Changes in soil properties across a chronosequence of vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau of China

Jiao, Feng; Wen, Zhu; An, Shaoshan

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2011.03.001

Cited by 177 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Meanwhile, five years of fencing was shown to significantly increase plant density, diversity, and biomass, while nine years of fencing improved SOC in the desert of the Hexi Corridor, China [16]. In addition, a study investigating the changes in plant community composition and soil properties under long-term grazing exclusion suggested that both the vegetation and soil characteristics improved following 10-15 years of fencing in the Loess Plateau, China [39]. There are several reasons for variations in the effective duration of ecological shift in the restoration process in different grasslands.…”

Section: Duration Of Grazing Exclusion Required For Significant Impromentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Grazing Exclusion on Vegetation Characteristics and Soil Organic Carbon of Leymus chinensis Grassland in Northern China

Jiao

Tang

2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:Overgrazing has caused vegetation destruction and soil degradation in Leymus chinensis grassland, the widely distributed type of grassland in northern China. To restore the degraded ecosystem, grazing exclusion was implemented in 1979, 1999, and 2004. However, changes in the vegetation and soil organic carbon (SOC) in different years of grazing exclusion have not been thoroughly elucidated. This paper examines the changes in vegetation characteristics (i.e., biomass, cover, richness, degree of succession, and shannon diversity index) and SOC under free of grazing (FG), 6 years (6 GE), 11 years (11 GE), and 31 years (31 GE) of grazing exclusion plots in the Xilin River Basin, China. The results indicate that the vegetation characteristics and SOC increased during the restoration process. Both the vegetation characteristics and SOC in 6 GE did not differ significantly from FG (p > 0.05), while these indexes in 11 GE were significantly higher than in FG. The differences between the vegetation characteristics and SOC in 11 GE and those in 31 GE were not significant. To meet the tradeoff between ecosystem conservation and utilization, further studies with multi-year observation should be conducted to identify the optimal duration of grazing exclusion and the grazing exclusion time threshold in L. chinensis grassland. This study provides valuable insights into sustainable grassland management in northern China.

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Section: Duration Of Grazing Exclusion Required For Significant Impromentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Grazing Exclusion on Vegetation Characteristics and Soil Organic Carbon of Leymus chinensis Grassland in Northern China

Jiao

Tang

2016

Sustainability

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“…Nulsen et al (1986) reported that the infiltration depth of stemflow in mallee is as great as 28 m, and that this input water is possibly consumed in the dry period (Martinez-Meza and Whitford, 1996). In addition, other semiarid shrubs are also adapted to divert rainfall to their stems base as stemflow where it subsequently infiltrates the soil and remains available for plant uptake at deeper soil layers (Jiao et al, 2011;Li et al, 2008;Martinez-Meza and Whitford, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of stemflow on redistributing precipitation and infiltration around shrubs

Jian

Zhang²,

Liu

et al. 2017

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

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Abstract:The experiments of stemflow of two semiarid shrubs (Caragana korshinskii and Hippophae rhamnoides) and its effect on soil water enhancement were conducted from 1 st May to 30 th September of 2009-2013 in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Stemflow values in C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides averaged 6.7% and 2.4% of total rainfall. The rainfall threshold for stemflow generation was 0.5 and 2.5 mm for C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides. When rainfall was less than 17.0 mm, the funnelling ratios were highly variable, however, stable funnelling ratios were found for rainfall greater than 17.0 mm for C. korshinskii. The funnelling ratios of H. rhamnoides first increased until a threshold value of 10.0 mm and then the funnelling ratios begin stabilize. The wetting front depths in the area around stem was 1.4-6.7 and 1.3-2.9 times deeper than area outside the canopy for C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides. Soil moisture at soil depth 0-200 cm was 25.6% and 23.4% higher in soil around stem than that outside canopy for C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides. The wetting front advanced to depths of 120 and 100 cm in the area around stem and to depths of 50 cm in the area outside the canopy for C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides suggested that more rain water can be conserved into the deep soil layers through shrub stemflow. Soil moisture was enhanced in the area outside the shrub canopy, only when rainfall depth is > 4.7 and 5.1 mm, which is an effective rainfall for the area for C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides. While for the area around stem of C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides, the corresponding threshold values are 3.2 and 4.3 mm. These results confirmed that stemflow has a positive effect on soil moisture balance of the root zone and the enhancement in soil moisture of deeper soil layers.

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“…The Loess Plateau in China experiences severe soil erosion, vegetation degradation and desertification (Jiao et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2010). To overcome these problems, extensive vegetation reestablishment practices have been implemented by the Chinese government (Wang et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sap flow in response to rainfall pulses for two shrub species in the semiarid Chinese Loess Plateau

Jian

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

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Rainfall pulses can significantly drive the evolution of the structure and function of semiarid ecosystems, and understanding the mechanisms that underlie the response of semiarid plants to rainfall is the key to understanding the responses of semi-arid ecosystems to global climatic change. We measured sap flow in the branches and stems of shrubs (Caragana korshinskii Kom. and Hippophae rhamnoides Linn.) using sap flow gauges, and studied the response of sap flow density to rainfall pulses using the "threshold-delay" model in the Chinese Loess Plateau. The results showed that the sap flow began about 1 h earlier, and increased twofold after rainfall, compared to its pre-rainfall value. The sap flow increased significantly with increasing rainfall classes, then gradually decreased. The response of sap flow was different among rainfall, species, position (branch and stem) during the pulse period, and the interactive effects also differed significantly (P < 0.0001). The response pattern followed the threshold-delay model, with lower rainfall thresholds of 5.2, 5.5 mm and 0.7, 0.8 mm of stem and branch for C. korshinskii and H. rhamnoides, demonstrating the importance of small rainfall events for plant growth and survival in semi-arid regions.

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Changes in soil properties across a chronosequence of vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau of China

Cited by 177 publications

References 15 publications

Effect of Grazing Exclusion on Vegetation Characteristics and Soil Organic Carbon of Leymus chinensis Grassland in Northern China

Effect of Grazing Exclusion on Vegetation Characteristics and Soil Organic Carbon of Leymus chinensis Grassland in Northern China

The effects of stemflow on redistributing precipitation and infiltration around shrubs

Sap flow in response to rainfall pulses for two shrub species in the semiarid Chinese Loess Plateau

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