The preferential flow path development is potentially the result of spatial variations in soil properties with soil depth. However, visualizing the evolution of the preferential flow path with soil depth remains a challenge. This paper presents dye tracer and species diversity theory methods for characterizing preferential flow paths. Field dye tracer experiments were performed at three sites (tree, bush, and grass) in the Yellow River Delta wetland and dye distribution diversity indices (Simpson index (), Shannon-Wiener index (), Margalef index (), and Pielou index ()) were applied to verify their availability for preferential flow assessment. The results showed that the uniformity of the shallow-infiltrated dye at the tree site, non-uniformity of the shallow-infiltrated dye at the bush site, and deep dye infiltration at the grass site were the three typical infiltration types. The average proportion of dye-stained areas () gradually decreased with increasing soil depth. The quantitative effects of soil properties on changes were profound, indicating that soil clay content at 0–10 cm depth, soil sand content at 10–20 cm depth, soil drainage capacity at 20–30 cm depth, and soil bulk density at 30–40 cm depth were the most predictive factors controlling changes. Our results also showed that dye-stained patches with extremely high and high dye concentrations were the most distributed; , , , and were the highest at the tree site and was the diversity index with the greatest importance for change. The findings reveal the soil properties controlling the formation of preferential flow paths, which will improve our understanding of water resource management in the vadose zones of coastal wetlands.

中文翻译：

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使用染料示踪剂和物种多样性理论方法可视化优先流动路径，并通过随机森林算法探索它们与土壤特性的相关性


优先流路的发展可能是土壤性质随土壤深度空间变化的结果。然而，可视化优先流路随土壤深度的演变仍然是一个挑战。本文提出了用于表征优先流动路径的染料示踪剂和物种多样性理论方法。在黄河三角洲湿地三个站点（树木、灌木和草地）进行了现场染料示踪实验，并进行了染料分布多样性指数（Simpson 指数（）、Shannon-Wiener 指数（）、Margalef 指数（）和 Pielou 指数（ )) 用于验证其可用于优先流量评估。结果表明，树木部位浅层染料​​渗透均匀性、灌木部位浅层染料​​渗透不均匀性和草地部位深层染料渗透是三种典型的渗透类型。随着土壤深度的增加，染料染色区域的平均比例（）逐渐减小。土壤性质对变化的定量影响是深远的，表明0-10 cm深度的土壤粘土含量、10-20 cm深度的土壤沙含量、20-30 cm深度的土壤排水能力和30-30 cm深度的土壤容重。 40 厘米深度是控制变化的最具预测性的因素。我们的结果还表明，染料浓度极高和高的染料染色斑块分布最多； 、 、 、 和 在树位点最高，是对变化最重要的多样性指数。研究结果揭示了控制优先流路形成的土壤特性，这将提高我们对沿海湿地渗流区水资源管理的理解。