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Water sources and water-use efficiency of desert plants in different habitats in Dunhuang, NW China

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Ecological Research

Abstract

To understand habitat associated differences in desert plant water-use patterns, water stable oxygen isotope composition was used to determine water source and leaf carbon isotope composition (δ 13C) was used to estimate long-term water-use efficiency in three typical habitats (saline land, sandy land and Gobi) in Dunhuang. The primary findings are: (1) in the three habitats, plant species used mainly deep soil water (>120 cm), except for Kalidium foliatum in the saline land, which relied primarily on 0–40 cm soil water; (2) in the saline land and Gobi habitat, Alhagi sparsifolia had the most negative foliar δ 13C; in the sandy land, Elaeagnus angustifolia leaf was enriched in 13C than the other three species in 2011, but no species differences in foliar δ 13C was observed among the four species in 2012; (3) common species (Tamarix ramosissima and A. sparsifolia) may alter their water sources to cope with habitat differences associated changes in soil water availability with deeper water sources were used in the Gobi habitat with lower soil water content (SWC) compared to in the saline land and sandy land; (4) we detected significant habitat differences in foliar δ 13C in A. sparsifolia which may have resulted from differences in SWC and soil electrical conductivity. However, no habitat differences in foliar δ 13C were observed in T. ramosissima, which may attribute to the strong genetic control in T. ramosissima or the ability to access stable deep soil water. Overall, the results suggest that extremely arid climate, root distribution and soil properties worked together to determine plant water uptake in Dunhuang area.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270445, 31570470, 41671207), Main Service Project of Characteristic Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences (TSS-2015-014-FW-5-1) and the 9th Thousand Talents Program of China (2013), State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (G2014-02-01), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2412016KJ008). We would like to thank Qiao ZENG and Tianyang FU for help during field and laboratory work.

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  1. Alashan Desert Ecohydrology Experimental Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecohydrology of Inland River Basin, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Yong-Qin Cui & Qi Feng

  2. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Jian-Ying Ma

  3. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Jia-Huan Sun

  4. Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Wei Sun

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Cui, YQ., Ma, JY., Feng, Q. et al. Water sources and water-use efficiency of desert plants in different habitats in Dunhuang, NW China. Ecol Res 32, 243–258 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-017-1433-8

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