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In this paper, detrended canonical correspondence analysis was performed to analyze the relationships between diversity indices and environmental gradients, generalized additive model was employed to modal the response curves of diversity indices to the elevation, based on data from field investigation in the mountainous region of the Ili River Valley and a survey of 94 sample plots. Two hundred fifty-nine plant species were recorded in the 94 sample plots investigated, up to 235 species all appeared in the herb layer, and the species of woody plants were very limited. The communities with a complicated vertical structure presented higher values of indices. The distribution pattern of plant species diversity on the northern slope was affected by such factors as elevation, slope aspect, slope gradient, total nitrogen, total potassium, soil water content, organic matter, and that on the southern slope was mainly affected by such factors as slope gradient, elevation, available phosphorus, and soil water content. On the northern slope, Patrick index and Shannon-Wiener index of the plant communities presented a bimodality pattern along altitude; Simpson index and Pielou index showed a partially unimodal pattern. On the southern slope all the distribution pattern of species diversity indices showed two peaks, though Patrick index's bimodality pattern was not an obvious one. These altitudinal patterns were formed by the synthetic action of a variety of environmental factors with elevation playing an important role.

The interactive relationships of ecological and hydrological processes on individual plant growth and development as well as community succession have been a main focus of research in plant ecohydrology. In this paper, we firstly explore the spatial difference of the desert riparian ecosystems as distance to the river in the arid inland Tarim River Basin and then investigate the response of vegetation communities to emergent ecological water conveyances. Results showed that the decreasing groundwater table is the main driving force for vegetation degradation. Herbs exhibit degradation when the groundwater table is 4–6 m below the surface, whereas trees do not exhibit degradation until the groundwater table exceeds 6 m from the soil surface, in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. In addition, the structure of the plant community is controlled by the depth of the groundwater table. The mixed trees/shrubs/herbs structure is distributed in areas where the groundwater table is between 2 and 4 m in depth, the trees/shrubs structure is distributed in areas where the groundwater depth is 4–8 m and the simple structure of degraded Populus euphratica/Tamarix chinensis dominates the areas where the groundwater depth is >8 m. After ecological water conveyance, the Phraginites communis leaf weight, length and width decrease with the increasing distance from the river channel. The length of current‐year twigs and average number of leaves of P. euphratica are significantly greater in the upstream section of the lower reach than in the downstream section of the lower reach. We concluded that the ecologically suitable groundwater depth for P. euphratica and T. chinensis is 2–4 m and the critical groundwater depth for drought stress is about 9 m. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Abstracts Combined with materials measured on leaves water potential of Populus euphratica oliv in the process of ecological water delivery in the lower reaches of Tarim River, the influence of ground-water depths and soil salinity on leaves water potential of P. euphratica was analyzed. We found that there was evident negative correlation between the leaves water potential of P. euphratica and ground-water depths. The deeper the ground-water depths were, the lower the leaves water potential of P. euphratica was, the more serious drought stress P. euphratica suffered from. Besides, there was evident negative correlation between the soil salinity and the leaves water potential of P. euphratica. The bigger the soil salinity was, the lower the leaves water potential of P. euphratica was, the more serious drought stress was indicated from which P. euphratica suffered. For sections rather distant for Daxihaizi Reservoir as well as for those places of wells rather distant from the river course, ground-water depths and the soil salinity were high; the leaves water potential of P. euphratica was low. The leaves water potential of P. euphratica can reflect the degree at which P. euphratica suffers from drought and salt stress, and has an important reference meaning in analyzing proper ground-water depths for the survival and growth of P. euphratic in the lower reaches of Tarim River.

Studying the water use processes of desert riparian vegetation in arid regions and analyzing the response and adaptation strategies of plants to drought stress are of great significance for developing ecological restoration measures. Based on field monitoring and test analyses of physiological ecological indicators of dominant species (Populus euphratica and Tamarix chinensis) in the desert riparian forest in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, the water relations of P. euphratica and T. chinensis under drought stress are discussed and some water use strategies put forward. The results show that (1) concerning plant water uptake, desert riparian forests depend mainly on groundwater to survive under long-term water stress. (2) Concerning plant water distribution, the survival of P. euphratica and nearby shallow root plants is mainly due to the hydraulic lift and water redistribution of P. euphratica under drought stress. (3) Concerning plant water transport, P. euphratica sustains the survival of competitive and advantageous branches by improving their ability to acquire water while restraining the growth of inferior branches. (4) Concerning plant transpiration, the sap flow curves of daily variations of P. euphratica and T. chinensis were wide-peak sin and narrower-peak respectively. T. chinensis has better environmental adaptability.

The Tarim River Basin in Xinjiang, China, has a typical desert riparian forest ecosystem. Analysis of the resilience of this type of ecosystem under extreme drought conditions and ecological rehabilitation projects could provide a theoretical basis for understanding ecosystem stability and resistance, and provide new ecological rehabilitation measures to improve ecosystem resilience. We employed a quantitative framework to assess net primary productivity (NPP) resilience, emphasizing four aspects of NPP dynamics: NPP, NPP stability, NPP resistance, and maximum NPP potential. We compared ecosystem resilience across four time periods: before the implementation of ecological rehabilitation projects (1990–2000), during construction and partial implementation of ecological rehabilitation projects (2001–2012), during the initial project stage of ecological rehabilitation (2013–2015), and during the late project stage of ecological rehabilitation (2016–2018). There are three main finding of this research. (1) Mean NPP was increased significantly from 2013 and was decreased from 2016, especially in the main stream of the Tarim River and in the basins of eight of its nine tributary rivers. (2) Ecosystem resilience in 2013–2018 was greater than in 1990–2012, with the greatest NPP stability, mean NPP and NPP resistance, especially in part one of the river basin (the Aksu River, the Weigan-Kuche River, the Dina River, the Kaidu-Konqi River, and the main stream of the Tarim River). Ecosystem resilience in 2001–2012 was lowest when compared to 1990–2000 and 2013–2018, with lowest mean NPP, NPP stability, NPP resistance and maximum NPP potential, particularly in part two of the river basin (the Kashigr River, the Yarkand River and the Hotan River basins). Therefore, part one was most affected by ecological restoration projects. When 2013–2018 was divided into two distinct stages, 2013–2015 and 2016–2018, resilience in the latter stage was the lowest, with lowest mean NPP, NPP resistance and maximum NPP potential, especially in the main stream of the Tarim River. This may be due to unreasonable water conveyance in 2014–2015. (3) Ecological resilience has increased significantly in 2013–2015 after the implementation of ecological water transfer projects, river regulation, and natural vegetation enclosure projects. Ecosystem resilience could continue to increase even more in the future with the continued implementation of reasonable ecological water transfer projects.

The measurement of plant water potential is considered to be a direct approach to confirming the irrigation time in present irrigation systems. In this current study, two shelter forests species in the Junggar Basin (Central Asia), Populus euphratica and P. Russkii Jabl, were studied. We monitored leaf water potential (ψ l ), stem water potential (ψ s ) and soil water potential (ψ soil ) under different irrigation conditions. The characteristics of the variation in leaf and stem water potential (ψ l and ψ s ) of P. euphratica and P. Russkii Jabl, as well as the impact of soil water potential (ψ soil ) on the leaf and stem water potential (ψ l and ψ s ) under different irrigation conditions were discussed. Our results showed the following. (1) With increased irrigation, the intensity of drought stress on P. euphratica and P. Russkii Jabl decreased. (2) The intensity of drought stress experienced was less for P. Russkii Jabl than for P. euphratica under the same irrigation conditions. (3) The more intense the drought, the less sensitive was P. Russkii Jabl, but the more sensitive was P. euphratica, and vice versa. (4) For the P. euphratica community the soil water potential (Ψ soil ) at 60 cm depth responded to variation in irrigation more strongly than at 30 and 90 cm depths. For the P. Russkii Jabl community the soil water potential (ψ soil ) in the shallow surface layer responded to irrigation variation more strongly than that in deep layers. (5) In the event of relatively sufficient soil water, predawn stem water potential (ψ pds ) of plant was a reasonable indicator reflecting soil water potential (ψ soil ). (6) The water demand of P. euphratica and P. Russkii Jabl shelter forests can be met with different irrigation policies: large volume and less frequency for P. euphratica but small volume and more frequency for P. Russkii Jabl.water potential (ψ), Populus euphratica, P. Russkii Jabl, irrigation volume, temperate desert zone Citation:Fu A H, Chen Y N, Li W H. Analysis on the change of water potential of Populus euphratica Oliv. and P. Russkii Jabl under different irrigation volumes in temperate desert zone. Chinese Sci Bull, 2010, 55: 965−972,