Plant water use strategies in the Shapotou artificial sand-fixed vegetation of the southeastern margin of the Tengger Desert, northwestern China

Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions(δ^(18)O and δD) of plant xylem water and its potential water sources can provide new information for studying water sources, competitive interactions and water use patterns of plants. The contributions of different water sources to three plants, Hedysarum scoparium(HS), Caragana Korshinskii(CK) and Artemisia ordosica(AO), were investigated in the artificial sand-fixed vegetation of Shapotou, the southeastern margin of the Tengger Desert of northwestern China, based on meteorological data and δ^(18)O and δD values of precipitation, groundwater, soil water and xylem water of HS, CK and AO. Our results indicated that soil water infiltration through precipitation was the main water source of the artificial sand-fixed vegetation. Obvious differences in soil water content and in δ^(18)O of soil water and xylem water were found among different seasons. No relationship was found between the δ^(18)O in plant xylem water and in soil water in January. The same water use patterns were found in CK, HS and AO in May, suggesting they have the same water sources. The different water sources of CK, HS and AO in August indicate that water competition occurred. In addition, the main water sources of CK, HS and AO in August mainly come from shallow soil water, while they use relatively deep soil water in May. This phenomenon is related to the differences of soil water content throughout soil profile, precipitation, transpiration and water competition under different growth periods. The water use patterns of CK, HS and AO respond to soil water content throughout the soil profile and their competition balance for water uptake during different growth season. The results indicate that these sandfixed plants have developed into a relatively stable stage and they are able to regulate their water use behavior as a response to the environmental conditions, which reinforces the effectiveness of plantation of native shrubs without irrigation in degraded areas.

Revisit of event-based rainfall characteristics at Shapotou area in northern China

Distribution of rainfall event sizes and interval lengths between events are important characteristics of arid and semi-arid climates. Understanding their importance will contribute to our ability to understand ecosystem dynamics in these regions. Rainfall event timing and magnitude are important drivers of ecosystem processes and are instrumental in creating land-scape heterogeneity in arid and semi-arid regions. Rainfall event characteristics were analyzed using an automatic tip-ping-bucket rain-gauge record across the entire summer monsoon season from 2008 to 2015 at the arid desert area of Shapotou in the Tengger Desert, China. Changing the minimum inter-event time （MIT） from 30 min to 24 h alters the number of rainfall events from 64 to 25 for the event depth larger than 0.1 mm. The mean rainfall intensity declined from 0.95 mm/h to 0.53 mm/h, and the geometric mean event duration rose from 0.55 h to 4.4 h. The number of rainfall events, mean rainfall intensity, and geometric mean event duration differed under different criteria of individual rainfall depths, except that for an individual rainfall depth of 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 mm. The aforementioned features differed only at the lowest range of the mean rainfall intensity and depth for MIT=3 and 6 h. These findings suggest that identification of event-based rainfall in this specific arid region can be better achieved by setting the MIT at six hours. The wide variation in rainfall event properties indicate the need for paying more attention to the proper selection and reporting of event criteria in studies that adopt event-based data analysis. This is especially true in quantifying effective rainfall for soil water replenishment in terms of rainfall depth and intensity with infrequent rainfall events.

Ecological adaptation strategies of annual plants in artificial vegetation-stabilized sand dune in Shapotou Region

Taking annual plant Eragrostis poaeides in the artificial vegetation-stabilized sand dune in the Shapotou Experimental Research Station as example, study has been done on the adaptation strategies of annual plants to random environment through fixed quadrat observations of population changes and fixed plant determinations of individual growth, seed germination,population dynamics, spatial distribution pattern of population, competition and regulation. During the growing season, the survival rate of annual plants depends on the precipitation intensity and precipitation duration which activate the germination of seeds. The optimal germination strategy of annual plants in this habitat during the growing season appears as continuous germination under suitable conditions. Such continuous germination is an adaptive characteristic of annual plants to random environment. In addition, the variation processes of population size and regulation mechanism of E. poaeoides are studied. Statistical results of natural population in four consecutive years show that water condition in the habitat is the leading factor affecting the population dynamics of E. poaeoides. During the establishment period E. poaeoides had a higher death rate, but in the middle to later period they could survive stably. Due to the limitation of soil moisture, the competition among individuals for water inevitably led to self-thinning phenomena. Under very arid condition, the survival curve of annual herbs entirely appears as Deevey Ⅲ type (C type), but under relatively adequate precipitation condition, the survival curve appears as intermediate type. The strategy of life history obviously appears as r-strategy. Plant species of r-strategy often occurs in the early succession stage of the communities. In the relatively adequate and evenly-distributed rainfall years, E. poaeoides population exhibited a density-dependent, i. e., survival rate increased with decrease in population density. The main pattern to regulate the population number for the intraspecific competition is to regulate the highly variable initial density into a final density with narrow variation range.

Soil restoration research advances of artificial sand-binding vegetation ecosystem in the Tengger Desert, Northern China

Soil plays an important role in desert ecosystem, and is vital in constructing a steady desert ecosystem. The management and restoration of desertified land have been the focus of much discussion. The soil in Shapotou desert region has developed remarkably since artificial sand-binding vegetation established in 1946. The longer the period of dune stabilization, the greater the thickness of microbiotic crusts and subsoil. Meanwhile, proportion of silt and clay increased significantly, and soil bulk density declinced. The content of soil organic matter, N, P, and K similarly increased. Therefore, soil has developed from aeolian sand soil to Calcic-Orthic aridisols. This paper discusses the effects brought about by dust, microbiotic soil crust and soil microbes on soil-forming process. Then, we analyzed the relation between soil formation and sand-binding vegetation evolution, in order to provide a baseline for both research on desert ecosystem recovery and ecological environment governance in arid and semi-arid areas.

Cost analysis of sand barriers in desertified regions based on the land grid division model

Sand barriers are the most widely used mechanical implements for wind-blown sand control and desertification prevention.However,there is no standard quantitative cost analysis of the sizes and materials required for sand barriers.In this study,based on the original land grid division model for optimal resource utilization,we calculated the total side lengths of square and regular hexagonal sand barriers with the sizes of 1.0 m×1.0 m,2.0 m×2.0 m,and 3.0 m×3.0 m in a desertified region of the Shapotou area on the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert,China.Then,through literature review and social survey,we obtained the material cost and material utilization amount of sand barriers with different materials and sizes.Finally,we calculated the costs of square and regular hexagonal sand barriers comprised of wheat straw,corn stalk,Salix mongolica,poly lactic acid,magnesium cement,and high-density polyethylene,with the sizes of 1.0 m×1.0 m,2.0 m×2.0 m,and 3.0 m×3.0 m.The results show that the material cost of regular hexagonal corn stalk sand barriers with the size of 3.0 m×3.0 m is the lowest,while the material cost of square magnesium cement sand barriers with the size of 1.0 m×1.0 m is the highest.When using the same material,the cost of regular hexagonal sand barriers is lower than that of square sand barriers with the same size.When using the same size,the cost of sand barriers with corn stalk material is lower than that of sand barriers with other materials.Based on the above analysis,we can conclude that the economic benefits of regular hexagonal sand barriers are greater than those of square sand barriers.This study provides a theoretical basis for accurately calculating the material cost of sand barriers,particularly for the estimated cost of mechanized sand barrier engineering projects.