Abstract
As a species for ecological restoration in northern China, Tamarix ramosissima plays an important role in river protection, flood control, regional climate regulation, and landscape construction with vegetation. Two sampling sites were selected in the hillside and floodplain habitats along the Lanzhou City, and the xylems of T. ramosissima and potential water sources were collected, respectively. The Bayesian mixture model (MixSIAR) and soil water excess (SW-excess) were applied to analyze the relationship on different water pools and the utilization ratios of T. ramosissima to potential water sources in two habitats. The results showed that the slope and intercept of local meteoric water line (LMWL) in two habitats were smaller compared with the global meteoric water line (GMWL), which indicated the existence of drier climate and strong evaporation in the study area, especially in the hillside habitat. Except for the three months in hillside, the SW-excess of T. ramosissima were negative, which indicated that xylems of T. ramosissima are more depleted in δ2H than the soil water line. In growing seasons, the main water source in hillside habitat was deep soil water (80~150 cm) and the utilization ratio was 63 ± 17% for T. ramosissima, while the main water source in floodplain habitat was shallow soil water (0~30 cm), with a utilization ratio of 42.6 ± 19.2%, and the water sources were different in diverse months. T. ramosissima has a certain adaptation mechanism and water-use strategies in two habitats, and also an altered water uptake pattern in acquiring the more stable water. This study will provide a theoretical basis for plant water management in ecological environment protection in the Loess Plateau.
Highlights
As a necessary nutrient for plant growth, water affects the vegetation composition and community structure of the ecosystem [1,2], and it is the primarily limiting factor of vegetation growth in arid and semi-arid areas [3,4]
Our results displayed that the δ2 H and δ18 O of xylem water in hillside and floodplain habitats approach those of soil water, and both of them were less than precipitation
We found that the slope and intercept of local meteoric water line (LMWL) were lesser in both habitats, indicating the existence of a drier climate and strong evaporation in the study area, and more intense evaporation under the hillside habitat
Summary
As a necessary nutrient for plant growth, water affects the vegetation composition and community structure of the ecosystem [1,2], and it is the primarily limiting factor of vegetation growth in arid and semi-arid areas [3,4]. Under the background of climate change, it is essential to analyze the water sources of plants in arid and semi-arid regions to gain a comprehensive knowledge of ecohydrological process and ecological management [6,7]. Plants have a strong ability of self-regulation and adaptation [4], which can adapt to changes in habitat by changing the main water source, especially in water functioning as the main limiting factor of ecological system. The self-regulation and adaptability of plants in arid and semi-arid regions can be analyzed by studying the variation of water sources in different habitats. It may help understand the effects of water conditions change in different habitats on plant water source, water-use efficiency and drought resistance
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