Abstract
Soil moisture patterns arise from the combined processes induced by vegetation, soil properties, climate, topography, parent material, and time. In this chapter, we focus on how vegetation induces soil moisture patterns, particularly how plant root processes affect the soil moisture distribution. Four different mechanisms were identified as potential drivers of soil moisture variability: root growth, root water uptake and transpiration, plant competitions, and rhizosphere properties. High transpiration, root growth, and root water uptake generally increase the soil moisture variability for drying conditions. On the other hand, other mechanisms reduce the soil moisture variation under drying condition including (1) compensation, which plants extract water in the wettest part of the soil; (2) hydrotropism, which roots tend to grow toward wetter zone of the soil; and (3) plant competition, which different plants try to segregate the depths at which they take up water. In addition, rhizosphere-specific properties tend to increase the variability when the soil is wetted from dry condition or to decrease it under wet conditions. We used a plant architecture model to illustrate how soil and root properties combine to generate or destroy soil moisture relations.
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Appendices
Appendix A
Table of model parameters used for the simulations
Soil type | θr | θs | α (cm−1) | n | Ks (cmd−1) | λ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sandy loam | 0.065 | 0.41 | 0.075 | 1.89 | 106 | 0.5 |
Silty clay | 0.07 | 0.36 | 0.005 | 1.09 | 0.48 | 0.5 |
Scaling factor | Range of a | Range of b |
|---|---|---|
None | 1 | 1 |
Random | 0.5–1.5 | 0.5–1.5 |
Root system conductance | Krs [cm3.hPa−1.d−1] |
|---|---|
Low | 0.08 |
High | 0.16 |
Evaporative demand | Tact [mm.d−1] |
|---|---|
Low | 2 |
High | 4 |
Plant density | Nplants [m−2] |
|---|---|
Low | 9 |
High | 45 |
Root hydraulic conductivity | Low conductance | High conductance |
|---|---|---|
Range of kr (10−8 m.s−1.MPa−1) | Range of kr (10−8 m.s−1.MPa−1) | |
Heterogeneous | 1–10 | 2–20 |
Homogeneous | 0.75 | 1.5 |
Appendix B
See Fig. 7.
Impact of sowing density on the water content distribution at the very end of the simulation. The represented scenario is for the high evaporative demand, the silty clay soil, the heterogeneous root hydraulic properties, and the random scaling factors
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Koch, A., Meunier, F., Vereecken, H., Javaux, M. (2018). Root Processes Affecting the Soil Moisture Patterns in Ecohydrology. In: Li, X., Vereecken, H. (eds) Observation and Measurement. Ecohydrology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_13-1
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Root Processes Affecting the Soil Moisture Patterns in Ecohydrology- Published:
- 11 August 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_13-2
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Root Processes Affecting the Soil Moisture Patterns in Ecohydrology- Published:
- 22 February 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_13-1