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Responses of soil moisture to vegetation restoration type and slope length on the loess hillslope

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Abstract

Soil moisture, a critical variable in the hydrologic cycle, is highly influenced by vegetation restoration type. However, the relationship between spatial variation of soil moisture, vegetation restoration type and slope length is controversial. Therefore, soil moisture across soil layers (0-400 cm depth) was measured before and after the rainy season in severe drought (2015) and normal hydrological year (2016) in three vegetation restoration areas (artificial forestland, natural forestland and grassland), on the hillslopes of the Caijiachuan Catchment in the Loess area, China. The results showed that artificial forestland had the lowest soil moisture and most severe water deficit in 100-200 cm soil layers. Water depletion was higher in artificial and natural forestlands than in natural grassland. Moreover, soil moisture in the shallow soil layers (0-100 cm) under the three vegetation restoration types did not significantly vary with slope length, but a significant increase with slope length was observed in deep soil layers (below 100 cm). In 2015, a severe drought hydrological year, higher water depletion was observed at lower slope positions under three vegetation restoration types due to higher transpiration and evapotranspiration and unlikely recharge from upslope runoff. However, in 2016, a normal hydrological year, there was lower water depletion, even infiltration recharge at lower slope positions, indicating receiving a large amount of water from upslope. Vegetation restoration type, precipitation, slope length and soil depth during a rainy season, in descending order of influence, had significant effects on soil moisture. Generally, natural grassland is more beneficial for vegetation restoration than natural and artificial forestlands, and the results can provide useful information for understanding hydrological processes and improving vegetation restoration practices on the Loess Plateau

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015ZCQ-SB-03), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51309007), and the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2016YFC0501704).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of State Forestry Administration on Soil and Water Conservation, School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xue-mei Mei, Lan Ma, Qing-ke Zhu, Dong Zhang & Yu Wang

  2. Haihe River Water Conservancy Commission, Ministry of Water Resources, Tianjin, 300170, China

    Shu Wang

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  1. Xue-mei Mei
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  2. Lan Ma
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  3. Qing-ke Zhu
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  4. Shu Wang
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  5. Dong Zhang
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Correspondence to Lan Ma.

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Mei, Xm., Ma, L., Zhu, Qk. et al. Responses of soil moisture to vegetation restoration type and slope length on the loess hillslope. J. Mt. Sci. 15, 548–562 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4415-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4415-y

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