Soil seed bank in different vegetation types in the Loess Plateau region and its role in vegetation restoration

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Xinyue He ◽  
Fuwang Zhao ◽  
Dongli Wang ◽  
Juying Jiao
PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e112579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Wen Hu ◽  
Yan Pei Wu ◽  
Xing Yu Ding ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Yan Rong Wang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
dexun Qiu ◽  
Peng Gao ◽  
Xingmin Mu ◽  
Baili ZHao

Soil moisture is essential for vegetation restoration in arid and semi-arid regions. Ascertaining the vertical distribution and transportation of soil moisture under different vegetation restoration types has a profound impact on the ecological construction. In this study, the soil moisture at a depth of 500 cm for four typical vegetation types, including R. pseudoacacia (forestland), C. korshinskii (shrubland), S. bungeana (abandoned land), and corn (cropland) were investigated and compared in the Zhifanggou watershed of Loess plateau, China. Additionally, hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes were detected to identify and reflect the characteristics of soil water. The results showed vertical distribution and transportation of soil moisture have different variations under different vegetation types. Depth-averaged soil moisture under S. bungeana and corn increased along the profile as a whole, while C. korshinskii and R. pseudoacacia showing a trend of weakly increasing and relatively stable state after an obvious decreasing trend (0–40 cm). The mean soil moisture under R. pseudoacacia is lower than other types, especially in deeper layers. In addition, it was observed that the longer vegetation age, the lower mean soil moisture, while this phenomenon was unobvious in S. bungeana. Planting arbor species such as R. pseudoacacia intensified the decline of soil moisture in the Loess Plateau, this limited the growth of arbor species in turn. The capacity of evaporation fractionation of soil moisture followed the sequence: corn > S. bungeana > R. pseudoacacia > C. korshinskii. Profiles of δ18O values of soil moisture under different vegetation types are quite different. On the whole, the δ18O values varied greatly in upper soil layers and tend to be consistent with the increase of soil depth. We estimate that piston flow is the main mode of precipitation infiltration, and the occurrence of preferential flow is related to vegetation types. These results are expected to help improve the understanding of the response of deep soil moisture to vegetation restoration and inform practices for sustainable water management.


2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Ju-Ying Jiao ◽  
Yan-Feng Jia ◽  
Dong-Li Wang

AbstractThe soil seed-bank is an important component of vegetation dynamics. Its presence affects both ecosystem resistance and resilience. A persistent seed-bank is especially important in disturbed habitats and harsh environments. In the hilly-gullied Loess Plateau region, serious soil erosion causes decreases in soil water capacity and constrains vegetation recolonization. A stable and long-term persistent soil seed-bank is necessary for natural vegetation recolonization. We used an integrated measure of the depth distribution of seeds in the soil and the seasonal dynamics of soil seed-banks to analyse the persistence of seeds in soil and to investigate the correlation of seed longevity with seed size/shape and the species' life history. The results showed a significant tendency for small seeds and seeds of annuals/biennials to persist longer in soil than large seeds and seeds of perennials. However, seed shape was not related to persistence. The main dominant speciesArtemisia scoparia, Lespedeza davurica, Heteropappus altaicus, Stipa bungeana, Artemisia gmelinii, and Bothriochloa ischaemun in the different successional stages in this region can form a persistent and stable soil seed-bank. The pioneer species A. scoparia is especially significant because it can form a large, long-term, persistent seed-bank. These species can play a role in the recolonization of the eroded abandoned slope lands by vegetation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2358
Author(s):  
Linjing Qiu ◽  
Yiping Wu ◽  
Zhaoyang Shi ◽  
Yuting Chen ◽  
Fubo Zhao

Quantitatively identifying the influences of vegetation restoration (VR) on water resources is crucial to ecological planning. Although vegetation coverage has improved on the Loess Plateau (LP) of China since the implementation of VR policy, the way vegetation dynamics influences regional evapotranspiration (ET) remains controversial. In this study, we first investigate long-term spatiotemporal trends of total ET (TET) components, including ground evaporation (GE) and canopy ET (CET, sum of canopy interception and canopy transpiration) based on the GLEAM-ET dataset. The ET changes are attributed to VR on the LP from 2000 to 2015 and these results are quantitatively evaluated here using the Community Land Model (CLM). Finally, the relative contributions of VR and climate change to ET are identified by combining climate scenarios and VR scenarios. The results show that the positive effect of VR on CET is offset by the negative effect of VR on GE, which results in a weak variation in TET at an annual scale and an increased TET is only shown in summer. Regardless of the representative concentration pathway (RCP4.5 or RCP8.5), differences resulted from the responses of TET to different vegetation conditions ranging from −3.7 to −1.2 mm, while climate change from RCP4.5 to RCP8.5 caused an increase in TET ranging from 0.1 to 65.3 mm. These findings imply that climate change might play a dominant role in ET variability on the LP, and this work emphasizes the importance of comprehensively considering the interactions among climate factors to assess the relative contributions of VR and climate change to ET.


CATENA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 105293
Author(s):  
Yang Wu ◽  
WenJing Chen ◽  
Wulan Entemake ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
HongFei Liu ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Hui Wei ◽  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Han Wang

Large-scale vegetation restoration greatly changed the soil erosion environment in the Loess Plateau since the implementation of the “Grain for Green Project” (GGP) in 1999. Evaluating the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erosion is significant to local soil and water conservation and vegetation construction. Taking the Ansai Watershed as the case area, this study calculated the soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration, using the Chinese Soil Loess Equation (CSLE), based on rainfall and soil data, remote sensing images and socio-economic data. The effect of vegetation restoration on soil erosion was evaluated by comparing the average annual soil erosion modulus under two scenarios among 16 years. The results showed: (1) vegetation restoration significantly changed the local land use, characterized by the conversion of farmland to grassland, arboreal land, and shrub land. From 2000 to 2015, the area of arboreal land, shrub land, and grassland increased from 19.46 km2, 19.43 km2, and 719.49 km2 to 99.26 km2, 75.97 km2, and 1084.24 km2; while the farmland area decreased from 547.90 km2 to 34.35 km2; (2) the average annual soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration was 114.44 t/(hm²·a) and 78.42 t/(hm²·a), respectively, with an average annual reduction of 4.81 × 106 t of soil erosion amount thanks to the vegetation restoration; (3) the dominant soil erosion intensity changed from “severe and light erosion” to “moderate and light erosion”, vegetation restoration greatly improved the soil erosion environment in the study area; (4) areas with increased erosion and decreased erosion were alternately distributed, accounting for 48% and 52% of the total land area, and mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast of the watershed, respectively. Irrational land use changes in local areas (such as the conversion of farmland and grassland into construction land, etc.) and the ineffective implementation of vegetation restoration are the main reasons leading to the existence of areas with increased erosion.


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