The effect of land cover/vegetation on soil water dynamic in the hilly area of the loess plateau, China

Severe soil and water loss has lead to widespread land degradation in China's loess plateau. During the past decades, a great deal of effort was made on vegetation restoration to reduce soil and water loss in the loess plateau. However, due to water shortage the efficiency of vegetation restoration was not as satisfactory as expected. As part of a vegetation restoration project, we conducted research aiming to understand the relationship between vegetation pattern and soil water dynamics. The goal was to find vegetation types appropriate for the loess plateau with scarce water resources. In 1986, fifteen plots of land were planted with five vegetation types: pine woodland, shrubland, sloping cropland, alfalfa and semi-natural grassland. Soil water content, runoff, soil erosion were measured for each plot. Environmental variables, such as rainfall, evaporation and temperature, were recorded simultaneously by an automated meteorological station. The relationship between land cover pattern and soil water dynamic was evaluated by using statistical models. We found that: (1) soil water loss occurred during the growing season, and it reached the maximum in the second half of July; (2) soil water was not fully replenished from rainfall during the rainy season; (3) pine woodland induced the largest water loss to surface runoff, followed by sloping cropland, alfalfa, semi-natural grassland and shrubland; the poor capability of pine woodland for water conservation may be attributed to soil compaction and poor ground coverage under the tree; (4) in most cases, soil water of the five vegetation types was low except for shrubland and semi-natural grassland where it was moderate-high during a few periods. These conditions inhibit sustainable vegetation growth in the semi-arid loess hilly area of the loess plateau, China. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.