Effects of plant traits and their divergence on runoff and sediment retention in herbaceous vegetation

Aims Plant species diversity impacts ecosystem processes, but its effects on runoff and soil erosion are not fully understood. Herbaceous vegetation control concentrated runoff and soil erosion through the increase of hydraulic roughness which leads to sediment retention. This study aims to investigate the effect of aboveground traits and their divergence (i.e., stem diameter and density, and leaf area and density) on hydraulic roughness and sediment retention in plant communities.