Water regime of upland oak forests of the south Russian forest steppe

Abstract

In the southern forest steppe, the upland oak forests on loamy dark grey soils, which have the automorphic mode of water supply, usually endure droughts during the second half of the vegetative season due to the creation and use by biogeocenoses of some moisture reserves into soil and groundwater (GW), which are accessible to deep layers of root systems of trees. Two shallow sandy horizons interlaying moraine loams of the Dnieper glaciation at altitudes of 120 and 143 m above sea level serve as collectors and transporters of GW, the table of which is 10-15 m lower than the surface of the watershed plateaus and terraces. By autumn, trees desiccate subsoil horizons to the capillary fringe of GW. In early spring, the moisture of dried horizons is restored. The reserves of GW permit the upland oak forests to preserve rather high values of predawn leaf water potential such as Ψ PD ≥ −0.8 MPa despite the decrease in water potential of soil at a depth of 0-2 m of the soil layer to a value of Ψ S ≈ −2.4 MPa.