Arid Zone Research ›› 2024, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4): 550-565.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2024.04.03

• Land and Water Resources • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of soil moisture dynamics and influencing factors of three landscape types at the oasis edge in the middle reaches of the Heihe River

HU Guanglu1,2(), LIU Peng1, LI Jia’nan3, TAO Hu1, ZHOU Chengqian1   

  1. 1. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    3. Gansu Provincial Soil and Water Conservation Reseach Institute, Lanzhou 730020, Gansu, China
  • Received:2023-11-27 Revised:2024-01-18 Online:2024-04-15 Published:2024-04-26

Abstract:

Soil moisture is indispensable for the growth and development of plants in arid zones and determines the dynamics and direction of the succession of arid plant communities. It is particularly important to investigate the dynamic characteristics of soil moisture in different landscape types at the edge of the oasis in the middle reaches of the Heihe River and to develop effective, scientific, and reasonable measures to prevent wind and fix sand to prevent desertification. This study focused on three landscape types—protected forest landscapes, desert-oasis transition zone landscapes, and desert landscapes—at the edge of the oasis in the middle reaches of the Heihe River. HYDRUS-2D model simulation, LSD analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to study the characteristics of soil moisture dynamics and the influencing factors of the three landscape types. The results were as follows: (1) the RMSE of soil volumetric water content ranged from 0.002 to 0.006 cm3·cm-3, MRE ranged from 4.22% to 5.20%, and R2 ranged from 0.725 to 0.967. The simulation results showed a high degree of agreement with the measured data, and the HYDRUS-2D model can be used for simulation studies of soil moisture in this study area. (2) The soil volumetric water content of protected forest landscapes and desert-oasis transition zone landscapes showed a trend of initial increase and subsequent decrease with increasing soil depth, whereas desert landscapes showed a trend of initial decrease and subsequent increase with increasing soil depth. (3) Effective precipitation plays a decisive role in the dynamics of the soil volumetric water content, and precipitation above 9.5 mm significantly increases the soil moisture content and infiltration depth over a short period. The depth of soil moisture infiltration in all periods after precipitation in desert landscapes was higher than that in protected forest landscapes and desert-oasis transition zone landscapes. (4) The soil volumetric water content of the three landscape types was related to factors such as precipitation, evapotranspiration, bulkiness, soil granular composition, and soil water-holding properties. The soil water-holding properties were significantly correlated with factors such as precipitation and evapotranspiration (P<0.01). Of these, precipitation and clay-powder grain content were significantly positively correlated with soil volumetric water content, whereas bulk weight and sand grain content were significantly negatively correlated with soil volumetric water content. Thus, planting windbreak shrubs in the study area can increase the content of soil sticky powder particles, improve the ability of the soil to collect and utilize rainwater, and slow the process of infiltration, thus positively affecting the soil water-holding properties.

Key words: soil moisture, dynamic change, infiltration characteristics, influencing factors, middle reaches of the Heihe River