There are few precipitation events in the Loess Platea area, which may
significantly influence water uptake strategies for plant communities,
while water source for trees, growing in the Loess Plateau mountain
area, are poorly comprehend. We investigated the impacts of
precipitation (before and after) on water uptake strategies for typical
broadleaf and coniferous trees using hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope
techniques in the Loess Plateau mountain area of northern China. Our
results indicated that water sources of the two plant species varied
before and after rainfall. Robinia pseudoacacia largely absorbed water
from 30-40cm (57.8%) soil layers before precipitation and switched its
main water source to 20-30cm (58.5%) soil layer after precipitation.
Contrary to R.pseudoacacia, Pinus tabuliformis mainly absorbed water
from 20-30cm (24.9%) and 10-20cm (21.6%) soil layers before
precipitation and changed its dominant water sources to 0-10cm (39.8%)
and 10-20cm (44%) soil layer after precipitation. Moreover, the
herbaceous of broadleaf plant has the higher complex of the community.
On the whole, R.pseudoacacia and P.tabuliformis showed the diverse
characteristics of water utilization, which suggests that these two
species are suitable for a mixed forest vegetation and our findings
provide valuable information for planning long-term ecological
afforestation management around the Loess Plateau mountain area of
northern China.
The effects of different land uses on soil hydraulic properties in the Loess Plateau, Northern China
