Contribution of different depths of soil water and rainwater to the water source of Hippophae rhamnoides in hilly gully area (%, mean ± SD).
Abstract
Water and soil erosion and sandy desertification are two mainly land desertification types on eastern and southern Ordos Plateau, north China. Hippophae rhamnoides, Armeniaca sibirica and Pinus tabuliformis are three woody plants for soil and water conservation on loess slope. Sabina vulgaris, Artemisia ordosica and Salix psammophila are three shrubs for sand control on sand dune. Water source of six woody plants were investigated by stable isotope technology. The results showed that the δ18O of shallow soil water was similar to that of rainwater in July and September in two habitats. Both of six woody plants in two habitats mainly used shallow soil water in May. However, three shrubs on sand dune mainly used both of shallow and deep soil water in July and September. Three woody plants on loess slope mainly used rainwater or deep soil water in July and September. Therefore, six woody plants utilized different depths of soil water or rain water based on their availability in different seasons, which is an adaptive strategy to the semiarid climate on Ordos Plateau.
Keywords
- land desertification control
- rain water
- soil water
- stable oxygen isotope
- water source
1. Introduction
In semi-arid region, water is the key factor for the survival and succession of plant community [1]. The use of limited water resource concerns not only plant survival, but also interspecific interaction and community dynamics. Since there is generally no stable isotope fractionation during water uptake by root system and water transportation before arriving leaf, water source of a plant could be identified by comparing stable isotope of xylem water and potential water sources [2]. The potential water sources for plant species are shallow soil water recharged by rainwater, deep soil water recharged by rainwater, snow water or groundwater in semi-arid region [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Different life form plants usually used different water source, which related to their root types. Generally, tree and shrub with deep root system could use deep soil water or groundwater [6]. Woody species with dimorphic root system may use different depths of soil water or groundwater simultaneously [9]. And shallow rooted shrub and perennial grass only used shallow or middle soil water [11]. Water source of plant species in semi-arid region was affected by many environmental factors, like season [6, 7], annual variance of climate [8] and habitat heterogeneity [12].
Ordos Plateau is located in the middle reaches of Yellow River, which is the ecotone between Loess Plateau and Mongolian Plateau, with the total area of 1.30 × 105 km2. The eastern part is hilly gully area with loess hill and valley, the southern part is Mu Us Sandy Land with fixed and semi-fixed sand dune, and the northern part is Hobq Desert with moving sand dune [13]. The elevation increases from 774 m in southeast to 2148 m in northwest [14]. From southeast to northwest, the annual precipitation decreased from 400 mm to 200 mm; meanwhile, the natural vegetation varies from forest grassland, grassland, and sandy land to desert [13]. In the last decades, land desertification was severely on Ordos Plateau. From 1994 to 2000, land desertification area increased for 1.90 × 104 km2, focused on west Hobq Desert and south Mu Us Sandy Land [15]. In these years, many measures was taken to increase vegetation coverage, decrease sand storm hazard and improve ecological environment, such as air seeding, fence and afforestation.
In eastern Ordos Plateau, the hilly gully area is one of the most severely soil and water erosion region in the middle reaches of Yellow River, which is sand stone covered by loess and contributed up to 25% of the total course sediment for the lower reaches [16]. Both of engineering measure and vegetation restoration was carried out to control soil and water erosion, such as plant trees and shrubs, including
Mu Us Sandy Land is one of the four sandy land in China, which located in central Inner Mongolia, Northern Shaanxi and Northeast Ningxia. The total area is 4.22 × 104 km2, with the elevation varies from 1000 to 1600 m [17]. The main natural vegetation are forest steppe, steppe, and shrub sandy land and desert steppe. Vegetation growth was improved in Mu Us Sandy Land, which were resulted by climate change and human activity [18]. The dominant species of sand control are
Previous studies in Mu Us Sandy Land showed that
2. Water source of three woody species on loess slope
2.1 Three soil and water conservation woody species on loess slope
This study was conducted in Soil and Water Conservation Park of Jungar Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. The banner has a temperate continental climate, which mean air temperature varies from 6.2°C to 8.7°C, mean annual precipitation is 400 mm, potential evapotranspiration is 2093 mm and forest free days are 145 d [20]. The natural vegetation is steppe dominated by
In the study site, three woody species was planted in 2013 with density of 1000 plants per hectare. The mean height of
2.2 Precipitation of study site in the growing season of 2018
The total precipitation of Dongsheng District was 385.00 mm in the growing season of 2018 (Figure 1), which was slightly lower than annual mean precipitation of 400 mm. The maximal daily precipitation was 52.0 mm and occurred on May 19, the next value was 48.8 mm on July 19. The monthly precipitation were 32.0, 77.9, 15.5, 118.3, 85.0 and 54.3 mm from April to September.
2.3 Stable oxygen isotope of xylem water of three woody species, soil water and rainwater on loess slope
On May 12, stable oxygen isotope ratio of
2.4 Contribution of different depth of soil water and rainwater to the water source of three woody species on loess slope
Iso-source analysis showed that
Water source | May 12 | Jul. 15 | Sep. 23 |
---|---|---|---|
10 cm soil water | 88.5 ± 0.7 | 16.4 ± 13.7 | 4.6 ± 3.8 |
25 cm soil water | 3.1 ± 2.8 | 28.2 ± 20.5 | 17.0 ± 13.3 |
50 cm soil water | 3.0 ± 2.8 | 6.7 ± 5.6 | 6.4 ± 5.2 |
75 cm soil water | 1.9 ± 2.2 | 6.2 ± 5.2 | 41.4 ± 18.3 |
100 cm soil water | 3.4 ± 2.6 | 7.1 ± 0.6 | 30.5 ± 22.8 |
Rainwater | — | 35.4 ± 17.1 | — |
Iso-source analysis showed that
Water source | May 12 | Jul. 15 | Sep. 23 |
---|---|---|---|
10 cm soil water | 94.0 ± 0.9 | 0.6 ± 0.8 | 36.8 ± 21.0 |
25 cm soil water | 1.8 ± 2.3 | 1.2 ± 1.2 | 7.1 ± 5.3 |
50 cm soil water | 1.6 ± 1.7 | 1.3 ± 1.2 | 36.1 ± 21.7 |
75 cm soil water | 1.6 ± 1.7 | 1.5 ± 1.6 | 11.6 ± 8.7 |
100 cm soil water | 0.9 ± 1.1 | 1.6 ± 1.7 | 8.4 ± 6.3 |
Rainwater | — | 93.7 ± 0.7 | — |
Iso-source analysis showed that
Water source | May 12 | Jul. 15 | Sep. 23 |
---|---|---|---|
10 cm soil water | 91.6 ± 3.3 | 7.4 ± 6.4 | 30.4 ± 10.4 |
25 cm soil water | 5.7 ± 4.4 | 10.3 ± 8.8 | 27.1 ± 21.1 |
50 cm soil water | 1.2 ± 1.2 | 21.1 ± 17.6 | 15.9 ± 12.6 |
75 cm soil water | 0.7 ± 0.9 | 11.4 ± 9.7 | 14.2 ± 11.3 |
100 cm soil water | 0.7 ± 0.9 | 13.1 ± 11.1 | 12.4 ± 9.9 |
Rainwater | — | 36.8 ± 9.5 | — |
Three woody species on loess slope selected different water source in the growing season, which is an adaptive strategy to semi-arid environment. They mainly used shallow soil water recharged by spring rain. However, there are interspecific difference of water source in summer. For
3. Water source of three shrubs in sandy land
3.1 Three sand binding shrubs in Mu Us Sandy Land
This study was conducted in Ordos Sandy Land Ecological Station, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Forestry, which located in Ejin Holo Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. The banner has a temperate continental climate, which mean air temperature varies from 5.0°C to 8.5°C, mean annual precipitation is 350 mm, potential evapotranspiration is 2300 mm and forest free days are 136 d [28]. The natural vegetation is sandy land dominated by
In the study site, the mean height of
3.2 Precipitation in Ordos Ecological Station in the growing season of 2018
The total precipitation of Ordos Ecological Station was 367.00 mm in the growing season of 2018 (Figure 3), which was slightly higher than the annual mean precipitation of 350 mm. The maximal daily precipitation was 34.4 mm and occurred on August 30, the next value was 32.2 mm on July 19, and 31.8 mm on July 16. The monthly precipitation were 25.6, 47.6, 11.4, 144.2, 92.2 and 46.0 mm from April to September.
3.3 Stable oxygen isotope of xylem water of four shrubs, soil water and rainwater in sandy land
On May 13, stable oxygen isotope ratio of
3.4 Contribution of different depth of soil water to the water source of four shrubs in sandy land
Iso-source analysis showed that
Water source | May 13 | Jul. 17 | Sep. 22 |
---|---|---|---|
10 cm soil water | 8.9 ± 7.7 | 38.1 ± 5.5 | 36.8 ± 5.5 |
25 cm soil water | 78.5 ± 4.9 | 12.7 ± 10.7 | 14.4 ± 12.1 |
50 cm soil water | 2.8 ± 2.7 | 8.4 ± 7.2 | 9.1 ± 7.8 |
100 cm soil water | 2.9 ± 2.8 | 11.0 ± 9.4 | 14.2 ± 12.0 |
150 cm soil water | 3.6 ± 3.3 | 13.3 ± 11.3 | 15.4 ± 13.0 |
200 cm soil water | 3.4 ± 3.2 | 16.4 ± 13.8 | 10.2 ± 8.8 |
Iso-source analysis showed that
Water source | May 13 | Jul. 17 | Sep. 22 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ao | Hf | Ao | Hf | Ao | Hf | |
10 cm soil water | 72.9 ± 3.1 | 66.5 ± 3.6 | 51.9 ± 5.5 | 36.6 ± 7.0 | 26.0 ± 7.9 | 30.0 ± 7.5 |
25 cm soil water | 7.9 ± 6.9 | 9.7 ± 8.4 | 9.9 ± 8.5 | 13.1 ± 11.1 | 20.1 ± 16.8 | 19.0 ± 16.0 |
50 cm soil water | 4.4 ± 4.0 | 5.5 ± 4.9 | 5.9 ± 5.3 | 7.9 ± 6.8 | 12.9 ± 11.0 | 12.2 ± 10.4 |
75 cm soil water | 5.8 ± 5.1 | 7.2 ± 6.3 | 8.4 ± 7.3 | 11.2 ± 9.5 | 17.6 ± 14.8 | 16.7 ± 14.0 |
100 cm soil water | 4.4 ± 4.0 | 5.5 ± 4.9 | 9.8 ± 8.4 | 13.0 ± 11.0 | 13.3 ± 11.2 | 12.5 ± 10.7 |
150 cm soil water | 4.5 ± 4.1 | 5.7 ± 5.0 | 13.9 ± 11.8 | 18.3 ± 15.4 | 10.1 ± 8.7 | 9.6 ± 8.2 |
Iso-source analysis showed that
Water source | May 13 | Jul. 17 | Sep. 22 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp | Hf | Sp | Hf | Sp | Hf | |
10 cm soil water | 28.6 ± 18.5 | 19.5 ± 12.1 | 15.2 ± 12.8 | 18.0 ± 14.6 | 26.4 ± 3.2 | 22.7 ± 3.4 |
25 cm soil water | 30.4 ± 16.0 | 18.4 ± 10.5 | 13.8 ± 11.7 | 16.6 ± 13.3 | 16.9 ± 14.2 | 17.8 ± 14.9 |
50 cm soil water | 10.8 ± 8.8 | 16.2 ± 13.0 | 16.9 ± 5.1 | 8.2 ± 4.3 | 15.1 ± 12.7 | 15.8 ± 13.3 |
100 cm soil water | 10.5 ± 8.5 | 15.8 ± 12.7 | 20.9 ± 17.4 | 18.6 ± 14.1 | 15.4 ± 13.0 | 16.2 ± 13.6 |
150 cm soil water | 9.6 ± 7.8 | 14.7 ± 11.7 | 16.7 ± 14.0 | 19.4 ± 16.0 | 13.7 ± 11.6 | 14.3 ± 12.1 |
200 cm soil water | 10.1 ± 8.3 | 15.4 ± 12.3 | 16.5 ± 13.8 | 19.2 ± 15.8 | 12.6 ± 10.7 | 13.2 ± 11.2 |
Four shrubs in sandy land have a resource-dependent water use strategy, e.g. used different depths of soil water based on their availability in the growing season.
The water source of the company shrub
4. Conclusion
Soil water recharged by rainwater is the main water source for dominant species on Ordos Plateau. Six woody species have resource-dependent water use strategy, which is an adaptive advantage to the semi-arid climate. On loess slope of eastern Ordos Plateau,
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Ordos Sandy Land Ecological Station for supporting meteorological data.
This study was supported by National Key Research & Development Program of China (2017YFC05040450202) from Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China.
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