Desert shrub stemflow and its significance in soil moisture replenishment
Wang, Xinping LU ; Wang, Z. -N. ; Berndtsson, Ronny LU
; Zhang, Y. -F.
and Pan, Y. -X.
(2011)
In Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
15(2).
p.561-567
- Abstract
- Stemflow of xerophytic shrubs represents a significant component of water replenishment to the soil-root system influencing water utilization of plant roots at the stand scale, especially in water scarce desert ecosystems. In this study, stemflow of Caragana korshinskii was quantified by an aluminum foil collar collection method on re-vegetated sand dunes of the Shapotou restored desert ecosystem in northwestern China. Time domain reflectometry probes were inserted horizontally at 20 different soil profile depths under the C. korshinskii shrub to monitor soil moisture variation at hourly intervals. Results indicated that 2.2 mm precipitation was necessary for the generation of stemflow for C. korshinskii. Stemflow averaged 8% of the gross... (More)
- Stemflow of xerophytic shrubs represents a significant component of water replenishment to the soil-root system influencing water utilization of plant roots at the stand scale, especially in water scarce desert ecosystems. In this study, stemflow of Caragana korshinskii was quantified by an aluminum foil collar collection method on re-vegetated sand dunes of the Shapotou restored desert ecosystem in northwestern China. Time domain reflectometry probes were inserted horizontally at 20 different soil profile depths under the C. korshinskii shrub to monitor soil moisture variation at hourly intervals. Results indicated that 2.2 mm precipitation was necessary for the generation of stemflow for C. korshinskii. Stemflow averaged 8% of the gross precipitation and the average funnelling ratio was as high as 90. The soil moisture in the uppermost soil profile was strongly correlated with individual rainfall and the stemflow strengthened this relationship. Therefore, it is favourable for the infiltrated water redistribution in the deeper soil profile of the root zone. Consequently, stemflow contributes significantly to a positive soil moisture balance in the root zone and the replenishment of soil moisture at deeper soil layers. This plays an important role in plant survival and the general ecology of arid desert environments. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1964454
- author
- Wang, Xinping
LU
; Wang, Z. -N.
; Berndtsson, Ronny
LU
; Zhang, Y. -F.
and Pan, Y. -X.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
- volume
- 15
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 561 - 567
- publisher
- European Geophysical Society
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000287797500009
- scopus:79951662178
- ISSN
- 1607-7938
- DOI
- 10.5194/hess-15-561-2011
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9159ee47-b3b3-42a5-b286-52f64199fea5 (old id 1964454)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:03:21
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:17:38
@article{9159ee47-b3b3-42a5-b286-52f64199fea5,
abstract = {{Stemflow of xerophytic shrubs represents a significant component of water replenishment to the soil-root system influencing water utilization of plant roots at the stand scale, especially in water scarce desert ecosystems. In this study, stemflow of Caragana korshinskii was quantified by an aluminum foil collar collection method on re-vegetated sand dunes of the Shapotou restored desert ecosystem in northwestern China. Time domain reflectometry probes were inserted horizontally at 20 different soil profile depths under the C. korshinskii shrub to monitor soil moisture variation at hourly intervals. Results indicated that 2.2 mm precipitation was necessary for the generation of stemflow for C. korshinskii. Stemflow averaged 8% of the gross precipitation and the average funnelling ratio was as high as 90. The soil moisture in the uppermost soil profile was strongly correlated with individual rainfall and the stemflow strengthened this relationship. Therefore, it is favourable for the infiltrated water redistribution in the deeper soil profile of the root zone. Consequently, stemflow contributes significantly to a positive soil moisture balance in the root zone and the replenishment of soil moisture at deeper soil layers. This plays an important role in plant survival and the general ecology of arid desert environments.}},
author = {{Wang, Xinping and Wang, Z. -N. and Berndtsson, Ronny and Zhang, Y. -F. and Pan, Y. -X.}},
issn = {{1607-7938}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{561--567}},
publisher = {{European Geophysical Society}},
series = {{Hydrology and Earth System Sciences}},
title = {{Desert shrub stemflow and its significance in soil moisture replenishment}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-561-2011}},
doi = {{10.5194/hess-15-561-2011}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2011}},
}