Divergent water sources of three dominant plant species following precipitation events in enclosed and mowing grassland steppes

Understanding of the dynamic patterns of plant water use in a changing environment is one of foci in plant ecology, and can provide basis for the development of best practice in restoration and protection of ecosystem. We studied the water use sources of three coexisting dominant plant species Leymus chinensis, Stipa grandis and Cleistogenes squarrosa growing in both enclosed and mowing grassland in a typical steppe. The oxygen stable isotope ratios (δ18O) of soil water and stem water of these three species were determined, along with soil moisture, before and after precipitation events. The results showed that (1) mowing had no significant effect on the soil moisture and its δ18O, whereas precipitation significantly changed the soil moisture though no significant effect detected on its δ18O. (2) C. squarrosa took up water majorly from top soil layer due to its shaollow root system; L. chinensis took up relative more water from deep soil layer, and S. grandis took up water from the middle to deep soil layers. (3) L. chinensis and S. grandis in mowing grassland tended to take up more water from the upper soil layers following precipitation events, but showed no sensitive change in water source from soil profile following the precipitation in the enclosed grassland, indicating a more sensitive change of soil water sources for the two species in mowing than enclosed grassland. The differences in root morphology and precipitation distribution may partly explain the differences in their water uptake from different soil layers. Our results have important theoretical values for understanding the water competition among plants in fluctuating environment and under different land use in the typical steppe.

Download Full-text

Analysis of soil moisture condition under different land uses in the arid region of Horqin sandy land, northern China

Solid Earth ◽

10.5194/se-6-1157-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 1157-1167 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

C. Y. Niu ◽

A. Musa ◽

Y. Liu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Temporal Variations ◽

Land Uses ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Moisture Condition ◽

Soil Moisture Condition ◽

Land Use Types

Abstract. Land use plays an important role in controlling spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture by influencing infiltration rates, runoff and evapotranspiration, which is important to crop growth and vegetation restoration in semiarid environments, such as Horqin sandy land in north China. However, few studies have been conducted comparing differences of dynamics of soil water conditions and the responses of soil to infiltration under different land use types in semiarid area. Five different land use types were selected to analyze soil moisture variations in relation to land use patterns during the growing season of 2 years. Results showed that soil moisture condition was affected by different land uses in semi-arid sandy soils. The higher soil moisture content among different land uses was exhibited by the grassland, followed by cropland, poplar land, inter-dunes and shrub land. The temporal variations of soil moisture in different land uses were not always consistent with the rainfall due to the dry sequence. Moreover, soil water at the surface, in the root zone and at the deep soil layer indicated statistical differences for different types of land cover. Meanwhile, temporal variations of soil moisture profile changed with precipitation. However, in the deep soil layer, there was a clear lag in response to precipitation. In addition, seasonal variations of profile soil moisture were classified into two types: increasing and waving types. And the stable soil water layer was at 80–120 cm. Furthermore, the infiltration depth exhibited a positive correlation with precipitation under all land uses. This study provided an insight into the implications for land and agricultural water management in this area.

Download Full-text

Динамика влажности почвы в агрофитоценозах сои в годы, предшествовавшие засухе-2020

10.53040/9789975347204.85 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Олег Харчук ◽

◽

Светлана Баштовая ◽

А. Кириллов ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Soil Layers ◽

Low Precipitation ◽

Main Factor

In the soybean cenosis (mainly the Aura variety) with a characteristic density (400-500 × 103 plants/ha), the dynamics of soil moisture in the years preceding the drought-2020 was studied. The main factor of drought-2020 is the low (about 100 mm lower than the average annual value) moisture accumulation in the soil before sowing for the autumn-spring 2019/2020, mainly due to low precipitation. An additional prerequisite for drought-2020 is a decrease in soil moisture (including deep soil layers) during harvesting in recent years, which is the reason for an additional deficit in a soil layer 0-100 cm of approximately 25 mm of water.

Download Full-text

Analysis of soil moisture condition under different land uses in arid region of Horqin Sandy Land, northern China

Solid Earth Discussions ◽

10.5194/sed-7-1979-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 1979-2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

C. Niu ◽

A. Musa ◽

Y. Liu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Temporal Variations ◽

Land Uses ◽

Sandy Land ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Moisture Condition ◽

Soil Moisture Condition

Abstract. Land use plays an important role in controlling spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture by influencing infiltration rates, runoff, and evapotranspiration, which is substantive meaning to crop growth and vegetation restoration in semiarid environments, such as the Horqin Sandy Land in north China. However, few studies have been conducted comparing differences of dynamics of soil water conditions and the responses of soil water to precipitation infiltration under different land use types in this semiarid region. Five different land use types were selected to analyze soil moisture variations in relation to land use patterns during the growing season of two years. Results showed that soil moisture condition was affected by different land uses in semi-arid sandy land. The order of soil moisture (from high to low) among different land uses was grassland, cropland, poplar land, inter-dunes and shrub land. The temporal variations of soil moisture in different land uses were not always consistent with the rainfall due to the dry sequence. Moreover, soil water in surface, root zone and deep soil layer indicated statistical difference for different land covers. Meanwhile, temporal variations of soil moisture profile changed with precipitation. However, in deep soil layer, there was a clear lag in response to precipitation. In addition, seasonal variations of profile soil moisture were classified into two types: increasing and waving types. And the stable soil water layer was at 80–120 cm. Furthermore, the infiltration depth exhibited a positive correlation with precipitation under all land uses. This study provided an insight into the implications for land and agricultural water management in this area.

Download Full-text

Stem-root flow effect on soil–atmosphere interactions and uncertainty assessments

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-12-11783-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 11783-11816

Author(s):

T.-H. Kuo ◽

J.-P. Chen ◽

Y. Xue

Keyword(s):

Heat Flux ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Moisture Content ◽

Soil Water ◽

Sensible Heat Flux ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Soil Evaporation ◽

Soil Layers ◽

Flow Effect ◽

Top Soil

Abstract. Soil water can rapidly enter deeper layers via vertical redistribution of soil water through the stem–root flow mechanism. This study develops the stem–root flow parameterization scheme and coupled this scheme with the Simplified Simple Biosphere model (SSiB) to analyze its effects on land–atmospheric interactions. The SSiB model was tested in a single column mode using the Lien Hua Chih (LHC) measurements conducted in Taiwan and HAPEX-Mobilhy (HAPEX) measurements in France. The results show that stem–root flow generally caused a decrease in the moisture content at the top soil layer and moistened the deeper soil layers. Such soil moisture redistribution results in significant changes in heat flux exchange between land and atmosphere. In the humid environment at LHC, the stem–root flow effect on transpiration was minimal, and the main influence on energy flux was through reduced soil evaporation that led to higher soil temperature and greater sensible heat flux. In the Mediterranean environment of HAPEX, the stem–root flow significantly affected plant transpiration and soil evaporation, as well as associated changes in canopy and soil temperatures. However, the effect on transpiration could either be positive or negative depending on the relative changes in the moisture content of the top soil vs. deeper soil layers due to stem–root flow and soil moisture diffusion processes.

Download Full-text

Soil Water Uptake by Amazonian Trees and Simulation of Impacts on Energy Fluxes and Soil Moisture Dynamics at the LBA Flux Towers

Revista Brasileira de Meteorologia ◽

10.1590/0102-77863630029 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paulo Rodrigo Zanin

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Uptake ◽

Amazon Basin ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Tree Roots ◽

Soil Layers ◽

Deep Root ◽

Set Up ◽

Amazonian Trees

Abstract Observational and modeling studies show that a deeper soil water uptake by tree roots is required for evapotranspiration in the Amazon Basin. Therefore, this study performed three numerical modeling experiments with different depths of soil water uptake by Amazonian tree roots using the Eta/CPTEC regional climate model. In the “Control” and “Deep Soil Shallow Root” experiments the depth of soil water uptake by tree roots is set up with 2 m, while in the “Deep Soil Deep Root” experiment this depth is set up with 7.2 m, according to the observational studies. The energy balance at the LBA flux towers is better simulated in the “Deep Soil Deep Root” experiment than in other experiments. Moreover, with the “Deep Soil Deep Root” experiment the seasonality of evapotranspiration is reduced in the regions where there is strong seasonality of precipitation, while the seasonality of moisture is reduced in shallow soil layers and increases in the deeper soil layers. In addition, in the regions with strong seasonality of precipitation the deeper soil layers have an inter-annual hydrological memory, and in all regions the soil moisture memory is inversely related to the amount of precipitation, with different behaviors in each soil layer. In conclusion, the deeper soil water uptake by the Amazonian trees is important for the energy balance and soil moisture dynamics in the Amazon Basin.

Download Full-text

Environmental Drivers of Water Use for Caatinga Woody Plant Species: Combining Remote Sensing Phenology and Sap Flow Measurements

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13010075 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 75

Author(s):

Rennan A. Paloschi ◽

Desirée Marques Ramos ◽

Dione J. Ventura ◽

Rodolfo Souza ◽

Eduardo Souza ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Plant Species ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Availability ◽

Sap Flow ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Environmental Drivers ◽

Near Surface

We investigated the water use of Caatinga vegetation, the largest seasonally dry forest in South America. We identified and analysed the environmental phenological drivers in woody species and their relationship with transpiration. To monitor the phenological evolution, we used remote sensing indices at different spatial and temporal scales: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and green chromatic coordinate (GCC). To represent the phenology, we used the GCC extracted from in-situ automated digital camera images; indices calculated based on sensors included NDVI, SAVI and GCC from Sentinel-2A and B satellites images, and NDVI products MYD13Q1 and MOD13Q1 from a moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS). Environmental drivers included continuously monitored rainfall, air temperature, soil moisture, net radiation, and vapour pressure deficit. To monitor soil water status and vegetation water use, we installed soil moisture sensors along three soil profiles and sap flow sensors for five plant species. Our study demonstrated that the near-surface GCC data played an important role in permitting individual monitoring of species, whereas the species’ sap flow data correlated better with NDVI, SAVI, and GCC than with species’ near-surface GCC. The wood density appeared to affect the transpiration cessation times in the dry season, given that species with the lowest wood density reach negligible values of transpiration earlier in the season than those with high woody density. Our results show that soil water availability was the main limiting factor for transpiration during more than 80% of the year, and that both the phenological response and water use are directly related to water availability when relative saturation of the soil profile fell below 0.25.

Download Full-text

Root Response to Soil Water Status via Interaction of Crop Genotype and Environment

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040708 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 708

Author(s):

Phanthasin Khanthavong ◽

Shin Yabuta ◽

Hidetoshi Asai ◽

Md. Amzad Hossain ◽

Isao Akagi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Root Distribution ◽

Water Status ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Shoot Biomass ◽

Soil Conditions ◽

Crop Adaptation ◽

Soil Moisture Status ◽

Root Distributions

Flooding and drought are major causes of reductions in crop productivity. Root distribution indicates crop adaptation to water stress. Therefore, we aimed to identify crop roots response based on root distribution under various soil conditions. The root distribution of four crops—maize, millet, sorghum, and rice—was evaluated under continuous soil waterlogging (CSW), moderate soil moisture (MSM), and gradual soil drying (GSD) conditions. Roots extended largely to the shallow soil layer in CSW and grew longer to the deeper soil layer in GSD in maize and sorghum. GSD tended to promote the root and shoot biomass across soil moisture status regardless of the crop species. The change of specific root density in rice and millet was small compared with maize and sorghum between different soil moisture statuses. Crop response in shoot and root biomass to various soil moisture status was highest in maize and lowest in rice among the tested crops as per the regression coefficient. Thus, we describe different root distributions associated with crop plasticity, which signify root spread changes, depending on soil water conditions in different crop genotypes as well as root distributions that vary depending on crop adaptation from anaerobic to aerobic conditions.

Download Full-text

Variations of deep soil moisture under different vegetation types and influencing factors in a watershed of the Loess Plateau, China

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-20-3309-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (8) ◽

pp. 3309-3323 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Xuening Fang ◽

Wenwu Zhao ◽

Lixin Wang ◽

Qiang Feng ◽

Jingyi Ding ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Influencing Factors ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Vegetation Restoration ◽

Native Vegetation ◽

Watershed Scale ◽

Vegetation Types ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Soil Layers ◽

Management Measures

Abstract. Soil moisture in deep soil layers is a relatively stable water resource for vegetation growth in the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China. Characterizing the variations in deep soil moisture and its influencing factors at a moderate watershed scale is important to ensure the sustainability of vegetation restoration efforts. In this study, we focus on analyzing the variations and factors that influence the deep soil moisture (DSM) in 80–500 cm soil layers based on a soil moisture survey of the Ansai watershed in Yan'an in Shanxi Province. Our results can be divided into four main findings. (1) At the watershed scale, higher variations in the DSM occurred at 120–140 and 480–500 cm in the vertical direction. At the comparable depths, the variation in the DSM under native vegetation was much lower than that in human-managed vegetation and introduced vegetation. (2) The DSM in native vegetation and human-managed vegetation was significantly higher than that in introduced vegetation, and different degrees of soil desiccation occurred under all the introduced vegetation types. Caragana korshinskii and black locust caused the most serious desiccation. (3) Taking the DSM conditions of native vegetation as a reference, the DSM in this watershed could be divided into three layers: (i) a rainfall transpiration layer (80–220 cm); (ii) a transition layer (220–400 cm); and (iii) a stable layer (400–500 cm). (4) The factors influencing DSM at the watershed scale varied with vegetation types. The main local controls of the DSM variations were the soil particle composition and mean annual rainfall; human agricultural management measures can alter the soil bulk density, which contributes to higher DSM in farmland and apple orchards. The plant growth conditions, planting density, and litter water holding capacity of introduced vegetation showed significant relationships with the DSM. The results of this study are of practical significance for vegetation restoration strategies, especially for the choice of vegetation types, planting zones, and proper human management measures.

Download Full-text

Examination of the physical state of the soil under conventional and reduced tillage systems

Acta Agraria Debreceniensis ◽

10.34101/actaagrar/51/2087 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 183-186

Author(s):

Géza Tuba

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Moisture Content ◽

Soil Compaction ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Penetration Resistance ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

Reduced Tillage ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Tillage Systems

he effect of reduced and conventional tillage systems on soil compaction and moisture content in two years with extreme weather conditions is introduced in this paper. The investigations were carried out in a long-term soil cultivation experiment set on a heavy textured meadow chernozem soil at the Karcag Research Institute. In 2010 the amount of precipitation during the vegetation period of winter wheat was 623.3 mm, 2.2 times higher than the 50-year average, while in 2011 this value was 188.7 mm giving only 65% of the average. The examinations were made after harvest on stubbles on 4 test plots in 5 replications in the case of each tillage system. Soil compaction was characterised by penetration resistance values, while the actual soil moisture contents were determined by gravimetry. The values of penetration resistance and soil moisture content of the cultivated soil layer were better in the case of reduced tillage under extreme precipitation conditions. It could be established that regular application of deep soil loosening is essential due to the formation of the unfavourable compact soil layer under 30 cm. Conventional tillage resulted in enhanced compaction under the depth of ploughing, the penetration resistance can reach the value of 4 MPa under wet, while even 8 MPa under dry soil status.

Download Full-text

A regionally explicit, global SWI calibration based on ISMN observations

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-496 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Manolis G. Grillakis

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Large Scale ◽

Root Zone ◽

Soil Depth ◽

European Space Agency ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Added Value ◽

Water Index ◽

Soil Moisture Data

Remote sensing has proven to be an irreplaceable tool for monitoring soil moisture. The European Space Agency (ESA), through the Climate Change Initiative (CCI), has provided one of the most substantial contributions in the soil water monitoring, with almost 4 decades of global satellite derived and homogenized soil moisture data for the uppermost soil layer. Yet, due to the inherent limitations of many of the remote sensors, only a limited soil depth can be monitored. To enable the assessment of the deeper soil layer moisture from surface remotely sensed products, the Soil Water Index (SWI) has been established as a convolutive transformation of the surface soil moisture estimation, under the assumption of uniform hydraulic conductivity and the absence of transpiration. The SWI uses a single calibration parameter, the T-value, to modify its response over time.Here the Soil Water Index (SWI) is calibrated using ESA CCI soil moisture against in situ observations from the International Soil Moisture Network and then use Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to find the best physical soil, climate, and vegetation descriptors at a global scale to regionalize the calibration of the T-value. The calibration is then used to assess a root zone related soil moisture for the period 2001 &#8211; 2018.The results are compared against the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, ERA5 Land reanalysis soil moisture dataset, showing a good agreement, mainly over mid-latitudes. The results indicate that there is added value to the results of the machine learning calibration, comparing to the uniform T-value. This work contributes to the exploitation of ESA CCI soil moisture data, while the produced data can support large scale soil moisture related studies.

Download Full-text