Tiny niche terrain induces gully headcut retreat

Gully erosion damages land resources and endangers human productivity and life, making it a key issue in global research on soil erosion nowadays. Gully headcut retreat (GHR) is the main form of gully erosion. Tiny concave features can be found in many retreating gully heads worldwide, and they are referred to as “niche terrain” in this study. To investigate the association between niche terrain and GHR, relevant research was reviewed on niches and stability analysis of gully heads with niches was modelled and analysed. Studies have shown that not all niches worldwide are identical due to regional differences in internal material–external environmental conditions. Special soil properties, joints, and cracks are the internal material conditions that lead to the formation of niche. External conditions include climate conditions, vegetation conditions, and topography. Water is the driving force for the formation of niche, while vegetation and topography are key factors. Niches can be regarded as the initial stage of GHR in areas where gully erosion is intense. In general, GHR is a composite cyclical process dominated by hydraulic erosion in the early stage and gravitational erosion in the late stage, including niche formation, inward concave formation, free face formation, overhanging soil collapse, and niche reformation. In this study, a model of gully head stability is applied, and it is found that the stability-based factor of safety decreases exponentially with increasing niche height and crack depth, increases exponentially with increasing niche angle, and decreases quadratically with increasing catchment slope. Summarizing the common characteristics of niche terrains worldwide can facilitate the study of the evolution of gully erosion globally.