Abstract
BackgroundChina’s so-called Three North Shelterbelt Program (3NSP) has produced a vast area of lined forest reconstruction in the semi-arid regions. This study uses the lined rain-fed Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica (PSM) sand-fixing forest in the eastern part of Mu Us Sandy Land in Northwestern China as an example to investigate the ecohydrological process in this region. Rain gauges, newly designed lysimeters and soil moisture sensors are used to monitor precipitation, deep soil recharge (DSR) and soil water content, where DSR specifically refers to recharge that can reach a depth more than 200 cm and eventually replenish the underneath groundwater reservoir.ResultsThis study shows that there are two obvious moisture recharge processes in an annual base for the PSM forest soil: a snowmelt-related recharge process in the spring and a precipitation-related recharge process in the summer. The recharge depth of the first process can reach 180 cm without DSR occurring (in 2018). The second process results in noticeable DSR in 2018. Specifically, the DSR values over 2016–2018 are 1, 0.2, and 1.2 mm, respectively. To reach the recharge depths of 20, 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 cm, the required precipitation intensities have to be 2.6, 3.2, 3.4, 8.2, 8.2, and 13.2 mm/d, respectively. The annual evapotranspiration in the PSM forest is 466.94 mm in 2016, 324.60 mm in 2017, and 183.85 mm in 2018.ConclusionThis study concludes that under the current precipitation conditions (including both dry- and wet-years such as 2016–2018), water consumption of PSM somewhat equals to the precipitation amount, and PSM has evolved over years to regulate its evapotranspiration in response to annual precipitation fluctuations in Mu Us Sandy Land of China.
Highlights
The process of desertification is one of the major issues of desert scientific research, which directly impacts the survival of human beings in the affected area (Chen et al, 2019)
This study concludes that under the current precipitation conditions, water consumption of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica (PSM) somewhat equals to the precipitation amount, and PSM has evolved over years to regulate its evapotranspiration in response to annual precipitation fluctuations in Mu Us Sandy Land of China
A most important reason for planting PSM in this area is to fix sand, this study focuses on a key factor affecting the survival of PSM in the Mu Us Sandy Land – soil moisture
Summary
The process of desertification is one of the major issues of desert scientific research, which directly impacts the survival of human beings in the affected area (Chen et al, 2019). With the implementation of a series of ecological projects such as China’s Three North Shelterbelt Program (3NSP) and the conversion of farmland to forests, the trend of desertification of the Mu Us Sandy Land has begun to reverse (Becerril-Pina et al, 2015; Cheng et al, 2020a). Some scholars generally believe that the process of water redistribution in semi-arid regions has an important impact on the process of desertification (Liu et al, 2020; Strassburg et al, 2020). China’s so-called Three North Shelterbelt Program (3NSP) has produced a vast area of lined forest reconstruction in the semi-arid regions. Newly designed lysimeters and soil moisture sensors are used to monitor precipitation, deep soil recharge (DSR) and soil water content, where DSR refers to recharge that can reach a depth more than 200 cm and eventually replenish the underneath groundwater reservoir
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