Mitigating Hydrologically Induced Slope Failures Through Nature-Based Solutions

A special issue of Hydrology (ISSN 2306-5338). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology–Climate Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 7

Special Issue Editors

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR 955077, China
Interests: unsaturated soil mechanics; THM; slope instability; plant–soil interactions; environmental geotechnics; climate change

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Guest Editor
School of Intelligent Civil and Ocean Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen (HITSZ), Shenzhen 518000, China
Interests: unsaturated soil mechanics; eco and environmental geotechnics; low-carbon disposal and utilisation of solid waste; geotechnical disasters prevention and risk-driven warning; lifecycle resilience and intelligent perception of geotechnical engineering
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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR 955077, China
Interests: geotechnical risk and reliability; resilience assessment; uncertainty quantification; deep learning; eco-geotechnics; rainfall-induced landslides

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrologically induced slope failures, including shallow landslides and surface erosion, are major natural hazards driven by rainfall, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. These processes threaten lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems, especially in mountainous and weather-sensitive regions. While conventional engineering solutions have long been employed for slope stabilization, they may be costly, environmentally disruptive, and less adaptive to long-term landscape dynamics.

In recent years, nature-based solutions (NbS) have emerged as sustainable and multifunctional alternatives or complements to conventional techniques. This Special Issue invites contributions that explore the application, evaluation, and innovation of NbS for managing hydrologically driven slope instability and landslide risks. Topics of interest include vegetation-based reinforcement, soil bioengineering, eco-hydrological processes, land management practices, and hybrid green–gray infrastructure. We especially welcome interdisciplinary submissions that combine hydrology, geotechnics, ecology, and socio-economic analysis.

Through this Special Issue, we aim to advance the scientific understanding and practical implementation of NbS, highlight their long-term benefits, and identify knowledge gaps for future research in the context of climate change and increasing landscape vulnerability.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Qi Zhang
Prof. Dr. Haowen Guo
Dr. Chuanxiang Qu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Hydrology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nature-based solutions
  • slope instability
  • shallow landslides
  • rainfall-induced failure
  • surface erosion
  • subsurface flow/piping
  • vegetation reinforcement
  • bioengineering

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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