Abstract
Purpose
This study was aimed at exploring the differences in soil water movement after the conversion of evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests (natural forests (NF)) to Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolate (Lamb.) Hook.) plantations (CFP, 20–21 years old) in the Peng Chongjian watershed, Jiangxi Province, China.
Materials and methods
The soil capillary porosity, noncapillary porosity, total porosity, and bulk density were used a cutting ring to measure. Particle-size distribution (PSD) was measured with a Malvern Laser Particle Sizer 3000, and fractal dimension (D) was calculated on the basis of measuring the PSD. An immersion method was used to simulate the water-holding process of the litter. Soil water contents and isotope compositions were applied to investigate the water movement along soil profile.
Results and discussions
The results showed significant changes in PSD and D of top soil (0–20 cm) after the conversion from NF to CFP. After a heavy rain event (37 mm) in the rainy season, the mixing process of the previously D-enriched soil water with rainfall was observed in NF and CFP. However, in NF, the response to rainfall was strongest on July 11th (fourth day after rainfall), but in CFP, the strongest signal of rainfall took place on July 8th (first day after rainfall). The isotopic characteristics of the NF and CFP soil profiles retained the dynamics that were present before the rain, and the water moved in the soil in the form of translatory flow.
Conclusions
Our results show that soil water moves as translatory flow in both NF and CFP; after the conversion from NF to CFP, the water conservation capacity enhanced. What is more, soil properties are improved than NF after forest conversion under the influence of eco-forest protection policy.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge Chao Li and Han-Kun Wang for their assistance in the field surveys.
Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 32201633 and 31961303).
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Chen, Q., Liu, Y., Huang, J. et al. Soil water movement changes following conversion from evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests to Chinese fir plantations. J Soils Sediments 23, 2712–2725 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03512-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03512-z