Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The effects of groundwater depth on water uptake of Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima in the hyperarid region of Northwestern China

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Knowledge of the water sources used by desert trees and shrubs is critical for understanding how they function and respond to groundwater decline and predicting the influence of water table changes on riparian plants. In this paper, we test whether increased depth to groundwater changed the water uptake pattern of desert riparian species and whether competition for water resources between trees and shrubs became more intense with a groundwater depth gradient. The water sources used by plants were calculated using the IsoSource model, and the results suggested differences in water uptake patterns with varying groundwater depths. At the river bank (groundwater depth = 1.8 m), Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima both used a mixture of river water, groundwater, and deeper soil water (>75 cm). When groundwater depth was 3.8 m, trees and shrubs both depended predominantly on soil water stored at 150–375 cm depth. When the groundwater depth was 7.2 m, plant species switched to predominantly use both groundwater and deeper soil water (>375 cm). However, differences in water acquisition patterns between species were not found. The proportional similarity index (PSI) of proportional contribution to water uptake of different water resources between P. euphratica and T. ramosissima was calculated, and results showed that there was intense water resource competition between P. euphratica and T. ramosissima when grown at shallow groundwater depth (not more than 3.8 m), and the competition weakened when the groundwater depth increased to 7.2 m.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams MA, Grierson PF (2001) Stable isotopes at natural abundance in terrestrial plant ecology and ecophysiology. Plant Biol 3:299–310

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Busch DE, Ingraham NL, Smith SD (1992) Water uptake in woody riparian phreatophytes of the southwestern United States: a stable isotope study. Ecol Appl 2:450–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler JJ Jr, Kluitenberg GJ, Whittemore DO, Loheide SP, Jin W, Billinger MA, Zhan X (2007) A field investigation of phreatophyte–induced fluctuations in the water table. Water Resour Res 43:W02404. doi:10.1029/2005WR004627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YN, Chen YP, Li WH, Zhang HF (2003) Response of the accumulation of proline in the bodies of Populus euphratica to the change of groundwater level at the lower reaches of Tarim River. Chin Sci Bull 18:1995–1999

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen YN, Zhang XL, Zhu XM, Li WH, Zhang YM, Xu HL, Zhang HF, Chen YP (2004) Analysis on the ecological benefits of the stream water conveyance to the dried-up river of the lower reaches of Tarim River, China. Sci China Earth Sci 47:1053–1064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YN, Wang Q, Li WH, Ruan X, Chen YP, Zhang LH (2006) Rational groundwater table indicated by the ecophysiological parameters of the vegetation: a case study of ecological restoration in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. Chin Sci Bull 51:8–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YN, Chen YP, Xu CC, Ye ZX, Li ZQ, Zhu CG, Ma XD (2010) Effects of ecological water conveyance on groundwater dynamics and riparian vegetation in the lower reaches of Tarim River, China. Hydrol Process 24:1701–1777

    Google Scholar 

  • Chimner RA, Cooper DJ (2004) Using stable oxygen isotopes to quantify the water source used for transpiration by native shrubs in the San Luis Valley, Colorado U.S.A. Plant Soil 260:225–236

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colwell RK, Futuyma DJ (1971) On the measurement of niche breadth and overlap. Ecology 52:567–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE (1993) Water sources of plants as determined from xylem-water isotopic composition: perspectives on plant competition, distribution and water relations. In: Ehleringer JR, Hall AE, Farquhar GD (eds) Stable isotopes and plant carbon-water relations. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 465–496

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE (1996) Determining water use by trees and forests from isotopic, energy balance and transpiration analyses: the roles of tree size and hydraulic lift. Tree Physiol 16:263–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE, Ehleringer JR (1991) Streamside trees that do not use stream water. Nature 350:335–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE, Ehleringer JR (1998) Plants, isotopes and water use: a catchment-scale perspective. In: Kendall C, McDonnell JJ (eds) Isotope tracers in catchment hydrology. Elsevier, New York, pp 165–202

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR, Dawson TE (1992) Water uptake by plants: perspectives from stable isotope composition. Plant Cell Environ 15:1073–1082

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garssen AG, Verhoeven JTA, Soons MB (2014) Effects of climate-induced increases in summer drought on riparian plant species: a meta-analysis. Freshw Biol 59:1052–1063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González E, González-Sanchis M, Comína FA, Muller E (2012) Hydrologic thresholds for riparian forest conservation in a regulated large Mediterranean river. River Res Appl 28:71–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gremmen NJM, Reijnen MJSM, Wiertz J, Wirdum GV (1990) A model to predict and assess the effects of ground-water withdrawal on vegetation in the Pleistocene areas of the Netherlands. J Environ Manage 31:143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gries D, Zeng F, Foetzki A, Arndt SK, Bruelheide H, Thomas FM, Zhang X, Runge M (2003) Growth and water relations of Tamarix ramosissima and Populus euphratica on Taklamakan desert dunes in relation to depth to a permanent water table. Plant Cell Environ 26:725–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hao XM, Li WH, Huang X, Zhu CG, Ma JX (2010) Assessment of the groundwater threshold of desert riparian forest vegetation along the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River, China. Hydrol Process 24:178–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Horton JH, Clark JL (2001) Water table decline alters growth and survival of Salix gooddingii and Tamarix chinensis seedlings. For Ecol Manag 140:239–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton JL, Kolb TE, Hart SC (2001) Physiological response to groundwater depth varies among species and with river flow regulation. Ecol Appl 11:1046–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RB, Moore LA, Hoffmann WA, Pockman WT, Linder CR (1999) Ecosystem rooting depth determined with caves and DNA. PNAS 96:11387–11392

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jolley RL, Lockaby BG, Cavalcanti GG (2010) Changes in riparian forest composition along a sedimentation rate gradient. Plant Ecol 210:317–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jolly ID, Walker GR (1996) Is the field water use of Eucalyptus largiflorens F. Muell. affected by short-term flooding? Aust J Ecol 21:173–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamontagne S, Cook PG, O’Grady A, Eamus D (2005) Groundwater use by vegetation in a tropical savanna riparian zone (Daly River, Australia). J Hydrol 310:280–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin G, Sternberg LSL (1994) Utilization of surface water by red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle L.): an isotopic study. Bull Mar Sci 54:94–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Lite SJ, Stromberg JC (2005) Surface water and ground-water thresholds for maintaining Populus-Salix forests, San Pedro River, Arizona. Biol Conserv 125:153–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu YB, Chen YN, Deng MJ (2007) Saving the Green Corridor Recharging Groundwater to Restore Riparian Forest along the Lower Tarim River, China. Ecol Restor 25:112–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maeght JL, Rewald B, Pierret A (2013) How to study deep roots—and why it matters. Front Plant Sci 4:299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning SJ, Barbour MG (1988) Root systems, spatial patterns, and competition for soil moisture between two desert subshrubs. Am J Bot 75:983–995

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markewitz D, Devine S, Davidson EA, Brando P, Nepstad DC (2010) Soil moisture depletion under simulated drought in the Amazon: impacts on deep root uptake. New Phytol 187:592–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meißner M, Köhler M, Schwendenmann L, Hölscher D, Dyckmans J (2014) Soil water uptake by trees using water stable isotopes (δ2H and δ18O)–a method test regarding soil moisture, texture and carbonate. Plant Soil 376:327–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merritt DM, Bateman HL (2012) Linking stream flow and groundwater to avian habitat in a desert riparian system. Ecol Appl 22:1973–1988

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Décamps H, Mcclain ME (2005) Riparia: ecology, conservation, and management of streamside communities. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Nippert JB, Knapp AK (2007) Soil water partitioning contributes to species coexistence in tallgrass prairie. Oikos 116:1017–1029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nippert JB, Butler JJ Jr, Kluitenberg GJ, Kluitenberg GJ, Whittemore DO, Arnold D, Spal SE, Ward JK (2010) Patterns of Tamarix water use during a record drought. Oecologia 162:283–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patten DT (1998) Riparian ecosystems of semi-arid North America: diversity and human impacts. Wetlands 18:498–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peńuelas J, Terradas J, Lloret F (2011) Solving the conundrum of plant species coexistence: water in space and time matters most. New Phytol 189:5–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philips DL, Gregg JW (2003) Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too many sources. Oecologia 136:261–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pockman WT, Sperry JS (2000) Vulnerability to xylem cavitation and the distribution of Sonoran desert vegetation. Am J Bot 87:1287–1299

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schachtschneider K, February EC (2013) Impact of Prosopis invasion on a keystone tree species in the Kalahari Desert. Plant Ecol 214:597–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott ML, Shafroth PB, Auble GT (1999) Response of riparian cottonwoods to alluvial water table declines. Environ Manag 23:347–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott ML, Lines GC, Auble GT (2000) Channel incision and patterns of cottonwood stress and mortality along the Mojave River, California. J Arid Environ 44:399–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith SD, Wellington AB, Nachlinger JL, Fox CA (1991) Functional responses of riparian vegetation to streamflow diversion in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Ecol Appl 1:89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith SD, Devitt DA, Sala A, Cleverly JR, Busch DE (1998) Water relations of riparian plants from warm desert regions. Wetlands 18:687–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder KA, Williams DG (2000) Water sources used by riparian trees varies among stream types on the San Pedro River, Arizona. Agric For Meteorol 105:227–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperry JS, Hacke UG (2002) Desert shrub water relations with respect to soil characteristics and plant functional type. Funct Ecol 16:367–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperry JS, Adler FR, Campbell GS, Comstock JP (1998) Limitation of plant water use by rhizosphere and xylem conductance: results from a model. Plant Cell Environ 21:347–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stella JC, Battles JJ, McBride JR, Orr BK (2010) Riparian seedling mortality from simulated water table recession, and the design of sustainable flow regimes on regulated rivers. Restor Ecol 18:284–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stromberg JC, Tiller R, Richter B (1996) Effects of groundwater decline on riparian vegetation of semiarid regions: the San Pedro, Arizona. Ecol Appl 6:113–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tao H, Gemmer M, Song Y, Jiang T (2008) Ecohydrological responses on water diversion in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, China. Water Resour Res 44:W08422. doi:10.1029/2007WR006186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorburn PJ, Walker GR (1994) Variations in stream water uptake by Eucalyptus camaldulensis with differing access to stream water. Oecologia 100:293–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Q, Ruan X, Chen YN, Li WH (2007) Eco-physiological response of Populus euphratica Oliv. to water release of the lower reaches of the Tarim River, China. Environ Geol 53:349–357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang YF, Shen YJ, Chen YN, Guo Y (2013) Vegetation dynamics and their response to hydroclimatic factors in the Tarim River Basin, China. Ecohydrology 6:927–936

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • West AG, Patrickson SJ, Ehleringer JR (2006) Water extraction times for plant and soil materials used in stable isotope analysis. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 20:1317–1321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu CC, Chen YN, Li WH, Chen YP (2006) Climate change and hydrologic process response in the Tarim River Basin over the past 50 years. Chin Sci Bull 51:25–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ye ZX, Shen YJ, Chen YP (2013) Multiple methods for calculating minimum ecological flux of the desiccated Lower Tarim River, Western China. Ecohydrology 6:1040–1047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeaton RI, Travis J, Gilinsky E (1977) Competition and spacing in plant communities: the Arizona upland association. J Ecol 65:587–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapater M, Bréda N, Bonal D, Pardonnet S, Granier A (2013) Differential response to soil drought among co-occurring broad-leaved tree species growing in a 15- to 25-year-old mixed stand. Ann For Sci 70:31–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YM, Chen YN, Pan BR (2005) Distribution and floristics of desert plant communities in the lower reaches of Tarim River, southern Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China. J Arid Environ 63:772–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank C.G Zhu, S.H. Zhang, S.B Liu, and C.J Sun for assistance with field work. This study was supported by the National Science and Technology support plan (2014BAC15B02) by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.41371515, 41271006).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Urumqi, 830011, People’s Republic of China

    Yapeng Chen, Yaning Chen & Weihong Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology, School of Resource and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, People’s Republic of China

    Changchun Xu

Authors
  1. Yapeng Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yaning Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Changchun Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Weihong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yapeng Chen.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chen, Y., Chen, Y., Xu, C. et al. The effects of groundwater depth on water uptake of Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima in the hyperarid region of Northwestern China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 17404–17412 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6914-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6914-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation