Impact of land‐use changes on soil hydraulic properties of Calcaric Regosols on the Loess Plateau, NW China

Yu, Mei; Zhang, Lulu; Xu, Xuexuan; Feger, Karl‐Heinz; Wang, Yanhui; Liu, Wenzhao; Schwärzel, Kai

doi:10.1002/jpln.201400090

Cited by 62 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Higher WSA was observed in AAO and GL compared to the other types of land use because the lands had not been used for the last 20 years. Our results are in accordance with the available literature [32,34,35], which revealed that the WSA of cropland could be affected by the use of heavy farm machinery, animals, and human activity [1]. The results of the different aggregate size fractions in terms of DSA indicated that the 2-1 mm and 1-0.5 mm fractions were both affected in cropland (Table 4), with the DSA at 0-20 cm increasing in the order of Clm, Clw, CAO, GL, SGL, and AAO.…”

Section: The Dsa and Wsa Distribution Of Soil Aggregate Compositions (%)supporting

confidence: 93%

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Effects of Different Land-Use Systems on Soil Aggregates: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau (Northern China)

Kalhoro

Chen

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Soil aggregate stability is an important indicator for controlling soil losses and can improve soil quality, particularly in an area such as the Loess Plateau. The objective of this study was to estimate the differences in soil aggregates across six different land-use systems (grassland, apple orchard, abandoned apple orchard, cropland maize, cropland wheat, and shrub-grassland). For this purpose, dry and wet sieving techniques were employed to assess aggregate content and aggregate stability. Higher percentages of water stable aggregates were observed in the abandoned apple orchard and shrub-grassland at 63% and 61%, respectively. The maximum dry aggregate stability (%) was recorded at 78% and 77% in both wheat cropland and common apple orchard, and the abandoned apple orchard was only 74%. Both mean weight diameters and geometric mean diameters of aggregate were recorded as higher in grassland, shrub-grassland, and the abandoned apple orchard, than the other land uses. The formation of soil aggregates and their stability were positively correlated with soil organic carbon content and root biomass of different plant communities. Higher amounts of soil organic carbon content were noted in the abandoned apple orchard, common apple orchard, and natural grassland at the 0-20 cm soil layer. The results of the correlation coefficient showed a positive significant correlation between the mean weight diameter, geometric diameter, root biomass, and soil organic carbon content. Conclusively, the type of land use affected the soil aggregation and distribution of size fractions; the small fractions of the aggregates formed large fractions by combining with fresh organic matter, and increased soil organic carbon concentrations were closely linked with the formation of macro-aggregates. Thus, converting slope farmland to forestland and grassland could improve water-stable aggregate and reduce soil disturbances in areas (like the Loess Plateau) with the highest erosion risk.

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Section: The Dsa and Wsa Distribution Of Soil Aggregate Compositions (%)supporting

confidence: 93%

“…In addition, roots were manually separated from the soil particles, and root biomass was calculated with mass density (roots) divided by the inner volume of the soil core [1].…”

Section: Determination Of Root Biomass In Different Land-use Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Different Land-Use Systems on Soil Aggregates: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau (Northern China)

Kalhoro

Chen

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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“…Applying this logic, increasing degradation would increase sand content and decrease WSAs, and thus lead to a decrease in CP (Fu et al, 2015;Lipiec et al, 2006). Moreover, a positive correlation between CP and SOC was detected in many studies (Gao et al, 2015;Price et al, 2010;Yu et al, 2015), reflecting that CP can be an indicator of soil quality. By definition, FC is the maximum water content held in soils when excess water has drained away and the downward flux is negligible (Ottoni Filho et al, 2014).…”

Section: Influencing Factors Of Alpine Swamp Meadow Degradation On Somentioning

confidence: 97%

Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Pan

Hou

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Ecosystems in alpine mountainous regions are vulnerable and easily disturbed by global environmental change. Alpine swamp meadow, a unique grassland type in the eastern Tibetan Plateau that provides important ecosystem services to the upstream and downstream regions of international rivers of Asia and other parts of the world, is undergoing severe degradation, which can dramatically alter soil hydraulic properties and water cycling processes. However, the effects of alpine swamp meadow degradation on soil hydraulic properties and the corresponding influencing mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this study, soil moisture content (SMC), field capacity (FC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (K s ) together with several basic soil properties under lightly degraded (LD), moderately degraded (MD) and severely degraded (SD) alpine swamp meadow were investigated; the variations in SMC, FC and K s with alpine swamp meadow degradation and their dominant influencing factors were analysed. The results showed that SMC and FC decreased consistently from LD to SD, while K s decreased from LD to MD and then increased from MD to SD, following the order of LD > SD > MD. Significant differences in soil hydraulic properties between degradation degrees were found in the upper soil layers (0-20 cm), indicating that the influences of degradation were most pronounced in the topsoils. FC was positively correlated with capillary porosity, water-stable aggregates, soil organic carbon, and silt and clay content; K s was positively correlated with non-capillary porosity (NCP). Relative to other soil properties, soil porosity is the dominant factor influencing FC and K s . Capillary porosity explained 91.1 % of total variance in FC, and NCP explained 97.3 % of total variance in K s . The combined effect of disappearing root activities and increasing sand content was responsible for the inconsistent patterns of NCP and K s . Our findings suggest that alpine swamp meadow degradation would inevitably lead to reduced water holding capacity and rainfall infiltration. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the soil hydrological effects of vegetation degradation. Further hydrological modelling studies in the Tibetan Plateau and similar regions are recommended to understand the effects of degraded alpine swamp meadows on soil hydraulic properties.

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“…According to the long-term records (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) of the nearby Jingchuan hydrological station, the average annual temperature is 10.2 • C, the average annual potential evapotranspiration is 1395 mm a −1 , and the mean annual precipitation is 590 mm a −1 . The catchment is covered by loess deposits with a thickness of 50-80 m. The soil is classified as Calcaric Regosols (IUSS working group WRB, 2006) with a silt loam texture [39]. Eighty-three per cent of the catchment is covered by forests, mainly by black locust.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Water Consumption Estimates of Black Locust Plantations in China’s Loess Plateau

Schwärzel

Zhang

Strecker

et al. 2018

Forests

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Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a major tree species in China's large-scale afforestation. Despite its significance, black locust is underrepresented in sap flow literature; moreover, the published water consumption data might be biased. We applied two field methods to estimate water consumption of black locust during the growing seasons in 2012 and 2013. The application of Granier's original sap flow method produced a very low transpiration rate (0.08 mm d −1 ) while the soil water balance method yielded a much higher rate (1.4 mm d −1 ). A dye experiment to determine the active sapwood area showed that only the outermost annual ring is responsible for conducting water, which was not considered in many previous studies. Moreover, an in situ calibration experiment was conducted to improve the reliability of Granier's method. Validation showed a good agreement in estimates of the transpiration rate between the different methods. It is known from many studies that black locust plantations contribute to the significant decline of discharge in the Yellow River basin. Our estimate of tree transpiration at stand scale confirms these results. This study provides a basis for and advances the argument for the development of more sustainable forest management strategies, which better balance forest-related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply.

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Impact of land‐use changes on soil hydraulic properties of Calcaric Regosols on the Loess Plateau, NW China

Cited by 62 publications

References 36 publications

Effects of Different Land-Use Systems on Soil Aggregates: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau (Northern China)

Effects of Different Land-Use Systems on Soil Aggregates: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau (Northern China)

Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Improved Water Consumption Estimates of Black Locust Plantations in China’s Loess Plateau

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