Abstract
Understanding dynamics of soil water content (SWC) and pore air relative humidity (RHpa), as influenced by wetting-drying cycles, is crucial for sustaining fragile ecosystems of desert lands across the world. However, to date, such an understanding is still incomplete. The objective of this study was to examine such dynamics at a typical desert site within the Horqin Sandy Land, located in Mongolian Plateau of north China. The results indicated that vaporization primarily occurred at a depth of around 10 cm below the ground surface. The diurnal variations of the SWC and RHpa in the top 10 cm soils were much larger than those in the soils at a deeper depth. For a non-rainy day, the SWC and RHpa were mainly determined by the relative magnitude of atmospheric temperature over soil temperature, whereas, for a rainy day, the SWC and RHpa were primarily controlled by the rainfall pattern and amount. The retardation role of the top dry soil layer, which is about 10 cm thick and exists most time at the study site, can effectively prevent the beneath moist soils from being further dried up, and thus is beneficial for sustaining the desert ecosystem.
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