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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2023, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (12): 3169-3176.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202312.025

• Special Features of Hydrological Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Water-holding characteristics of litter and soil and the influencing factors after individual rainfall

HE Jiao1, MA Lan1,2,3*, SUN Xu1, ZHANG Jinge1   

  1. 1School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China;
    2Metropolitan Area Forest Ecosystem Research Station, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China;
    3Jixian National Forest Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, National Ecosystem Research Network of China, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
  • Received:2023-08-26 Revised:2023-10-26 Online:2023-12-15 Published:2024-06-15

Abstract: To clarify the water-holding characteristics of forest litter and soil, different densities (0, 300, 600, 900 g·m-2) of Pinus tabuliformis litter were covered on the typical soil surface of loess cinnamon and calcareous cinnamon in north China. Based on an artificial simulated rainfall experiment, we observed the variation of litter and soil water content with time, and analyzed the variation process and influencing factors of litter and soil water content after rainfall. The results showed that water content of P. tabuliformis litter decreased significantly with the increases of duration after the rainfall, and that the range of litter water contents under all treatments was 22.9%-71.0%. There was a decreasing exponential function between the decline rate and time. Litter water content was only affected by litter density. The higher the litter density, the greater the decreasing rate of litter water content. Soil water content fluctuated and decreased with the increases of duration after the rainfall, with a variation of 1.5%-8.5%. Soil water-holding capacity was affected by litter density, soil type, and slope position. Litter could effectively reduce the fluctuation of soil water. The higher litter density, the smaller the coefficient of variation of soil water content, the greater the effect of litter on soil water fluctuation, and the better the soil water-holding capacity. The water-holding capacity on loess cinnamon soil was significantly higher than that of calcareous cinnamon soil. Soil water-holding capacity on the downslope was significantly higher than that on the upslope and middle slope, without any difference between upslope and middle slope.

Key words: artificial simulated rainfall, water holding characteristics, litter density, slope position, soil type