Abstract
Water is crucial for vegetation restoration and agricultural development on the Loess Plateau. Limiting evaporation is a primary means of increasing soil water content. The hydrophilic and adsorptive properties of the clay mineral attapulgite can serve to limit soil evaporation. However, clay minerals are also considered to be the main factors inducing soil drying and cracking, which can increase evaporation. This study selected four types of soil—from the Shenmu (SM), Yan’an (YA), Changwu (CW), and Yangling (YL) regions of the Loess Plateau—and used a microlysimeter to explore the effects of five attapulgite dosages (0% (the control), 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) on evaporation and cracking of the soils under natural conditions. Attapulgite treatment reduced the degree of first-stage evaporation in all soils. No significant difference between the treatment and control groups was observed in second-stage evaporation. Attapulgite treatment increased the degree of third-stage evaporation. Throughout, the water content of the same soil with attapulgite treatment was always higher than that of the control. The ranking of cumulative soil evaporation was CW > YA > SM > YL. Attapulgite treatment greatly improved the soils’ field water holding capacity, permanent wilting point, and available water content. However, it also increased the axial and radial shrinkage, crack area, and crack aperture, especially at the 3% and 4% dosages. Overall, attapulgite increased late-stage evaporation due to soil cracking but reduced overall evaporation. High dosages of attapulgite incur higher risk of water loss.
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Yang, T., Xing, X., Fu, W. et al. Performances of Evaporation and Desiccation Cracking Characteristics for Attapulgite Soils. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 22, 2503–2519 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-00823-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-00823-x