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Root-induced changes to soil water retention in permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Soil water retention plays a crucial role in regulating soil moisture dynamics, water circulation, plant growth, contaminant transport, and permafrost stability, and it is an issue of concern in water-limited ecosystems. However, our understanding of the relationship between plant roots and soil water retention is still relatively poor in the alpine grasslands of permafrost regions. To addresses this, our study evaluated the effect of plants on the soil water retention in permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Materials and methods

Three alpine grassland sites were identified and characterized as alpine wet meadow (AWM), alpine meadow (AM), and alpine steppe (AS). Root biomass, soil water retention, and soil physico-chemical properties were examined in the top 0–50 cm of active layer in the three experimental sites in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) and Retention Curve program (RETC) were employed to illustrate how the plant roots affect soil water retention.

Results and discussion

Approximately 80, 65, and 60% of root biomass was distributed in the top 0–20 cm in the AWM, AM, and AS soil, respectively. Soil water retention was enhanced with the presence of plant roots; thereinto, the highest values of field capacity were found in AWM soil: on average, about 0.45 cm3 cm−3. Field capacity of AWM soil was almost twice as high as that of AM soil, and triple higher than that of AS soil. Correlation and regression analysis showed that root-induced changes to soil water retention were caused by altering the soil organic matter and soil structure. In addition, we evaluated the Retention Curve (RETC) program’s performance and found that the program underestimated soil water retention if the effects of plant roots were not considered.

Conclusions

A lack of alpine plants is associated with a decline in soil physical conditions and soil water retention in permafrost regions, and the function of plant roots should be considered when predicting hydrological processes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Scientific of China (No. 41601069, 41571065) and the Open Foundations of the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering (No. SKLFSE201501). We thank the editor Zhihong Xu and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which led to significant improvements in the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Zeyong Gao & Fujun Niu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Zeyong Gao

  3. College of Earth and Environment Sciences, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Zeyong Gao, Yibo Wang, Zhanju Lin, Jing Luo & Minghao Liu

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  1. Zeyong Gao
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  2. Fujun Niu
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  3. Yibo Wang
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Correspondence to Fujun Niu.

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Responsible editor: Yongping Wei

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Gao, Z., Niu, F., Wang, Y. et al. Root-induced changes to soil water retention in permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. J Soils Sediments 18, 791–803 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1815-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1815-0

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