Responses of soil moisture to precipitation and infiltration in dry and wet alpine grassland ecosystems

doi:10.11686/cyxb2020436

Abstract

Abstract:

This study investigated the dynamics of soil moisture response to rainfall in alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau. Data on soil moisture at five soil depths （5， 10， 20， 30， 40 cm） and rainfall were collected from 2015 to 2017 at alpine grassland and marsh meadow sites over the Tibetan Plateau， and were used to analyze the response of soil moisture to rainfall events during the growing season， and explore the rainfall infiltration processes. Compared with grassland sites， the rainfall frequency at marsh meadow sites was higher， and the percentage of small rainfall events during the growing season was higher. The soil moisture responses to rainfall events at the grassland and marsh meadow sites differed greatly. Small rainfall events （≤5 mm） only increased soil moisture in the 0-5 cm soil layer at the grassland sites， but weakly replenished soil moisture in all soil profile layers to 40 cm depth at the swamp meadow sites. Soil moisture to a depth of 10 cm increased significantly after rainfall events of between 5 and 10 mm at the grassland sites. Soil moisture at depths from 10 to 40 cm at grassland sites increased obviously with rainfall events larger than 10 mm. The increase in soil moisture content was more in the 30-40 cm soil layer than in the upper soil layers （0-30 cm） with rainfall events larger than 5 mm at swamp meadow sites. The increase in soil moisture at depths of 0-40 cm after rainfall was significantly positively correlated with the size and intensity of rainfall events at both sites （P<0.001）. In addition， the soil moisture for the 0-10 cm depth before rainfall and air temperature obviously influenced the increase of soil moisture at two sites （P<0.05）. Compared with the grassland sites， the wetting front moved faster in the marsh meadow soils. When a small rainfall event occurred， there was more water storage in the 0-40 cm soil horizons of the marsh meadow sites than at the grassland sites. When a large rainfall event occurred， the soil profile for the 0-40 cm horizons of marsh meadow sites had less water storage than the grassland sites. These results suggest that the high proportion of large rainfall events （>10 mm） occurring at grassland sites plays a key role in increasing soil water storage in grassland. In contrast， the higher frequency of rainfall events and deeper infiltration in marsh meadows result in those sites exhibiting more frequent and more rapid soil moisture gains and retaining the moisture more efficiently than the grassland sites. These findings provide a theoretical basis for understanding the response patterns of soil moisture following precipitation in these alpine grassland and marsh meadow soils.

Key words: soil moisture, infiltration, rainfall event size, alpine grassland, Tibetan Plateau

Ming-ming SHI, Xiao-min WANG, Qi CHEN, Bing-hong HAN, Bing-rong ZHOU, Jian-she XIAO, Hong-bin XIAO. Responses of soil moisture to precipitation and infiltration in dry and wet alpine grassland ecosystems[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2021, 30(12): 49-58.

Figures/Tables 8

References 29

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站点 Site	土层 Soil layer	土壤含水量 Sil moisture content	气温 Air temperature	风速 Wind speed	相对湿度 Relative humidity
草原 Grassland	0~10 cm	0.179	-0.129	-0.073	0.260
草原 Grassland	10~40 cm	0.479*	-0.389*	-0.022	0.014
沼泽草甸 Swamp meadow	0~10 cm	0.411*	-0.208	-0.047	-0.103
沼泽草甸 Swamp meadow	10~40 cm	0.501**	-0.277	-0.194	0.021

站点 Site	土层 Soil layer	土壤含水量 Sil moisture content	气温 Air temperature	风速 Wind speed	相对湿度 Relative humidity
草原 Grassland	0~10 cm	0.179	-0.129	-0.073	0.260
草原 Grassland	10~40 cm	0.479*	-0.389*	-0.022	0.014
沼泽草甸 Swamp meadow	0~10 cm	0.411*	-0.208	-0.047	-0.103
沼泽草甸 Swamp meadow	10~40 cm	0.501**	-0.277	-0.194	0.021

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