VEGETATION CARRYING CAPACITY BASED ON SOIL WATER ON TYPICAL SLOPES IN THE DIEDIEGOU SMALL WATERSHED OF LIUPAN MOUNTAINS, NORTHWESTERN CHINA

doi:10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2009.06.010

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Soil water is the main limiting factor for vegetation, and it mainly comes from precipitation in the Diediegou small watershed in the Liupan Mountains, northwestern China, where the structure of slope vegetation is usually closely related with the amount of precipitation. Our objectives were to develop a method for estimating vegetation carrying capacity (VCC) on sites based on water balance and to evaluate variation of VCC along typical slopes, for guiding the restoration and management of vegetation on similar slopes.

Methods We established nine plots along two typical slopes of natural grassland and larch (Larix principis-rupprechti) plantation, measured leaf area index (LAI) every 15 days and continuously monitored all water fluxes and soil water dynamics. After analyzing plot water balance, we determined the relationships among evapotranspiration (ET), LAI and precipitation to estimate VCC based on growing season precipitation and calculated the variation of VCC along slopes.

Important findings Our mathematical models for determining VCC (expressed as the maximal LAI) based on precipitation amount (P, mm) in growing season (April-October) were LAI_tree=exp ((0.773 1×P-186.12)/146.46) for the larch stand on the shady slope and LAI_grass=exp ((0.511 2×P-345.93)/227.89) for the grassland on the sunny slope. The VCC of larch stands on the shady slope increased from upper slope (1.45) to middle slope (4.83) and then stabilized between 3.0 and 3.3. For grassland on the sunny slope, VCC increased from upper slope (0.37) to middle slope (0.46) and then stabilized between 0.41 and 0.47. Measured values ofLAIwere close to those of simulated VCC, supporting the rationality of our method and the result. Using LAI as an index expressing VCC, which is mainly determined by soil water in dryland regions, is a new method for calculating VCC for slopes where precipitation water is redistributed in the forms of runoff and interflow.

Key words: Liupan Mountains, slope, soil water, carrying capacity, vegetation restoration, leaf area index (LAI)

LIU Jian-Li, WANG Yan-Hui, YU Peng-Tao, CHENG Li-Li, XIONG Wei, XU Li-Hong, Du A-Peng. VEGETATION CARRYING CAPACITY BASED ON SOIL WATER ON TYPICAL SLOPES IN THE DIEDIEGOU SMALL WATERSHED OF LIUPAN MOUNTAINS, NORTHWESTERN CHINA[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2009, 33(6): 1101-1111.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2009.06.010

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2009/V33/I6/1101

Figures/Tables 8

References 26

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样地编号 Plot number	1-1	1-2	1-3	1-4	1-5	1-6	1-7	1-8	1-9
海拔 Altitude (m)	2 035	2 041	2 058	2 086	2 105	2 120	2 136	2 165	2 188
坡度 Slope	12°	16°	25°	33°	30°	35°	34°	38°	40°
坡向 Aspect	SE 30o	SE 34o	SE 40o	SE 45o	SE 42o	SE 35o	SE 32o	SE 31o	SE 34o
优势种 Dominant species	铁杆蒿(Artemisa vestita)+白羊草(Bothriochloa ischaemum)+茭蒿(Artemisia giraldii)			铁杆蒿(Artemisa vestita)+百里香(Thymus mongolicus)			虎榛子(Ostryopsis davidiana)+铁杆蒿(Artemisa vestita)
草本层盖度 Herbage coverage (%)	75	80	60	50	70	60	45	35	40
枯落物层盖度 Litter coverage (%)	70	75	45	25	20	15	0	0	0
总覆盖度 Total coverage (%)	75	80	60	60	75	65	45	45	50
生物量 Biomass (g·m^-2)	378.5	408.8	401.3	346.2	373.1	368.8	352.7	359.2	320.6
叶面积指数 Leaf area index (LAI)	0.56	0.57	0.49	0.44	0.55	0.50	0.45	0.30	0.32
土层厚度 Soil thickness (cm)	>100	>100	100	55	70	80	50	35	30
0~40 cm土壤容重 Bulk density of the soil layer 0-40 cm (g·cm^-3)	1.12	1.06	1.02	1.08	1.00	0.99	1.20	1.08	1.14

样地编号 Plot number	1-1	1-2	1-3	1-4	1-5	1-6	1-7	1-8	1-9
海拔 Altitude (m)	2 035	2 041	2 058	2 086	2 105	2 120	2 136	2 165	2 188
坡度 Slope	12°	16°	25°	33°	30°	35°	34°	38°	40°
坡向 Aspect	SE 30o	SE 34o	SE 40o	SE 45o	SE 42o	SE 35o	SE 32o	SE 31o	SE 34o
优势种 Dominant species	铁杆蒿(Artemisa vestita)+白羊草(Bothriochloa ischaemum)+茭蒿(Artemisia giraldii)			铁杆蒿(Artemisa vestita)+百里香(Thymus mongolicus)			虎榛子(Ostryopsis davidiana)+铁杆蒿(Artemisa vestita)
草本层盖度 Herbage coverage (%)	75	80	60	50	70	60	45	35	40
枯落物层盖度 Litter coverage (%)	70	75	45	25	20	15	0	0	0
总覆盖度 Total coverage (%)	75	80	60	60	75	65	45	45	50
生物量 Biomass (g·m^-2)	378.5	408.8	401.3	346.2	373.1	368.8	352.7	359.2	320.6
叶面积指数 Leaf area index (LAI)	0.56	0.57	0.49	0.44	0.55	0.50	0.45	0.30	0.32
土层厚度 Soil thickness (cm)	>100	>100	100	55	70	80	50	35	30
0~40 cm土壤容重 Bulk density of the soil layer 0-40 cm (g·cm^-3)	1.12	1.06	1.02	1.08	1.00	0.99	1.20	1.08	1.14

样地编号 Plot number	3-1	3-2	3-3	3-4	3-5	3-6	3-7	3-8	3-9
海拔 Altitude (m)	1 997	2 020	2 050	2 078	2 099	2 123	2 135	2 147	2 165
坡度 Slope	11o	12o	15o	22o	24o	15o	14o	14o	12o
坡向 Aspect	NW 30o	NW 30o	NW 20o	NW 18o	NW 18o	NW 15o	NW 13o	NW 10o	NW 10o
草本层盖度 Herbage coverage (%)	35	30	65	45	35	70	60	60	55
枯落物层盖度 Litter coverage (%)	1.78	1.52	3.49	2.51	4.19	4.39	2.14	0.44	0.03
总覆盖度 Total coverage (%)	97	95	97	98	98	80	75	65	60
林分密度 Forest density (Plant·hm^-2)	1 650	1 375	1 111	1 500	1 875	625	950	750	400
树高 Tree height (m)	8.2	9.9	9.5	8.9	9.3	5.8	4.9	4.4	2.5
胸径 DBH(cm)	8.9	9.4	9.2	9.8	8.5	6.8	5.6	5.4	2.2
叶面积指数 LAI	3.1	3.2	3.4	3.7	3.8	2.3	1.5	1.5	1.2
土层厚度 Soil layer thickness (cm)	>200	>200	>200	>200	>200	>100	100	80	40
0~40 cm土壤容重 Bulk density of the soil layer 0-40 cm (g·cm^-3)	1.08	1.15	1.00	0.94	0.90	1.00	0.94	1.01	0.92

样地编号 Plot number	3-1	3-2	3-3	3-4	3-5	3-6	3-7	3-8	3-9
海拔 Altitude (m)	1 997	2 020	2 050	2 078	2 099	2 123	2 135	2 147	2 165
坡度 Slope	11o	12o	15o	22o	24o	15o	14o	14o	12o
坡向 Aspect	NW 30o	NW 30o	NW 20o	NW 18o	NW 18o	NW 15o	NW 13o	NW 10o	NW 10o
草本层盖度 Herbage coverage (%)	35	30	65	45	35	70	60	60	55
枯落物层盖度 Litter coverage (%)	1.78	1.52	3.49	2.51	4.19	4.39	2.14	0.44	0.03
总覆盖度 Total coverage (%)	97	95	97	98	98	80	75	65	60
林分密度 Forest density (Plant·hm^-2)	1 650	1 375	1 111	1 500	1 875	625	950	750	400
树高 Tree height (m)	8.2	9.9	9.5	8.9	9.3	5.8	4.9	4.4	2.5
胸径 DBH(cm)	8.9	9.4	9.2	9.8	8.5	6.8	5.6	5.4	2.2
叶面积指数 LAI	3.1	3.2	3.4	3.7	3.8	2.3	1.5	1.5	1.2
土层厚度 Soil layer thickness (cm)	>200	>200	>200	>200	>200	>100	100	80	40
0~40 cm土壤容重 Bulk density of the soil layer 0-40 cm (g·cm^-3)	1.08	1.15	1.00	0.94	0.90	1.00	0.94	1.01	0.92

样地编号 Plot number	生长季降雨量 Preci- pitation in growing season (mm)	实测华北落叶松蒸腾 Mea- sured tree trans- piration (mm)	实测林下蒸散 Measured under-story evapo- transpiration (mm)	实测林冠截留 Measured canopy interception (mm)	实测群落蒸散Measured community evapo- transpiration (mm)	平衡项 Balance item (mm)	可供蒸散水分 Soil water available for evapo- transpiration (mm)	依公式(9)计算的可承载LAI Calculated LAIbased on equation (9)	实测LAI Measured LAI
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)
3-1	465	279.41	102.70	48.09	430.20	16.26	464.46	3.26	3.09
3-2	465	295.11	85.67	49.96	430.74	15.72	459.92	3.18	3.21
3-3	465	289.77	93.11	52.94	435.82	10.64	452.47	3.06	3.40
3-4	465	307.67	84.03	56.65	448.35	-1.89	468.57	3.33	3.64
3-5	465	266.85	118.63	59.30	444.78	1.68	538.98	4.83	3.81
3-6	465	213.48	122.13	35.19	370.80	75.66	436.58	2.81	2.26
3-7	465	175.81	197.55	23.34	396.70	49.76	340.23	1.69	1.50
3-8	465	169.53	205.05	22.57	397.15	49.32	337.66	1.67	1.45
3-9	465	69.07	204.62	19.14	292.83	153.64	311.36	1.45	1.23