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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Planted Forests
Volume 7 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2024.1452760

Soil Moisture Content and Its Temporal Stability in an Arid Aerial Seeding Afforestation Area after 30 Years Vegetation Restoration in China

Provisionally accepted
Guo Dong Tang Guo Dong Tang 1,2Zhao Zhenyu Zhao Zhenyu 1,2Xiaolin Jin Xiaolin Jin 3*Hao Wu Hao Wu 4Jinrong Li Jinrong Li 1,2
  • 1 Yinshanbeilu Grassland Eco-hydrology National Observation and Research Station, Beijing, China
  • 2 Institute of Water Resources for Pastoral Area, Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot, China
  • 3 School of Public Managment Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China
  • 4 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Ecological and Agrometeorological Center, Hohhot, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Soil moisture is a critical factor for vegetation restoration in arid regions. Poorly planned artificial sand-fixing vegetation systems often exacerbate soil moisture depletion, leading to further degradation. In this study, soil moisture content at various depths was continuously monitored from June to October 2023 in four key community plots-Corethrodendron scoparium, Calligonum mongolicum, Artemisia ordosica, and bare sand-in a 31-year-old revegetated area located on the northeastern edge of the Tengger Desert. We analyzed the distribution and dynamic changes of soil moisture across the different and evaluated its temporal stability. The representative soil moisture depth was determined by using the coefficient of determination (R²) and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). The results showed significant differences in soil moisture among the four plots. The bare sand plot had the highest soil water storage in the 0-200 cm layer, at 46.37 mm. In contrast, the Corethrodendron scoparium, Calligonum mongolicum, and Artemisia ordosica plots had similar soil water storage values ranging from 33.50 to 33.67 mm, indicating that vegetation restoration has increased soil moisture absorption by an average of 27.4%. Analysis using relative difference and Spearman rank correlation methods revealed varying levels of temporal stability in soil moisture across different soil depths and plots. The Corethrodendron scoparium and bare sand plots showed higher temporal stability compared to the Calligonum mongolicum and Artemisia ordosica plots. The representative depths of temporal stability for the four plots were determined to be 100 cm, 150 cm, 20 cm, and 100 cm, respectively. These findings have significant theoretical implications for monitoring soil moisture and designing and managing artificial sand-fixing vegetation systems in arid regions.

    Keywords: Flying shrubs, Artificial forests, soil moisture, Temporal stability, Depth representativenes

    Received: 21 Jun 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tang, Zhenyu, Jin, Wu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xiaolin Jin, School of Public Managment Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.