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Prediction of profile soil moisture for one land use using measurements at a soil depth of other land uses in a karst depression

  • Soils, Sec 5 • Soil and Landscape Ecology • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Information on root-zone soil water content (SWC) is essential for vegetation restoration, irrigation scheduling, and hydrological modeling. However, measurements of SWC within a variety of land uses may be time-consuming and labor-costing. This study tested whether SWC at a depth of a land use can be used to predict profile SWC of other land uses in terms of temporal stability analysis at a karst depression area in southwest China.

Materials and methods

A total of 30 datasets of root-zone SWC from 0.1- to 0.5-m depths were collected by time domain reflectometry probes for three typical land uses from March 12 to November 8, 2015.

Results and discussion

Results showed that the profile mean SWC and its associated standard deviation (SDP) and coefficient of variation (CVP) differed significantly (P < 0.05) among the grassland, farmland, and forestland. The profile SWC was more temporally stable according to the apparently lower CVT in comparison with CVP. The similarities of the vertical patterns of SWC were strong for the same land uses, while were relatively weak between the different land uses. The SWC measurements of the most temporally stable depth can be used to accurately predict profile SWC for both the same land use and other land uses.

Conclusions

This study further expands the application of the temporal stability analysis and can aid water resource management in areas with diverse land uses.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41601223; 41501478; 41571130073), Youth Innovation Team Project of ISA, CAS (2017QNCXTD_XXL) and CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, China

    Xuezhang Li, Xianli Xu, Chaohao Xu, Rongfei Zhang & Kelin Wang

  2. Huanjiang Observation and Research Station for Karst Ecosystem, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huanjiang, 547100, China

    Xuezhang Li, Xianli Xu, Chaohao Xu, Rongfei Zhang & Kelin Wang

  3. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410125, China

    Wen Liu

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chaohao Xu & Rongfei Zhang

Authors
  1. Xuezhang Li
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  2. Xianli Xu
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  3. Wen Liu
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  4. Chaohao Xu
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  5. Rongfei Zhang
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  6. Kelin Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xianli Xu.

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Responsible editor: Lu Zhang

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Li, X., Xu, X., Liu, W. et al. Prediction of profile soil moisture for one land use using measurements at a soil depth of other land uses in a karst depression. J Soils Sediments 19, 1479–1489 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2138-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2138-5

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