Estimating the Root Water Uptake of Surface-Irrigated Apples Using Water Stable Isotopes and the Hydrus-1D Model

Zheng, Lihua; Ma, Jun; Sun, Xihuan; Guo, Xianghong; Cheng, Qiyun; Shi, Xiaokai

doi:10.3390/w10111624

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Hydrus 1D is a well‐validated, widely used, state‐of‐the‐art soil water flow model (Šimůnek et al, ; Zheng et al, ). Model development continues, but Hydrus is essentially a soil physics model and not a physiological or plant competition model.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrologic niches explain species coexistence and abundance in a shrub–steppe system

2019

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Differences in vertical root distributions are often assumed to create resource uptake trade‐offs that determine plant growth and coexistence. Yet, most plant roots are in shallow soils, and data linking root distributions with resource uptake and plant abundances remain elusive. Here we used a tracer experiment to describe the vertical distribution of absorptive roots of dominant species in a shrub–steppe ecosystem. To describe how these different rooting distributions affected water uptake in wet and dry soils across a growing season, we used a soil water movement model. Root traits were then correlated with plant landscape abundances. Deeper root distributions extracted more soil water, had larger unique hydrological niches and were more abundant on the landscape. Though most (>50%) root biomass and tracer uptake occurred in shallow soils (0–32 cm), the depth of 50% of tracer uptake varied from 11 to 32 cm across species and species with deeper rooting distributions were more abundant on the landscape (R2 = .95). The water flow model revealed that deeper rooting distributions should extract more soil water (i.e. a range of 60–113 mm of soil water) because shallow roots were often in dry soils. These potential water uptake values were tightly correlated with species’ abundances on the landscape (R2 = .90). Finally, each species’ rooting distribution demonstrated a depth and time at which it could extract more soil water than any other rooting distribution, and the size of these unique hydrological niches indices was also well correlated with species’ abundances (R2 = .89). Synthesis. Our results demonstrate not only a correlation between root distributions and species abundance, but also the mechanism through which differences in rooting distributions can determine resource uptake and niche partitioning, even when most roots are found in shallow soils.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrologic niches explain species coexistence and abundance in a shrub–steppe system

2019

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“…Isotope studies reported different soil depths of RWU for 5-, 10-, 15-, and 22-year-old apple trees (Malus sp.) in China, with soil depths contributions varying between 10 and 300 cm, and 22-year old apple trees mainly using water from the whole soil profile down to cm during all growing stages (Wang et al, 2018;Zheng et al, 2018;. Similarly, another study carried out in China revealed that 4-year-old jujube trees mainly used soil water from 0-20 cm and 20-60 cm layers, 8-year-old trees shifted flexibly their water sources between 0-20 cm, 20-60 cm, and 60-200 cm layers, whereas 15-and 22-year-old trees often ignored moisture in shallow layers and primarily used water from the deeper soils, especially when precipitation was low (Huo et al, 2018).…”

Section: Water Sources For Plant Water Uptakementioning

confidence: 99%

Water sources for root water uptake: Using stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen as a research tool in agricultural and agroforestry systems

Penna

Geris

Hopp

et al. 2020

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Understanding water sources for crop water uptake in agricultural and agroforestry systems is an essential step to develop more efficient and sustainable water management strategies, which is increasingly important in the light of current world population growth, changing climatic conditions and consequent growing pressures on agricultural-and agroforestry production. Stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in the water molecule are powerful and, nowadays, affordable tracers that can help to define the proportion of water sources accessed by plants. Yet, contrary to natural environments, their application is still relatively limited in agricultural and agroforestry research. In this work, we synthesize the advantages and the current knowledge deriving from the use of the stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, in support of more traditional techniques, to understand root water uptake dynamics in agricultural and agroforestry systems. We also underline the practical implications 2 related to the application of this technique for management purposes, and provide a vision for new challenges and future research opportunities in exploring crop and plant water use based on isotopic data.

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“…The purpose of the water uptake modeling was to translate observed differences in tracer uptake distributions into simulated differences in the depth, time, and amount of water uptake by tree and grass roots. Following the approach of Kulmatiski et al (2020), we used Hydrus 1D, a numerical model that simulates interception, infiltration, evaporation, water flow through the soil matrix, and water uptake from a root distribution to simulate water uptake by tree and grass rooting distributions over time (Simunek, Van Genuchten, & Sejna, 2005;Zheng et al, 2018). Model simulations were first performed using a published root biomass distribution for the site (Kulmatiski et al, 2017).…”

Section: Water Uptakementioning

confidence: 99%

Small differences in root distributions allow resource niche partitioning

Kulmatiski

Beard

Holdrege

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Deep roots have long been thought to allow trees to coexist with shallow‐rooted grasses. However, data demonstrating how root distributions affect water uptake and niche partitioning are uncommon. We describe tree and grass root distributions using a depth‐specific tracer experiment six times over two years in a subtropical savanna, Kruger National Park, South Africa. These point‐in‐time measurements were then used in a soil water flow model to simulate continuous water uptake by depth and plant growth form (trees and grasses) across two growing seasons. This allowed estimates of the total amount of water a root distribution could absorb as well as the amount of water a root distribution could absorb in excess of the other rooting distribution (i.e., unique hydrological niche). Most active tree and grass roots were in shallow soils: The mean depth of water uptake was 22 cm for trees and 17 cm for grasses. Slightly deeper rooting distributions provided trees with 5% more soil water than the grasses in a drier season, but 13% less water in a wetter season. Small differences also provided each rooting distribution (tree or grass) with unique hydrological niches of 4 to 13 mm water. The effect of rooting distributions has long been inferred. By quantifying the depth and timing of water uptake, we demonstrated how even small differences in rooting distributions can provide plants with resource niches that can contribute to species coexistence. Differences in total water uptake and unique hydrological niche sizes were small in this system, but they indicated that tradeoffs in rooting strategies can be expected to contribute to tree and grass coexistence because 1) competitive advantages change over time and 2) plant growth forms always have access to a soil resource pool that is not available to the other plant growth form.

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Estimating the Root Water Uptake of Surface-Irrigated Apples Using Water Stable Isotopes and the Hydrus-1D Model

Cited by 21 publications

References 46 publications

Hydrologic niches explain species coexistence and abundance in a shrub–steppe system

Hydrologic niches explain species coexistence and abundance in a shrub–steppe system

Water sources for root water uptake: Using stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen as a research tool in agricultural and agroforestry systems

Small differences in root distributions allow resource niche partitioning

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