Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

doi:10.5194/hess-21-2249-2017

	Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau
	Pan, Tao 1,3; Hou, Shuai 1,2; Wu, Shaohong 1; Liu, Yujie 1; Liu, Yanhua 1; Zou, Xintong 1,2; Herzberger, Anna 3; Liu, Jianguo 3
刊名	HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
	2017-05-02
卷号	21 期号:4 页码:2249-2261
ISSN号	1027-5606
DOI	10.5194/hess-21-2249-2017
通讯作者	Liu, Yujie(liuyujie@igsnrr.ac.cn)
英文摘要	Ecosystems in alpine mountainous regions are vulnerable and easily disturbed by global environmental change. Alpine swamp meadow, a unique grassland type in the eastern Tibetan Plateau that provides important ecosystem services to the upstream and downstream regions of international rivers of Asia and other parts of the world, is undergoing severe degradation, which can dramatically alter soil hydraulic properties and water cycling processes. However, the effects of alpine swamp meadow degradation on soil hydraulic properties and the corresponding influencing mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this study, soil moisture content (SMC), field capacity (FC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (K-s) together with several basic soil properties under lightly degraded (LD), moderately degraded (MD) and severely degraded (SD) alpine swamp meadow were investigated; the variations in SMC, FC and K-s with alpine swamp meadow degradation and their dominant influencing factors were analysed. The results showed that SMC and FC decreased consistently from LD to SD, while K-s decreased from LD to MD and then increased from MD to SD, following the order of LD > SD > MD. Significant differences in soil hydraulic properties between degradation degrees were found in the upper soil layers (0-20 cm), indicating that the influences of degradation were most pronounced in the top-soils. FC was positively correlated with capillary porosity, water-stable aggregates, soil organic carbon, and silt and clay content; K-s was positively correlated with non-capillary porosity (NCP). Relative to other soil properties, soil porosity is the dominant factor influencing FC and K-s. Capillary porosity explained 91.1% of total variance in FC, and NCP explained 97.3% of total variance in K-s. The combined effect of disappearing root activities and increasing sand content was responsible for the inconsistent patterns of NCP and K-s. Our findings suggest that alpine swamp meadow degradation would inevitably lead to reduced water holding capacity and rainfall infiltration. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the soil hydrological effects of vegetation degradation. Further hydrological modelling studies in the Tibetan Plateau and similar regions are recommended to understand the effects of degraded alpine swamp meadows on soil hydraulic properties.
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[41671107] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[41301092] ; Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences[2016049]
WOS关键词	LOESS PLATEAU ; LAND-USE ; SPATIAL VARIABILITY ; FIELD-CAPACITY ; CHINA ; CONDUCTIVITY ; HYDROLOGY ; IMPACT ; WATER ; RESTORATION
WOS研究方向	Geology ; Water Resources
语种	英语
出版者	COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH
WOS记录号	WOS:000400516200001
资助机构	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.igsnrr.ac.cn/handle/311030/62646]
专题	中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所
通讯作者	Liu, Yujie
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Key Lab Land Surface Pattern & Simulat, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 3.Michigan State Univ, Ctr Syst Integrat & Sustainabil, Dept Fisheries & Wildlife, E Lansing, MI 48824 USA
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Pan, Tao,Hou, Shuai,Wu, Shaohong,et al. Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau[J]. HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES,2017,21(4):2249-2261.
APA	Pan, Tao.,Hou, Shuai.,Wu, Shaohong.,Liu, Yujie.,Liu, Yanhua.,...&Liu, Jianguo.(2017).Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau.HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES,21(4),2249-2261.
MLA	Pan, Tao,et al."Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau".HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES 21.4(2017):2249-2261.