Abstract
The variation and distribution of temperature and water moisture in the seasonal frozen soil is an important factor in the study of both the soil water cycle and heat balance within the source region of the Yellow River, especially under the different conditions of vegetation coverage. In this study, the impact of various degrees of vegetation coverage on soil water content and temperature was assessed. Soil moisture (θ v) and soil temperature (T s) were monitored on a daily basis. Measurements were made under different vegetation coverage (95, 70–80, 40–50 and 10%) and on both thawed and frozen soils. Contour charts of T s and θ v as well as a θ v–T s coupling model were developed in order to account for the influence of vegetation cover and the interaction between T s and θ v. It was observed that soil water content affected both the overall range and trend in the soil temperature. The regression analysis of θ v versus T s plots indicated that the soil freezing and thawing processes were significantly affected by vegetation cover changes. Vegetation coverage changes also caused variations in the θ v–T s interaction. The effect of soil water content on soil temperature during the freezing period was larger than during the thawing period. Moreover, the soil with higher vegetation coverage retained more water than that with lower coverage. In the process of freezing, the higher vegetation coverage reduced the rate of the reduction in the soil temperature because the thermal capacity of water is higher than that of soil. Areas with higher vegetation coverage also functioned better for the purpose of heat-insulating. This phenomenon may thus play an important role in the environmental protection and effective uses of frozen soil.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Carey SK, Woo MK (1999) Hydrology of two slopes in subarctic Yukon, Canada. Hydrol Process 13:2549–2562
Cheng GD, Zhao L (2000) The problems associated with permafrost in the development of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Quat Sci 20:521–531
Christensen TR, Johansson T, Kerman HJ (2004) Thawing sub-arctic permafrost: effects on vegetation and methane emissions. Geophys Res Lett 31:L04501. doi:10.1029/ 2003GL018680
Dari local chronicles compile committee (1987) General of the Dari. In: Dari local chronicles (in Chinese). Shaanxi province people’s Publications, Xi’an 1:13–14
Jansson PE, Karlberg L (2001) COUP manual coupled heat and mass transfer model for soil–plant–atmosphere systems. http://www.lwr.kth.se/vara%datorprogram/CoupModel/
Jorgenson MT, Racine CH, Walters JC, Osterkamp TE (2001) Permafrost degradation and ecological changes associated with a warming in central Alaska. Clim Change 48:551–579
McGuire AD, Sturm M, Chapin III, FS (2003) Arctic transitions in the land–atmosphere system (ATLAS): background, objectives, results, and future directions. J Geophys Res Atmos 108: D2, 8166. doi:10.1029/ 2002JD002367
Oechel WC, Vourlitis GL, Hastings SJ, Zulueta RC, Hinzman L, Kane D (2000) Acclimation of ecosystem CO2 exchange in the Alaskan Arctic in response to decadal climate warming. Nature 406:978–980
Rouse WR (2000) Progress in hydrological research in the Mackenzie GEWEX study. Hydrol Process 14:1667–1685
Turetsky MR, Kelman Wieder R, Vitt DH (2002) Boreal peatland C fluxes under varying permafrost regimes. Soil Biol Biochem 34:907– 912
Wang GX, Cheng GD, Shen YP (2001) Degradation of Alpine meadows in Yangtze and Yellow Rivers source regions. In: Research on ecological environmental changes in Yangtze and Yellow Rivers source regions and their integrated protection (in Chinese). Lanzhou University Press, Lanzhou 4:63–65
Weller G, Chapin FS, Everett KR, Hobbie JE (1995) The arctic FLUX study: a regional view of gas release. J Biogeogr 22:365–374
Wu Q B, Liu YZh (2004) Ground temperature monitoring and its recent change in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Cold Reg Sci Technol 38:85–92
Wu QX, Zhao HY, Wang YK (1998) Flow production and sediment production and their processes in Chinese pine woodlands in the loess plateau. Acta Geogr Sin 18:151–157
Zeng YN, Feng ZhD, Cao GCh, Xue L (2004) The soil organic carbon storage and its spatial distribution of Alpine grassland in the source region of the Yellow River. Acta Ecol Sin 59:497–504
Zhang YS, Ohata T, Kadota T (2003) Land surface hydrological processes in the permafrost region of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Hydrol 283:41–56
Zhou YW, Qiu GQ, Cheng GD (2000) The formation and the mechanism of frozen soil in China. In: Geocryology in China, vol 1. Science Press, Beijing, pp 13–14
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Hundred Talents Project of Chinese Academy of Science (No.Y105065), and the Group Fund of the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No.30270255; No.90102006). The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editor for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cheng, H., Wang, G., Hu, H. et al. The variation of soil temperature and water content of seasonal frozen soil with different vegetation coverage in the headwater region of the Yellow River, China. Environ Geol 54, 1755–1762 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0953-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0953-x