[1]BAI Xiao,ZHANG Lanhui,WANG Yibo,et al.Variations of Soil Moisture Under Different Land Use and Land Cover Types in the Qilian Mountain, China[J].Research of Soil and Water Conservation,2017,24(02):17-25.
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Research of Soil and Water Conservation[ISSN 1005-3409/CN 61-1272/P] Volume:
24
Number of periods:
2017 02
Page number:
17-25
Column:
Public date:
2017-04-28
- Title:
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Variations of Soil Moisture Under Different Land Use and Land Cover Types in the Qilian Mountain, China
- Author(s):
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BAI Xiao1, ZHANG Lanhui1, WANG Yibo1, TIAN Jie1, HE Chansheng1,2, LIU Guohua1
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1. Center for Dryland Water Resources Research and Watershed Science, Key Laboratory of West China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;
2. Department of Geography, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
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- Keywords:
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soil moisture; variation characteristics; land use and land cover; in-situ observation; Qilian Mountain
- CLC:
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S152.7
- DOI:
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- Abstract:
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Soil moisture links the atmospheric precipitation, surface water, and groundwater together, its spatiotemporal variability influences both ecological and hydrological processes. Considering soil properties, vegetation, terrain, and other factors, we established the soil hydrological observation system with 36 in-situ soil moisture observation stations in the Qilian Mountain, Northwest China. We analyzed the variability of soil moisture in the study area by using the classical statistical methods. Results show that precipitation and vegetation characteristics are the main factors affecting the variability of soil moisture. Large precipitation on land cover types led to high soil moisture. Lower soil moisture resulted in higher volatility of evapotranspiration and precipitation recharge, leading to the greater variability. Due to the significant influence of vegetation roots on soil moisture, soil moisture in high cover grassland and low cover grassland showed little change along the soil profile, while soil moisture in the farmland, meadows, shrubs, forestland and bare land showed sharp change with the soil depth. For meadows, shrubs, bare land, the soil moisture was highest in summer and autumn, it was minimal in spring. Soil moisture contents in farmland and high coverage grassland were the highest in fall, followed by summer, soil moisture content was the lowest in spring. In addition to the shrubs, soil moisture variation extent was the largest in spring, followed by summer, and it was minimum in autumn. Precipitation was the main factor affecting the coefficient of variation of soil moisture in the summer and autumn while soil freezing and thawing process was the major factor controlling the soil moisture in spring.