crowns and classify these into four dominant species classes found in New Zealand's pastoral hill country. This is the first species classification of individual trees at landscape scale in New Zealand using freely accessible data, achieving an overall accuracy of 92.6%. Second, we develop tree influence models for each species class by means of inductive inference. The inferred empirical tree influence models largely agree with the shape and distribution of existing physical root reinforcement models. Of exotic species that were planted for erosion and sediment control, poplars (Populus spp.) and willows (Salix spp.) make up 51% (109,000 trees) in pastoral hill country at a mean density of 3.2 trees/ha. In line with previous studies, poplars and willows have the greatest contribution to slope stability with an average maximum effective distance of 20 m. Yet, native kanuka (Kunzea spp.) is the most abundant woody vegetation species in pastoral hill country within the study area, with an average of 24.1 stems per ha (sph), providing an important soil conservation function. A large proportion (56% or 212.5 km2) of pastoral hill-country in the study area remains untreated. The tree influence models presented in this study can be integrated into landslide susceptibility modelling in silvopastoral landscapes to both quantify the reduction in landslide susceptibility achieved and support targeted erosion and sediment mitigation plans.

Towards Mechanistic Hydrological Limits: A Literature Synthesis to Improve the Study of Direct Linkages between Sediment Transport and Periphyton Accrual in Gravel-Bed Rivers.

Altered hydrological, sediment, and nutrient regimes can lead to dramatic increases in periphyton abundance in rivers below impoundments. Flushing flows are a commonly adopted strategy to manage the excess periphyton that can accumulate, but in practice they often prove ineffective. Designing hydrological regimes that include flushing flows may be overlooking key processes in periphyton removal, particularly the role of abrasion and molar action induced by substrate movement. Setting flow targets which aim to initiate substrate movement are likely to improve periphyton removal, but an understanding of the site-specific thresholds for substrate entrainment and periphyton removal is required. Despite decades of entrainment studies accurate and consistent measurement and prediction of substrate entrainment remains elusive, making it challenging to study the relationship between substrate movement and periphyton removal, and to set flow targets. This paper makes a case for using substrate entrainment and transport thresholds as the target metric for flushing flows to manage excess periphyton accrual. This paper critically reviews the determinants of periphyton accrual and associated management methods. This paper also aims to provide a reference for interdisciplinary research on periphyton removal by summarising the geomorphic and hydraulic literature on methods for estimating and measuring substrate entrainment and transport. This will provide a basis for ecologists to identify tools for quantifying entrainment and transport thresholds so they are better placed to explore the direct linkages between phases of sediment transport and periphyton accrual. These linkages need to be identified in order for river managers to set effective flushing flow targets.

Growth and Tunable Surface Wettability of Vertical MoS2 Layers for Improved Hydrogen Evolution Reactions.

Layered materials, especially the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), are of interest for a broad range of applications. Among the class of TMDs, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is perhaps the most studied because of its natural abundance and use in optoelectronics, energy storage and energy conversion applications. Understanding the fundamental structure-property relations is key for tailoring the enhancement in the above-mentioned applications. Here, we report a controlled powder vaporization synthesis of MoS2 flower-like structures consisting of vertically grown layers of MoS2 exhibiting exposed edges. This growth is readily achievable on multiple substrates, such as graphite, silicon, and silicon dioxide. The resulting MoS2 flowers are highly crystalline and stoichiometric. Further observations using contact angle indicate that MoS2 flowers exhibit the highest reported contact angle of ∼160 ± 10°, making the material super hydrophobic. This surface wettability was further tuned by changing the edge chemistry of the MoS2 flowers using an ozone etching treatment. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) measurements indicate that the surface treated with UV-ozone showed a reduction in the Tafel slope from 185 to 54 mV/dec, suggesting an increase in the amount of reactive surface to generate hydrogen.