Soil moisture, a critical variable in the hydrologic cycle, is highly influenced by vegetation restoration type. However, the relationship between spatial variation of soil moisture, vegetation restoration type and sl...Soil moisture, a critical variable in the hydrologic cycle, is highly influenced by vegetation restoration type. However, the relationship between spatial variation of soil moisture, vegetation restoration type and slope length is controversial. Therefore, soil moisture across soil layers(0-400 cm depth) was measured before and after the rainy season in severe drought(2015) and normal hydrological year(2016) in three vegetation restoration areas(artificial forestland, natural forestland and grassland), on the hillslopes of the Caijiachuan Catchment in the Loess area, China. The results showed that artificial forestland had the lowest soil moisture and most severe water deficit in 100-200 cm soil layers. Water depletion was higher in artificial and natural forestlands than in natural grassland. Moreover, soil moisture in the shallow soil layers(0-100 cm) under the three vegetation restoration types did not significantly vary with slope length, but a significant increase with slope length was observed in deep soil layers(below 100 cm). In2015, a severe drought hydrological year, higher water depletion was observed at lower slope positions under three vegetation restoration types due to higher transpiration and evapotranspiration and unlikely recharge from upslope runoff. However, in 2016, a normal hydrological year, there was lower water depletion, even infiltration recharge at lower slope positions, indicating receiving a large amount of water from upslope. Vegetation restoration type, precipitation, slope length and soil depth during a rainy season, in descending order of influence, had significant effects on soil moisture. Generally, natural grassland is more beneficial for vegetation restoration than natural and artificial forestlands, and the results can provide useful information for understanding hydrological processes and improving vegetation restoration practices on the Loess展开更多
Soil moisture is a limiting factor for vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau, China. Micro-topography may cause heterogeneities in the distribution of soil moisture, but little is known about its effect on deep ...Soil moisture is a limiting factor for vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau, China. Micro-topography may cause heterogeneities in the distribution of soil moisture, but little is known about its effect on deep soil moisture. Our study aims to explore the distribution and impact of soil moisture within the upper 10 m of soil for different microtopographies. Taking undisturbed slope as the control, five micro-topographies were selected. Soil moisture over a depth of 0-10 m from 2017 to 2019 was investigated, and soil particle size and soil organic matter were measured. Variance analysis and multiple comparisons were used to analyze the difference in soil moisture for different microtopographies and multiple-linear regression was used to analyze the influence of micro-topography on soil moisture. There are significant differences in soil moisture within the different layers underlying the examined micro-topographies, while the inter-annual variation in soil water storage for the selected microtopographies increase with increased rainfall. The depth of influence of micro-topographic vegetation on soil moisture exceeded 1000 cm for a gully(GU), 740 cm for a sink hole(SH), 480 cm for a scarp(SC), 360 cm for an ephemeral gully(EG) and 220 cm for a platform(PL). Micro-topography will cause the heterogeneous distribution of soil moisture in the shallower layers, which changes the vegetation distribution differences between micro-topographies. This may be the survival strategy of herbaceous vegetation in response to climate change in the Loess Plateau. For future vegetation restoration efforts, we need to pay attention to the influence of microtopography on soil moisture.展开更多
基金financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015ZCQ-SB-03)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51309007)the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2016YFC0501704)
文摘Soil moisture, a critical variable in the hydrologic cycle, is highly influenced by vegetation restoration type. However, the relationship between spatial variation of soil moisture, vegetation restoration type and slope length is controversial. Therefore, soil moisture across soil layers(0-400 cm depth) was measured before and after the rainy season in severe drought(2015) and normal hydrological year(2016) in three vegetation restoration areas(artificial forestland, natural forestland and grassland), on the hillslopes of the Caijiachuan Catchment in the Loess area, China. The results showed that artificial forestland had the lowest soil moisture and most severe water deficit in 100-200 cm soil layers. Water depletion was higher in artificial and natural forestlands than in natural grassland. Moreover, soil moisture in the shallow soil layers(0-100 cm) under the three vegetation restoration types did not significantly vary with slope length, but a significant increase with slope length was observed in deep soil layers(below 100 cm). In2015, a severe drought hydrological year, higher water depletion was observed at lower slope positions under three vegetation restoration types due to higher transpiration and evapotranspiration and unlikely recharge from upslope runoff. However, in 2016, a normal hydrological year, there was lower water depletion, even infiltration recharge at lower slope positions, indicating receiving a large amount of water from upslope. Vegetation restoration type, precipitation, slope length and soil depth during a rainy season, in descending order of influence, had significant effects on soil moisture. Generally, natural grassland is more beneficial for vegetation restoration than natural and artificial forestlands, and the results can provide useful information for understanding hydrological processes and improving vegetation restoration practices on the Loess
基金financially supported by the 13th Five-Year National Key Research and Development Project (No.2016YFC0501705) funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST),P.R.China。
文摘Soil moisture is a limiting factor for vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau, China. Micro-topography may cause heterogeneities in the distribution of soil moisture, but little is known about its effect on deep soil moisture. Our study aims to explore the distribution and impact of soil moisture within the upper 10 m of soil for different microtopographies. Taking undisturbed slope as the control, five micro-topographies were selected. Soil moisture over a depth of 0-10 m from 2017 to 2019 was investigated, and soil particle size and soil organic matter were measured. Variance analysis and multiple comparisons were used to analyze the difference in soil moisture for different microtopographies and multiple-linear regression was used to analyze the influence of micro-topography on soil moisture. There are significant differences in soil moisture within the different layers underlying the examined micro-topographies, while the inter-annual variation in soil water storage for the selected microtopographies increase with increased rainfall. The depth of influence of micro-topographic vegetation on soil moisture exceeded 1000 cm for a gully(GU), 740 cm for a sink hole(SH), 480 cm for a scarp(SC), 360 cm for an ephemeral gully(EG) and 220 cm for a platform(PL). Micro-topography will cause the heterogeneous distribution of soil moisture in the shallower layers, which changes the vegetation distribution differences between micro-topographies. This may be the survival strategy of herbaceous vegetation in response to climate change in the Loess Plateau. For future vegetation restoration efforts, we need to pay attention to the influence of microtopography on soil moisture.
