Effects of biological soil crusts on water infiltration and evaporation Yanchi Ningxia,Maowusu Desert,China

Biological soil crusts serve as a vanguard for improving the ecological environment in arid, semi-arid desertification areas. It is a good indicator of the level of improvement which the local ecological environment is undertaking. In desert areas, water condition is a key factor of improving the ecological environment. As a first layer protection, biological crusts play an important role in local vegetation succession due to their abilities to conserve and maintain moisture. Using Maowusu desert in Yanchi of Ningxia province as an example, after three years of research, this paper chooses three kinds of biological crusts including lichen, moss and cyanobacterial which are under the cover of Artemisia ordosica as research objects. The results of this study indicate that, the closer biological crusts are to Artemisia ordosica vegetation, the thicker they become. In the same position of Artemisia ordosica vegetation, the thickness of moss crusts is the highest, followed by lichen crusts, and the thickness of cyanobacterial crusts is the lowest. Biological soil crusts coverage protects the natural water content of soil layers from 0 to 5 cm. Also, it effects falling water to infiltrate deeper, and cannot prevent the surface water content from evaporating effectively. The effect of biological crusts blocking water infiltration decreases with the increase of rainfall. At the same rainfall level, moss crusts provide the strongest water infiltration blockage, followed by lichen crusts and cyanobacterial crusts. With the increase of rainfall, the depth of water infiltration increases. At the same rainfall level, the relationship of water infiltration depth is as follows: cyanobacterial crusts 4 lichen crusts 4 moss crusts. With the increase of biological crusts thickness, they blocking water infiltration capacity is stronger, and the depth of water infiltration is smaller. Analysis on the characteristic of simulated rainfall process on biological crusts shows that sandy land can be fixed by applying appropriate artificial biological crusts to build a sustainable forest pro-tection system and to create a stable ecosystem in desertification area.     

Spatial and temporal dynamics of soil moisture after rainfall events along a slope in Regosols of southwest China

High frequency seasonal drought in purple soils (Regosols in FAO taxonomy) of the hilly upland areas of Sichuan basin, China, is one of the key restrictive factors for crop production. In order to manage irrigation and fertilizer application in these soils effectively, the soil water content in a sloped plot with 60 cm soil depth was measured by neutron probe devices to investigate the soil moisture regime during the 1998 rainy season after various amounts of rainfall events. The results showed that variation of soil moisture along the slope positions was highest in the top soil layer during the period of sporadic rainfall that did not induce any runoff. The coefficients of variation of soil moisture at various slope positions (upper, middle, and lower) are 17·36%, 8·95%, 10·25%, 8·58%, 8·05% and 9·21% at the 10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm and 60 cm soil depths respectively. When surface runoff occurred, the soil moisture dynamics at various positions on the plot were then very different. Soil water content decreased more rapidly on the upper slope than on the middle and lower slope positions. When both surface runoff and throughflow occurred, the soil moisture dynamics in the various layers showed a stable period (soil water content is near constant as time elapses) that lasted about 1 week. Also, the pattern of moisture dynamics is ‘decreasing–stabilization–decreasing’. Thus, irrigation and fertilization management according to the spatial and temporal features of soil moisture dynamics on sloped land can increase the water and fertilizer utilization efficacy by reducing their losses during the stable period. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Field studies on the influence of rainfall intensity,vegetation cover and slope length on soil moisture infiltration on typical watersheds of the Loess Plateau,China

Soil moisture is a key process in the hydrological cycle. During ecological restoration of the Loess Plateau, soil moisture status has undergone important changes, and infiltration of soil moisture during precipitation events is a key link affecting water distribution. Our study aims to quantify the effects of vegetation cover, rainfall intensity and slope length on total infiltration and the spatial variation of water flow. Infiltration data from the upper, middle and lower slopes of a bare slope, a natural grassland and an artificial shrub grassland were obtained using a simulated rainfall experiment. The angle of the study slope was 15° and rainfall intensity was set at 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 mm/hr. The effect these factors have on soil moisture infiltration was quantified using main effect analysis. Our results indicate that the average infiltration depth (ID) of a bare slope, a grassland slope and an artificial shrub grassland slope was 46.7–73.3, 60–80, and 60–93.3 cm, respectively, and average soil moisture storage increment was 3.5–5.7, 5.0–9.4, and 5.7–10.2 mm under different rainfall intensities, respectively. Heavy rainfall intensity and vegetation cover reduced the difference of soil infiltration in the 0–40 cm soil layer, and rainfall intensity increased surface infiltration differences on the bare slope, the grassland slope and the artificial shrub grassland slope. Infiltration was dominated by rainfall intensity, accounting for 63.03–88.92%. As rainfall continued, the contribution of rainfall intensity to infiltration gradually decreased, and the contribution of vegetation cover and slope length to infiltration increased. The interactive contribution was: rainfall intensity * vegetation cover > vegetation cover * slope length > rainfall * slope length. In the grass and shrub grass slopes, lateral flow was found at a depth of 23–37 cm when the slope length was 5–10 m, this being related to the difference in soil infiltration capacity between different soil layers formed by the spatial cross-connection of roots.     

Soil moisture dynamics in coastal savanna soils in the tropics under different soil management practices

Abstract

Soil moisture is important for crop cultivation and its adequacy to meet crop-water requirements is determined by the degree of soil management practised and the quantity of water applied to the soil. This study investigates soil moisture dynamics on three plots: Bare (clean, weeds removed), Weedy (kept weedy), and Mulched (cleared of weeds and fully covered with grass mulch) during rainy and dry periods at the Teaching and Research Farm at the University of Cape Coast, in the coastal savanna zone of Ghana. Soil moisture dynamics under different levels of soil compaction were also studied. A Massey Ferguson tractor (MF265) was used to compact the soil at various levels by making 0, 1, 5, 9 and 13 passes. During both the rainy and the dry periods, moisture retention in the soil under bare, weedy and mulched plots increased with depth. During the rainy period, the mean soil moisture retention was in the order: Mulched > Weedy > Bare at both 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm depths. Within a 7–day period, soil moisture measurements from a day after heavy rainfall (intensity > 7 mm h^?1) gave mean moisture losses of 2.7, 4.1 and 3.9% for the Bare, Weedy and Mulched plots, respectively. During the dry period, however, the mean soil moisture retention was of the order: Mulched > Bare > Weedy at both 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm depths. Mean moisture loss during a 7–day dry period was 4.5, 2.9 and 3.4% for the Bare, Weedy and Mulched plots, respectively. Under different levels of soil compaction, the mean moisture retention in the soil increased from 8.3% at 0 pass to 17.8% at 13 passes within the 0–20 cm depth, whilst it decreased from 13.3 to 5.9% from 0 to 13 passes, respectively, within the 20–40 cm depth. It was realized that at less than two passes, the mean soil moisture retention within the 0–20 cm depth was less than the mean moisture retention within the 20–40 cm depth, but the converse happened for more than two passes. The study showed that mulching the soil surface helped to retain enough soil moisture during both the rainy and the dry seasons. Also, soil with high sand content required some sort of soil compaction in order to retain enough moisture at the crop rooting zone.     

Effects of biological crust coverage on soil hydraulic properties for the Loess Plateau of China

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are ubiquitous living covers that have been allowed to grow on abandoned farmlands over the Loess Plateau because the “Grain for Green” project was implemented in 1999 to control serious soil erosion. However, few studies have been conducted to quantify the effects of BSC coverage on soil hydraulic properties. This study was performed to assess the effects of BSC coverage on soil hydraulic properties, which are reflected by the soil sorptivity under an applied pressure of 0 (S ₀ ) and ?3 (S ₃ ) cm, saturated hydraulic conductivity (K _s ), wetting front depth (WFD ), and mean pore radius (λ _m ), for the Loess Plateau of China. Five classes of BSC coverage (i.e., 1–20%, 20–40%, 40–60%, 60–80%, and 80–100%) and a bare control were selected at both cyanobacteria‐ and moss‐covered sites to measure soil hydraulic properties using a disc infiltrometer under 2 consecutive pressure heads of 0 and ?3 cm, allowing the direct calculation of S ₀ , S ₃ , K _s , and λ _m . The WFD was measured onsite using a ruler immediately after the experiments of infiltration. The results indicated that both cyanobacteria and moss crusts were effective in changing the soil properties and impeding soil infiltration. The effects of moss were greater than those of cyanobacteria. Compared to those of the control, the S ₀ , S ₃ , K _s , WFD , and λ _m values of cyanobacteria‐covered soils were reduced by 13.7%, 11.0%, 13.3%, 10.6%, and 12.6% on average, and those of moss‐covered soils were reduced by 27.6%, 22.1%, 29.5%, 22.2%, and 25.9%, respectively. The relative soil sorptivity under pressures of 0 (RS ₀ ) and ?3 (RS ₃ ) cm, the relative saturated hydraulic conductivity (RK _s ), the relative wetting front depth (RWFD ), and the relative mean pore radius (Rλ _m ) decreased exponentially with coverage for both cyanobacteria‐ and moss‐covered soils. The rates of decrease in RS ₀ , RS ₃ , RK _s , RWFD , and Rλ _m of cyanobacteria were significantly slower than those of moss, especially for the coverage of 0–40%, with smaller ranges. The variations of soil hydraulic properties with BSC coverage were closely related to the change in soil clay content driven by the BSC coverage on the Loess Plateau. The results are useful for simulating the hydraulic parameters of BSC‐covered soils in arid and semiarid areas.     

Effects of differing coverage of moss‐dominated soil crusts on hydrological processes and implications for disturbance in the Mu Us Sandland,China

To study the effects of biological soil crusts (BSCs) on hydrological processes and their implications for disturbance in the Mu Us Sandland, the water infiltration, evaporation and soil moisture of high coverage (100% BSCs), middle coverage (40% BSCs) and low coverage (0% BSCs, bare sand) of moss‐dominated crusts were conducted in this study, respectively. The conclusions are as follows: (1) the main effects of moss‐dominated crusts in the Mu Us Sandland on the infiltration of rainwater were to reduce the infiltration depths and to retain the limited rainwater in shallow soil; (2) moss‐dominated crusts have no significant effects on daily evaporation when the volumetric water content at 4 cm depth in 100% BSCs (VWC4) was over 24.7%, on enhanced daily evaporation when the VWC4 ranged from 6.5% to 24.7% and on reduced daily evaporation when the VWC4 was less than 6.5%; and (3) decreasing the coverage of moss‐dominated crusts (from 100% to 40%) did not significantly change its effects on infiltration, evaporation and soil moisture. Our results demonstrated that for the growth and regeneration of shrubs, which were dominated by Artemisia ordosica in the Mu Us Sandland, high coverage of moss‐dominated crusts has negative effects on hydrological processes, and these negative effects could not be significantly reduced by decreasing the coverage of moss‐dominated crusts from 100% to 40%. Therefore, for the sustained and healthy development of shrub communities in the Mu Us Sandland, it is necessary to take appropriate measures for the well‐developed BSCs in the sites with high vegetation coverage in the rainy season. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Responses of soil moisture at different topographic positions to rainfall events along a steep subtropical forested hillslope

Understanding the dynamic response of soil moisture to rainfall is crucial for describing hydrological processes at the hillslope scale. However, because of sparse monitoring coupled with the complexity of water movement and steep topography, the findings of rainfall-related soil moisture dynamics have not always been consistent, indicating a need for systematic investigations of soil moisture dynamics and infiltration patterns following rainfall inputs at multiple topographic positions along a hillslope. This study aimed to examine the nature of these responses by characterizing and quantifying the response amplitude, rate and time for 37 large rainfall events at 25 combinations of topographic positions and soil depths along a steep forested hillslope. Our results showed that soil moisture responses under different rainfall patterns could be attributed to one or the other rainfall characteristics, such as rainfall intensity and amount. However, soil moisture dynamics at different hillslope positions after rainfall varied widely due to the controls of soil properties, topography, and non-equilibrium flow. Preferential flow was more evident under dry initial soil conditions than under wet initial soil conditions. Findings of this study reveal that the dynamic response patterns of soil moisture to rainfall do not always follow topographic controls, which can improve our understanding of water cycling related to the infiltration process at the hillslope scale, and support water resources management in subtropical mountain ecosystems.     

Quantifying the surface covering,binding and bonding effects of biological soil crusts on soil detachment by overland flow

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) have impacts on soil detachment process through surface covering, and binding and bonding (B&B) mechanisms, which might vary with successional stages of BSCs. This study was conducted to quantify the effects of surface covering, binding and bonding of BSCs on soil detachment capacity by overland flow in a 4 m long hydraulic flume with fixed bed. Two dominant BSC types, developed well in the Loess Plateau (the early successional cyanobacteria and the later successional moss), were tested using natural undisturbed soil samples collected from the abandoned farmlands. Two treatments of undisturbed crusts and one treatment of removing the above‐ground tissue of BSCs were designed for each BSC type. For comparison, bare loess soil was used as the baseline. The collected soil samples were subjected to flow scouring under six different shear stresses, ranging from 6.7 to 21.2 Pa. The results showed that soil detachment capacity (D_c) and rill erodibility (K_r) decrease with BSC succession, and the presence of BSCs obviously increased the critical shear stress, especially for the later successional moss crust. For the early successional cyanobacteria crust, D_c was reduced by 69.2% compared to the bare loess soil, where 37.7% and 31.5% are attributed to the surface covering and B&B, respectively. For the later successional moss crust, D_c decreased by 89.8% compared to the bare loess soil, where 68.9% and 20.9% contributed to the surface covering and B&B, respectively. These results are helpful in understanding the influencing mechanism of BSCs on soil erosion and in developing the process‐based erosion models for grassland and forestland. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factors controlling the spatial variability of surface soil moisture within revegetated‐stabilized desert ecosystems of the Tengger Desert,Northern China

The spatial structure of surface soil moisture was investigated at a grid scale with 10 × 10 m intervals on a plot of 4500 m² in a re‐vegetated desert area in Shapotou, the Tengger Desert. The site topography varies from dune crest to dune hollow, and again to dune crest. Volumetric soil moisture contents were measured 21 times over 6 months in 2006 by using Delta‐T Theta‐Probes in the 0–6 cm surface soil layer before and after rainfall. At the same time, soil texture, relative elevation, and plant coverage were measured, to examine (i) the spatial variability of surface soil moisture; (ii) the main factors controlling the spatial variability patterns; and (iii) how the importance of these factors varies with the seasonal variations in soil moisture content. The results indicated that the normal distribution of surface soil moisture was more obvious in wet conditions than in dry conditions; the spatial variability of surface soil moisture was inherent and decreased with increased soil moisture content; and precipitation increased the spatial dependence of surface soil moisture. The relative elevation of the landscape, the shrub coverage of the community, and the soil texture were the main factors influencing surface soil moisture variability, while the effect of soil texture strengthened gradually following the heavy precipitation events. The correlation between the spatial variability of surface soil moisture and the environmental factors, such as, the dry and wet conditions, the landscape coverage and the relative elevation suggests that increasing stability of the soil moisture resulted in a significant increase of soil moisture. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stratification response of soil water content during rainfall events under different rainfall patterns

Many researchers have studied the influence of rainfall patterns on soil water movement processes using rainfall simulation experiments. However, less attention has been paid to the influence under natural condition. In this paper, rainfall, soil water content (SWC), and soil temperature at 10‐, 20‐, 30‐, 40‐, and 50‐cm depths were simultaneously monitored at 1‐min intervals to measure the variation in SWC (SWCv) in response to rainfall under different rainfall patterns. First, we classified rainfall events into four patterns. During the study period, the main pattern was the advanced rainfall pattern (38% of all rainfall events), whereas the delayed, central, and uniform rainfall patterns had similar frequencies of about 20%. During natural rainfall, rainwater rapidly passed through the top soil layers (10–40 cm) and was accumulated in the bottom layer (50 cm). When a high rainfall pulse occurred, the water storage balance was disturbed, resulting in the drainage of initial soil water from the top layers into the deeper layers. Therefore, the critical function of the top layers and the bottom layers was infiltration and storage, respectively. The source of water stored in the bottom layer was not only rainfall but also the initial soil water in the upper soil layers. Changes in soil temperature at each soil depth were comonitored with SWCv to determine the movement characteristics of soil water under different rainfall patterns. Under the delayed rainfall pattern, preferential flows preferred to occur. Under the other rainfall patterns, matrix flow was the main form of soil water movement. Rainfall amount was a better indicator than rainfall intensity for SWCv in the bottom layer under the delayed rainfall pattern. These results provide insights into the responses of SWCv under different rainfall patterns in northern China.     

High-frequency monitoring of the occurrence of preferential flow on hillslopes and its relationship with rainfall features,soil moisture and landscape

ABSTRACT

High-frequency monitoring was conducted to quantify the frequency and controlling factors of preferential flow (PF) in a monsoon-influenced sub-humid mountainous catchment (6.48 km²) of Northern China. Rainfall was measured using nine bucket raingauges. Soil moisture probes were set up at 12 sites to observe the PF. Overall, 129 rainfall events were identified during the years 2014–2016. The average PF occurrence was 41%, which increased to 71% during heavy rainfall events (>20 mm) revealing a strong influence of the amount and intensity of rainfall. The study also revealed that the PF increased with antecedent soil moisture. Soil moisture was much higher on flat sites compared to sloping sites, providing evidence that the topography has a strong influence on rainfall infiltration and runoff which, subsequently, influence soil moisture variation and the occurrence of PF. Our findings provide valuable insights into the hydrological processes for studies in regions with similar environmental conditions.     

Effective run‐off flow length over biological soil crusts on silty loam soils in drylands

Surface hydrological behaviour is important in drylands because it affects the distribution of soil moisture and vegetation and the hydrological functioning of slopes and catchments. Microplot scale run‐off can be relatively easily measured, i.e. by rainfall simulations. However, slope or catchment run‐off cannot be deduced from microplots, requiring long‐time monitoring, because run‐off coefficients decrease with increasing drainage area. Therefore, to determine the slope length covered by run‐off (run‐off length) is crucial to connect scales. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are good model systems, and their hydrology at slope scale is insufficiently known. This study provides run‐off lengths from BSCs, by field factorial experiments using rainfall simulation, including two BSC types, three rain types, three antecedent soil moistures and four plot lengths. Data were analysed by generalized linear modelling, including vascular plant cover as covariates. Results were the following: (i) the real contributing area is almost always much smaller than the topographical contributing area; (ii) the BSC type is key to controlling run‐off; run‐off length reached 3 m on cyanobacterial crust, but hardly over 1 m on lichen crust; this pattern remained through rain type or soil moisture; (iii) run‐off decreased with BSC development because soil sealing disappears; porosity, biomass and roughness increase and some changes occur in the uppermost soil layer; and (iv) run‐off flow increased with both rain type and soil moisture but run‐off coefficient only with soil moisture (as larger rains increased both run‐off and infiltration); vascular plant cover had a slight effect on run‐off because it was low and random. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factors and interactions controlling infiltration,runoff, and soil loss at the microscale in a patchy Mediterranean semiarid landscape

In semiarid ecosystems, the transfer of water, sediments, and nutrients from bare to vegetated areas is known to be crucial to ecosystem functioning. Rainfall simulation experiments were performed on bare‐soil and vegetated surfaces, on both wet and dry soils, in semiarid shrub‐steppe landscapes of SE Spain to investigate the spatial and temporal factors and interactions that control the fine‐scale variation in water infiltration, runoff and soil loss, and hence the water and sediment flows in these areas. Three types of shrub‐steppe landscapes varying in plant community and physiography, and four types of plant patches (oak shrub, subshrub, tussock grass, and short grass mixed with chamaephytes) were studied. Higher infiltration and lower runoff and soil loss were measured on vegetation patches than on bare soils, for both dry and wet conditions. The oak‐shrub patches produced no runoff, while the subshrub patches showed the highest runoff and soil loss. Despite these differences among patch types, the influence of vegetation patch type on the variables analysed was not significant. The response of bare soil surfaces clearly varied between landscape types, yet the differences were only relevant under dry soil conditions. Stone cover, particularly the cover of embedded stones, and crust cover, were the key explanatory variables for the hydrological behaviour of bare soils. The study documents quantitatively how bare soils and vegetation patches function as runoff sources and runoff sinks, respectively, for a wide range of soil moisture conditions, and illustrates that landscape‐type effects on bare‐soil runoff sources may also exert an important control on the site hydrology, while the role of the vegetation patch type is less important. The effects of the control factors are modulated by antecedent soil moisture, with dry soils showing the most contrasting soil water infiltration between landscapes and surface types. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of natural vegetation restoration on surface soil moisture of secondary forests and shrubs in the karst region of southwest China

Soil moisture is crucial to vegetation restoration in karst areas, and climate factors and vegetation restoration are key factors affecting changes in soil moisture. However, there is still much controversy over the long-term changes in soil moisture during vegetation restoration. In order to reveal the changes in soil moisture during vegetation restoration, we conducted long-term positioning monitoring of soil moisture at 0–10 and 10–20 cm on secondary forests sample plot (SF, tree land) and shrubs sample plot (SH, shrub land) in karst areas from 2013 to 2020. The results showed that the aboveground biomass of SF and SH increased by 50% and 240%, respectively, and the soil moisture of the SF and SH showed an increasing trend. When shrubs are restored to trees in karst areas, the soil moisture becomes more stable. However, the correlation coefficients (R²) between the annual rainfall and the annual average soil moisture of SF and SH are 0.84 and 0.55, respectively, indicating that soil moistures in tree land are more affected by rainfall. The soil moisture of shrubs and trees are relatively low during the months of alternating rainy and dry seasons. Rainfall has a very significant impact on the soil moisture of tree land, while air temperature and wind speed have a significant impact on the soil moisture of tree land, but the soil moistures of shrub land are very significantly affected by rainfall and relative humidity. Therefore, during the process of vegetation restoration from shrubs to trees, the main meteorological factors that affect soil moisture changes will change. The results are important for understanding the hydrological processes in the ecological restoration process of different vegetation types in karst areas.     

Soil temperature and soil moisture dynamics in winter and spring under heavy snowfall conditions in North-Eastern Japan

Warm winters and high precipitation in north-eastern Japan generate snow covers of more than three meters depth and densities of up to 0.55 g cm⁻³. Under these conditions, rain/snow ratio and snowmelt have increased significantly in the last decade under increasing warm winters. This study aims at understanding the effect of rain-on-snow and snowmelt on soil moisture under thick snow covers in mid-winter, taking into account that snowmelt in spring is an important source of water for forests and agriculture. The study combines three components of the Hydrosphere (precipitation, snow cover and soil moisture) in order to trace water mobility in winter, since soil temperatures remained positive in winter at nearly 0.3°C. The results showed that soil moisture increased after snowmelt and especially after rain-on-snow events in mid-winter 2018/2019. Rain-on-snow events were firstly buffered by fresh snow, increasing the snow water equivalent (SWE), followed by water soil infiltration once the water storage capacity of the snowpack was reached. The largest increase of soil moisture was 2.35 vol%. Early snowmelt increased soil moisture with rates between 0.02 and 0.035 vol% hr⁻¹ while, rain-on-snow events infiltrated snow and soil faster than snowmelt and resulted in rates of up to 1.06 vol% hr⁻¹. These results showed the strong connection of rain, snow and soil in winter and introduce possible hydrological scenarios in the forest ecosystems of the heavy snowfall regions of north-eastern Japan. Effects of rain-on-snow events and snowmelt on soil moisture were estimated for the period 2012–2018. Rain/snow ratio showed that only 30% of the total precipitation in the winter season 2011/2012 was rain events while it was 50% for the winter 2018/2019. Increasing climate warming and weakening of the Siberian winter monsoons will probably increase rain/snow ratio and the number of rain-on-snow events in the near future.     

The effects of initial soil moisture conditions on swale flow hydrographs

The effects of soil water content (SWC) on the formation of run‐off in grass swales draining into a storm sewer system were studied in two 30‐m test swales with trapezoidal cross sections. Swale 1 was built in a loamy fine‐sand soil, on a slope of 1.5%, and Swale 2 was built in a sandy loam soil, on a slope of 0.7%. In experimental runs, the swales were irrigated with 2 flow rates reproducing run‐off from block rainfalls with intensities approximately corresponding to 2‐month and 3‐year events. Run‐off experiments were conducted for initial SWC (SWC_ini) ranging from 0.18 to 0.43 m³/m³. For low SWC_ini, the run‐off volume was greatly reduced by up to 82%, but at high SWC_ini, the volume reduction was as low as 15%. The relative swale flow volume reductions decreased with increasing SWC_ini and, for the conditions studied, indicated a transition of the dominating swale functions from run‐off dissipation to conveyance. Run‐off flow peaks were reduced proportionally to the flow volume reductions, in the range from 4% to 55%. The swale outflow hydrograph lag times varied from 5 to 15 min, with the high values corresponding to low SWC_ini. Analysis of swale inflow/outflow hydrographs for high SWC_ini allowed estimations of the saturated hydraulic conductivities as 3.27 and 4.84 cm/hr in Swales 1 and 2, respectively. Such estimates differed from averages (N = 9) of double‐ring infiltrometer measurements (9.41 and 1.78 cm/hr). Irregularities in swale bottom slopes created bottom surface depression storage of 0.35 and 0.61 m³ for Swales 1 and 2, respectively, and functioned similarly as check berms contributing to run‐off attenuation. The experimental findings offer implications for drainage swale planning and design: (a) SWC_ini strongly affect swale functioning in run‐off dissipation and conveyance during the early phase of run‐off, which is particularly important for design storms and their antecedent moisture conditions, and (b) concerning the longevity of swale operation, Swale 1 remains fully functional even after almost 60 years of operation, as judged from its attractive appearance, good infiltration rates (3.27 cm/hr), and high flow capacity.     

Soil moisture dynamics across landscape types in an arid inland river basin of Northwest China

A combination of field measurements, continuous monitoring and numerical modelling was used to evaluate soil moisture regimes at four sites across a landscape gradient of the Heihe River Basin. Recorded data of precipitation, irrigation and floods were used to build the model, and an optimization technique was employed to calibrate the parameters. Based on the optimized parameters and estimates of future scenarios, the modelling structure was employed to predict the changes in the growing season soil moisture regimes due to climate change and intensive management. The results suggest that the upper‐reach Yeniugou and Xishui sites will become wetter because of alterations in the precipitation regime, and this trend could be strengthened by the expected amplified interannual variability. Precipitation features at middle‐reach Linze and lower‐reach Ejina, however, are not expected to change in the future. We assumed that a more water‐saving irrigation system will replace the current traditional one, and hence, the soil moisture probability density function at the Linze site would tend to be narrowed to ranges around either the wilting point or the point of incipient water stress, depending on how the intervention point and target level are settled. Ejina is expected to experience the most extreme ecological conversion effects in the future, and soil moisture would be more frequently recharged by water delivery. However, the soil moisture regime would not change much because of the poor water‐holding capacity and intensive evaporation. The revealed patterns and predicted shifts in soil moisture dynamics could provide a useful reference for identifying robust long‐term water resource management strategies for the Heihe River Basin. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of grass soil cover on water runoff and soil detachment under rainfall simulation in a sub‐humid South African degraded rangeland

In most regions of the world overgrazing plays a major role in land degradation and thus creates a major threat to natural ecosystems. Several feedbacks exist between overgrazing, vegetation, soil infiltration by water and soil erosion that need to be better understood. In this study of a sub‐humid overgrazed rangeland in South Africa, the main objective was to evaluate the impact of grass cover on soil infiltration by water and soil detachment. Artificial rains of 30 and 60 mm h^?1 were applied for 30 min on 1 m² micro‐plots showing similar sandy‐loam Acrisols with different proportions of soil surface coverage by grass (Class A: 75–100%; B: 75–50%; C: 50–25%; D: 25–5%; E: 5–0% with an outcropping A horizon; F: 0% with an outcropping B horizon) to evaluate pre‐runoff rainfall (Pr), steady state water infiltration (I), sediment concentration (SC) and soil losses (SL). Whatever the class of vegetal cover and the rainfall intensity, with the exception of two plots probably affected by biological activity, I decreased regularly to a steady rate <2 mm h^?1 after 15 min rain. There was no significant correlation between I and Pr with vegetal cover. The average SC computed from the two rains increased from 0·16 g L^?1 (class A) to 48·5 g L^?1 (class F) while SL was varied between 4 g m^?2 h^?1 for A and 1883 g m^?2 h^?1 for F. SL increased significantly with decreasing vegetal cover with an exponential increase while the removal of the A horizon increased SC and SL by a factor of 4. The results support the belief that soil vegetation cover and overgrazing plays a major role in soil infiltration by water but also suggest that the interrill erosion process is self‐increasing. Abandoned cultivated lands and animal preferred pathways are more vulnerable to erosive processes than simply overgrazed rangelands. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hillslope‐scale probabilistic characterization of soil moisture dynamics and average water balance

Probabilistic water balance modelling provides a useful framework for investigating the interactions between soil, vegetation, and the atmosphere. It has been used to estimate temporal soil moisture dynamics and ecohydrological responses at a point. This study combines a nonlinear rainfall–runoff theory with probabilistic water balance model to represent varied source area runoff as a function of rainfall depth and a runoff coefficient at hillslope scale. Analytical solutions of the soil‐moisture probability density function and average water balance model are then developed. Based on a sensitivity analysis of soil moisture dynamics, we show that when varied source area runoff is incorporated, mean soil moisture is always lower and total runoff higher, compared with the original probabilistic water balance model. The increased runoff from the inclusion of varied source area runoff is mainly because of a reduction in leakage when the index of dryness is less than one and evapotranspiration when the index of dryness is greater than one. Inclusion of varied source area runoff in the model means that the actual evapotranspiration is limited by less available water (i.e. water limit), which is stricter than Budyko’s and Milly’s water limit. Application of the model to a catchment located in Western Australia showed that the method can predict annual value of actual evapotranspiration and streamflow accurately. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigating the impact of initial soil moisture conditions on total infiltration by using an adapted double-ring infiltrometer

ABSTRACT

This study presents an adaptation of the double-ring infiltrometer (DRI) device, which allows several infiltration experiments to be conducted at the same location. Hence, it becomes possible to use the DRI method to investigate infiltration behaviour under different initial soil moisture conditions. The main feature is the splitting of the inner ring into two parts. While the lower part remains in the soil throughout the investigation period, the upper part is attached to the lower one just before the infiltration experiment. This method was applied to eight test sites in an Alpine catchment, covering different land-use/cover types. The results demonstrated the applicability of the adapted system and showed correlations between total water infiltration and initial soil moisture conditions on pastures, independent of the underlying soil type. In contrast, no correlation was found at forest sites or wetlands. Thus, the study emphasizes the importance of paying special attention to the impact of initial soil moisture conditions on the infiltration—and consequently the runoff behaviour—at managed areas. Given the differences in the total infiltrated water of between 30 and 1306 mm, consideration of the interplay between initial soil moisture conditions, land-use/cover type, and soil properties in rainfall–runoff models is a prerequisite to predict runoff production accurately.

EDITOR Z.W. Kundzewicz; ASSOCIATE EDITOR not assigned