Quantitative Study on the Effects of Vegetation and Soil on Runoff and Sediment in the Loess Plateau
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe study assesses the impact of grassland, canopy, and soil properties on soil erosion and runoff in the Loess Plateau using Structural Modeling. The study is interesting but needs improvement in the description of the methodology and discussion of results. I am attaching the file with some comments to improve it.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my sincerest gratitude for the time and effort you have invested in reviewing our manuscript entitled "[Quantitative study on the effects of vegetation and soil on runoff and sediment in the Loess Plateau]." Your insightful comments and constructive suggestions have been invaluable in enhancing the quality and clarity of our work.
I am delighted to inform you that we have taken your feedback to heart and have thoroughly revised our manuscript according to your recommendations. The revisions were substantial and spanned across various aspects of the paper, including but not limited to:
- Clarifying Key Concepts: We have made significant efforts to clarify any ambiguous concepts and ensure that the terminology used throughout the manuscript is precise and consistent.
- Strengthening the Methodology: Based on your guidance, we have refined our experimental design and data analysis procedures, making them more rigorous and transparent.
- Expanding Discussion: We have expanded the discussion section to address the limitations of our study more comprehensively and to explore the implications of our findings in a broader context.
- Improving the Language and Structure: We have carefully edited the manuscript to improve its flow, readability, and adherence to the journal's style guidelines.
I am confident that these revisions have significantly improved the manuscript and brought it closer to meeting the standards of excellence expected by the journal. We are eager to submit the revised version for your further consideration and hope that you will find it a substantial improvement over the previous draft.
Once again, thank you for your invaluable contributions to our work. Your expertise and dedication to the scientific community are greatly appreciated. If you have any further suggestions or if there are any additional clarifications required, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Gaohui Duan
dgh0319@nwafu.edu.cn
College of Grassland Agriculture,Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear colleagues,
I had a privilige to read your article entitled "Quantitative Study on the Effects of Vegetation and Soil on 2 Runoff and Sediment in the Loess Plateau" submitted for Forests journal.
This study presents a novel investigation of effects of vegetation and soil on runoff and sediment in Xindiangou watershed in Suide Country, Shaanxi Province, China.
Authors provide an extensive analysis and try to quantify the interactions of numerous variables within diverse vegetation as well as delineating their effects on RAS (runoff and sediments).
This research is highly relevant and proves to be published in chosen journal. The analysis procedures are clear and well-described. Conclusions are based on the results discussed in the manuscript.
I only want to leave some minor comments to briefly revise the manuscript:
- Please try to give some real photos of the objects (this will of course improve the visibility of research as well give more informative details on your relevant topic of investigation):
- Xindiangou watershed, Yulin City, Shaanxi province;
- especially try to use photos of runoff and sediment fixed plots, which were used to investigate runoff and sediment from fixed plots were used to investagate erosive rainfalls events
Line 87-88: "The soil type 87 is light sandy loam[12]." - Please provide some details on soil types according to World Reference Base for Soil Resources, what kind of soils are desctibed for the area of investigation?
Figure 1. Map of Xindiangou watershed, Yulin City, Shaanxi province - Could you please inprove the quality of this figure, in the present form it is difficult to delineate the details of the map.
Line 475: Use full stop instead of semicolon
Please read carefully after some minor revisions
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my sincerest gratitude for the time and effort you have invested in reviewing our manuscript entitled "[Quantitative study on the effects of vegetation and soil on runoff and sediment in the Loess Plateau]." Your insightful comments and constructive suggestions have been invaluable in enhancing the quality and clarity of our work.
I am delighted to inform you that we have taken your feedback to heart and have thoroughly revised our manuscript according to your recommendations. The revisions were substantial and spanned across various aspects of the paper, including but not limited to:
- Clarifying Key Concepts: We have made significant efforts to clarify any ambiguous concepts and ensure that the terminology used throughout the manuscript is precise and consistent.
- Strengthening the Methodology: Based on your guidance, we have refined our experimental design and data analysis procedures, making them more rigorous and transparent.
- Expanding Discussion: We have expanded the discussion section to address the limitations of our study more comprehensively and to explore the implications of our findings in a broader context.
- Improving the Language and Structure: We have carefully edited the manuscript to improve its flow, readability, and adherence to the journal's style guidelines.
I am confident that these revisions have significantly improved the manuscript and brought it closer to meeting the standards of excellence expected by the journal. We are eager to submit the revised version for your further consideration and hope that you will find it a substantial improvement over the previous draft.
Once again, thank you for your invaluable contributions to our work. Your expertise and dedication to the scientific community are greatly appreciated. If you have any further suggestions or if there are any additional clarifications required, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Gaohui Duan
dgh0319@nwafu.edu.cn
College of Grassland Agriculture,Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
