The relationship of vegetation and soil differentiation during the formation of black-soil-type degraded meadows in the headwater of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

In alpine meadow ecosystems, considerable spatial heterogeneity in forb-dominant vegetation exists as a result of severe grassland degeneration; however, there is limited quantitative information on the vegetative differences between degenerated and pristine grasslands. Therefore, a field study, which seeks to identify the edaphic factors driving the variation in plant composition and distribution, was conducted in a severely degraded alpine meadow located in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, NW China. Five meadows, an original meadow and four degraded meadows, were used to determine the differentiation and relationships between the vegetation and soil of degraded alpine meadows. The dominated species of these degraded meadows are Ligularia virgaurea–Artemisia gmelinii (LA), Oxytropis ochrocephala–Leontopodium nanum (OL), Aconitum pendulum–Potentilla anserina (AP) and Stellera chamaejasme–Artemisia nanschanica (SA), respectively. The results indicate that vegetation cover, grass biomass, species number and diversity indices clearly decrease from the original to the degraded meadow. Soil water, clay and nutrient content are also reduced with grassland degradation in surface and subsoil layers. The joint study of floristic and edaphic variables confirms that the soil features, especially the bulk density, sand content, pH, salinity, N and K, mainly determine the establishment of vegetation in the severely degraded fields of this study. These results may be useful for alpine grassland ecosystem restoration and management.     

黄河源区地下水位下降对生态环境的影响

黄河源区1:250000区域环境地质调查资料与以往资料的对比表明,黄河源区区域地下水位近几十年来呈现明显的下降趋势,主要表现在:地下水露头泉口下移,河谷区民井地下水位下降及山前冲洪积扇前缘泄出带下移.多年冻土的退化直接导致了冷生隔水层的下移,从而引起区域地下水位的下降.区域地下水位的下降导致生态水位下降,包气带土壤层的含水量减少,使该区出现植被草场退化、生物多样性减少、沼泽湿地萎缩、鼠害猖獗、荒漠化加剧及黄河断流等生态环境问题.     

Response of riparian vegetation to water-table changes in the lower reaches of Tarim River, Xinjiang Uygur, China

The lower reaches of Tarim River in the Xinjiang Uygur region of western China had been dried out for more than 30 years before water began to be diverted from Konqi (Peacock) River via a 927-km-long channel in year 2000, aimed at improving the riparian ecological systems. Since then, eight intermittent water deliveries have been carried out. To evaluate the response of riparian vegetation to these operations, the groundwater regime and vegetation changes have been monitored along the 350-km-long stem of the river using a network of 40 dug wells at nine transects across the river and 30 vegetation plots at key sites. Results show that the water table rose remarkably, i.e. from a depth of 9.87 m before the water delivery to 3.16 m after the third water delivery. The lateral distance of affected water table extended to 1,050 m from the riverbank after the fourth water delivery. The riparian vegetation has changed in composition, type, distribution, and growing behavior. This shows that the water deliveries have had significant effects on restoration of riparian ecosystems.     

论内陆干旱区依赖地下水的植被生态需水量研究关键科学问题

地下水资源在内陆干旱区具有重要的植被生态功能, 依赖地下水的植被生态系统的需水量是目前流域水资源综合管理的重要组成部分.在分析地下水资源生态功能研究进展的同时, 系统阐述了内陆干旱区依赖地下水的植被生态需水量研究的几个关键科学问题: ①依赖地下水的植被生态系统的识别方法; ②地下水对植被生态系统作用机制的分析; ③地下水关键属性安全界限的确定; ④地下水系统结构分析; ⑤生态用水配置方案的确定; ⑥区域尺度地下水-天然植被系统关系的概念模型.并逐一提出了这些问题的解决方案, 能够为干旱区植被生态系统保护和恢复提供思路, 也能够为水资源开发利用与以植被生态系统保护为中心的干旱区生态文明建设提供地学支撑.      

Desert riparian vegetation and groundwater in the lower reaches of the Tarim River basin

The Green Corridor in the lower reaches of Tarim River in northwestern China has an extreme hot and dry climate. Vegetation here, consisting of arbor, shrub and grass, relies on groundwater exceedingly. However, the increasing anthropogenic activities of large-scale agricultural reclamation and unreasonable water utilization in the upper and middle reaches caused the 321-km riverway in the lower reaches to dry up completely in 1972 and resulted in the sharp decline of groundwater, followed by the ruin of desert riparian vegetation on a large scale. The Green Corridor is on the verge of shrinking. Water has a key role in maintaining ecological balance and socioeconomic development. This paper, focused on the relationship between vegetation and groundwater, discusses (1) the change of groundwater table caused by the ecological water delivery carried out in the lower reaches of Tarim River; (2) the appropriate groundwater depth meeting the vegetation’s survival; (3) the minimum ecological flux and ecological water requirement for the growth of natural vegetation. It was shown that (1) based on the analysis of the monitoring data from the groundwater level of ten times water delivery, such an extensive artificial watering takes positive effect on raising the groundwater level along the two sides of the river; (2) a groundwater table depth of 2–4 m is probably the appropriate ecological water table level for the lower reaches of the Tarim River, and 6 m is the threshold for the local vegetation; (3) at the lower Tarim River, 1.157 × 10⁸ m³ of water flow is needed for itself. The longer the duration of water releases, the greater would be the groundwater rise and the larger the range of vegetation influenced. It was found that the duration and volume of water delivery was closely related to restoration of vegetation in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. The goal of this paper is to offer scientific evidences for water delivery in the rigorous areas to maintain an ecological balance.     

Spatial and temporal variation of groundwater recharge in shallow aquifer in the Thepkasattri of Phuket,Thailand

Whether groundwater resources can be sustainably utilized is largely determined and characterized by hydrogeological parameters.Estimating the groundwater recharge is one of the essential parameters for managing water resources and protecting water resources from contamination.This study researched the spatial and temporal variation of groundwater recharge in the Thepkasattri sub-district through integrating chloride mass balance(CMB)and water table fluctuation(WTF)methods.The chloride content of representative rainfall and groundwater samples was analyzed.Besides,WTF method was adopted from groundwater level data from 2012 to 2015.According to the CMB method,the mean recharge was estimated to be 1172 mm per year,accounting for 47%of the annual rainfall.Moreover,the estimated recharge from the WTF method took 26%of annual rainfall in 2015.The recharge was underestimated according to the WTF method,because of the uncertainty in specific yield estimates and the number of representative wells in the study area.Moreover,the correlation between rainfall and water table fluctuation data indicated the positive linear relationship between two parameters.The spatial recharge prediction indicated that recharge was higher(1200-1400 mm/yr)in the eastern and western catchment,while that in the central floodplains was between 800 mm/yr and 1100 mm/yr.In addition,low recharge value between 450 mm/yr and 800 mm/yr was observed in the south-west part of Thepkasattri.The spatial variation of recharge partly reflects the influences of land use and land cover of the study area.     

民勤绿洲天然植被生长与地下水埋深变化关系

甘肃石羊河流域民勤盆地水资源短缺,生态环境脆弱,弄清地下水埋深与天然生态植被生长的关系,是精准调控地下水开采、针对性制定生态保护政策的重要理论依据。利用民勤盆地2000—2017年LANDSAT遥感数据,计算归一化差值植被指数（NDVI）年均值,结合85眼监测井的地下水埋深实测数据,分析了植被生长与埋深的关系。结果显示:研究区植被NDVI较低,多年均值约0.1,2012年后NDVI趋于增大,反映人工造林等措施成果明显。地下水埋深总体趋于增大,2008年后增幅减缓,目前埋深西部大于20 m,东部、北部小于20 m。区内适宜植被生长的埋深范围为2.5~3.9 m,多年平均适宜生态水位约2.66 m;埋深小于4 m时,NDVI与埋深表现为高度负相关(R<-0.8),即埋深越小,NDVI越高;埋深大于4 m时,两者无明显关系。较前人成果,文章从长序列时间、盆地空间尺度分析了民勤绿洲区天然植被生长与地下水埋深的变化,得到浅埋区生态水位,进而圈定了生态治理重点靶区。     

青藏高原不同高寒生态系统类型下多年冻土活动层水热过程差异研究

基于青藏高原北麓河地区高寒草原、高寒沼泽草甸和高寒草甸生态系统下多年冻土活动层水热过程的监测数据,对活动层水热过程特征开展了相关研究。研究结果显示,在活动层厚度、冻融时间、持续时间以及活动层土壤水分含水量分布方面,不同的高寒生态系统下活动层的上述属性特征差异明显。高寒草原下多年冻土活动层厚度最大,土体开始融化的时间最早,每年持续融化的日数也最长;高寒草甸最小,高寒沼泽草甸居中。高寒草原下活动层土壤含水率从上到下逐渐增加,水分基本集中在活动层的中下部分;高寒沼泽草甸下活动层土壤水分的分布情况相对比较均衡;高寒草甸下活动层土壤含水率分布呈现从上到下逐步减少的模式,越靠近地表土壤含水率越大。对监测数据的进一步分析发现,不同的高寒生态系统下,近地表地温与气温温差累计值、近地表土壤有机质含量、n因子特征以及近地表地温标准差统计特征都具有明显的区别。研究分析表明,多年冻土活动层水热过程特征与高寒生态系统类型具有明显的关联性,高寒生态系统会影响近地表能量通量,从而使地-气热量交换产生差异,这一差异又将改变活动层土壤温度、水分分布特征及其动力学过程。     

Modelling the response of vegetation restoration to changes in groundwater level,based on ecologically suitable groundwater depth

Groundwater-level fluctuations at a large scale have a significant effect on the preservation and restoration of vegetation. This study determined suitable groundwater depth within which natural vegetation grows well, and analysed the effect of groundwater regulation on vegetation restoration in Tianjin City, northern China. Normal and lognormal distributions were used to fit the curve of the relation between vegetation and groundwater depth. The groundwater depth range corresponding to the higher frequency of vegetation distribution was regarded as the ‘suitable water depth’ range for vegetation growth. The suitable groundwater depth for shrub growth was 3–5 m and for grass growth 1–3 m. A groundwater flow model predicted the future changes of groundwater depths in the vegetation distribution area under the condition that the current levels of groundwater extraction are maintained. The results showed that there is potential for the extraction of groundwater in shrubland areas, but for grassland areas the water-table elevation showed a downward trend, meaning that water shortages in some areas may be more severe in the future. Finally, based on the current groundwater extraction regime, two regulation schemes were developed: (1) for shrubland, groundwater extraction was reduced by 10% in the ecological water deficit areas, and extraction was increased by 10% in the ecological water surplus and suitable areas, and (2) for grassland, groundwater recharge was increased by the restoration of the wetland areas. In conclusion, the groundwater depths in most of the area would be more suitable for vegetation growth under the regulation schemes.     

Impact of Vegetation on Main Hydrological Processes：A Field Study and Its Implication for Water Quality

The impact of vegetation cover on groundwater table was assessed with the observed water level fluctuations at two monitored wells in stalled on a bare ground and a vegetated land,respectively．Substantial differences in water table behavior were observed under two land cover scenarios．Ingeneral,the water level in the east grass (EG） well was lower and had much less response to rainfall events than the WNG well mainly due to the difference in the land cover．The effect of vegetation was to lower the water level in the EG well through ET and thus reduce groundwater recharge,which in turn reduced the chemical loads to the creek．The daily and accumulative ET values were estimated with both the Penman-Monteith method and a water table recession model．It is suggested that while the Penman-Monteith method closely modeled hourly ET cycles during the day,it underestimated actual ET during an intensive mid-summer growing period,and especially underestimated actual ET when the water table was close to the landsurface．With the water table recession model,the amount of ET was estimated at its maximum ET of 7．6 mm when the water table was near the groundsurface and then decreases exponentially to zero around day 33 during a dry period with the accumulative ET of 93．9 mm,or 2．84 mm／day．The results from this study clearly demonstrate that landuse and vegetation coverage have significant effects on ET,groundwater recharge and implications for a basin-scale water cycle and chemical loads to rivers and streams．     

银川平原植被生长与地下水关系研究

干旱区植被生长与地下水的关系是生态水文地质学研究的热点之一。西北内陆干旱地区降水稀少,植被的生长发育与地下水的关系极为密切,从大尺度上研究地下水变化的生态效应问题对生态环境的保护和恢复具有重要的意义。借助遥感方法,结合地下水观测数据,在区域尺度上定量地研究了中国银川平原地区地下水埋深及矿化度与植被生长的关系。结果表明:适宜植被生长的地下水埋深范围约为1~6m,当地下水位埋深为3.5m左右时,植被长势最好。而在水位埋深为3.5m左右的地区,植被生长的相对好坏又受地下水矿化度的影响。当地下水矿化度为0.9g/L时对该地区植被的生长最为有利。     

The influence of water conveyances on restoration of vegetation to the lower reaches of Tarim River

Because of long-term stream-flow cut off in the lower reaches of Tarim River, environmental degradation has become the most severe and widespread environmental problem in Tarim River basin. Nine ecological water conveyances to the lower reaches of Tarim River made ecological environment change a lot. 3S technology was used to monitor dynamic change of ecology. However, remote sensing area index cannot analyze ecological restoration degree of Tarim River precisely because the time of each water conveyance is short, the change of vegetation area is not obvious, and there exists visual interpretation error. In this paper, remote monitoring datum of high temporal resolution and high spatial resolution were used to research the relationships between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the groundwater depth, between NDVI and the surface vegetation coverage, and between the groundwater depth and the surface vegetation coverage. The growth and restoration of the vegetation in different periods were evaluated by investigative analysis of the change trend of NDVI. The conception of relative restoration degree was proposed and the response of vegetation restoration to the water conveyance was evaluated. The evaluation result suggests that: first, the response of vegetation to the water conveyance concentrates within 1,000 m of both riversides, and the range of influence becomes smaller along the lower reaches of Tarim River. Second, influenced by the groundwater recharge, the vegetation coverage shows decreasing trend with the increase of off-river distance. Third, the vegetation coverage shows decreasing trend along the watercourse influenced by the water consumption. Finally, in spatial, original scattered meadow of low coverage transforms to high coverage gradually in research region. Vegetation response to the water conveyance expands to both sides with the watercourse being the axis, and expanding scale increases continuously.     

Ecohydrology of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems: A Review

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) are ecosystems that must have access to groundwater to maintain their ecological structure and function. In other words, the vegetation dynamics moisture dynamics, and water-salt balance in GDEs are significantly affected by and directly related to the groundwater. This work reviews the most recent research advances in the ecohydrology of GDEs from: ①the interactions between groundwater and vegetation, ②the interactions between groundwater and soil moisture dynamics in the vadose zone, the interactions between ground and ③surface-water systems, ④the interactions between groundwater and salt accumulation dynamics, ⑤the responses of GDEs to climate changes and human disturbances, and ⑥the ecohydrological modeling works toward sustainable management of GDEs. It is pointed out that several issues need to be taken into account in the managements of GDEs, i.e., how does the vegetation of GDEs response to fluctuations and decreases in the groundwater level, whether there is a catastrophic loss of the functions of GDEs, and what is the threshold value below which such a catastrophe may occur. The key to solving those issues lies in how to delineate the different ecohydrological processes occurred in the soil medium from the top of the ground surface to the water table. Therefore, observation and modeling efforts are needed and will be important research priorities in the future, especially for GDEs in arid environments. We also argued that four more difficulties should be addressed towards sustainable management of GDEs in future: ①how to identify GDEs in the field, and determine which habitats and species are reliant on groundwater for their persistence in the landscape, ②what groundwater regime is required to sustain the existence of GDEs, ③how to manage GDEs with limited social resources, and ④what measures of ecosystem function can be monitored to determine that management is effective?     

西北内陆河流域水循环和生态演变与功能保障机制研究

在气候变化、生态保护以及水资源调控影响下,西北内陆河流域水循环和生态环境状态发生了显著改变,迫切需要解答气候变化对植被恢复和产水量的影响,调水和压采等措施下地下水水位动态、管控指标及其对生态环境的维持机制。为此,文章阐述了内陆河流域气候-植被-土壤-水文相互作用机理以及上中下游演变状况。针对上游产水区,提出了山区气候变...     

洞庭湖湖区降水-地表水-地下水同位素特征

为探明洞庭湖湖区水体稳定同位素时间和空间上的变化规律,弄清各水体间的相互关系,分别在2012年4月和8月对区域内具有代表性的采样点进行了地表水和地下水的采样。通过对样品进行D、18O同位素分析,结合全球大气降水同位素监测网（GNIP）公布的1988—1992年间长沙降水同位素数据,发现湖区年内受不同盛行风影响,降水及地表水的同位素存在较大的季节性差异,4月份同位素富集,8月份贫化。此外,河水、湖水同位素也呈现明显的空间差异。两个时期地表水的水线斜率均小于当地降水线,地表水在两个时期均存在蒸发作用。虽然地表水和地下水的来源均为大气降水,但与地表水相比,地下水同位素季节变化较小,地下水接受地表水补给是一个较为长期的过程。     

鄂尔多斯浩勒报吉水源地开采地下水的环境影响分析

干旱半干旱区的地下水开发利用容易对原本脆弱的生态环境造成不利影响。内蒙古鄂尔多斯市浩勒报吉水源地属于半干旱区的地下水水源地。2009—2014年间,该水源地为满足工业供水需求开采地下水6.0×104~7.3×104 m3/d,产生了负面的生态环境后果。为核查环境变化与地下水开采的确切关系,调查分析了2004—2016年气象条件、地下水开采历程、地下水位、湖泊面积和植被指数的变化特征,建立定量指标进行了地下水开采的环境影响判别。结果表明,在2008—2014年期间,距开采区中心10 km范围的地下水位普遍下降1 m以上,奎生淖和敖各窖淖2个湖泊的面积萎缩约30%,水源地的植被指数对气候条件变化的敏感性增强。该水源地以往论证得到的可开采量偏大,应考虑生态环境约束将开采规模控制在3×104 m3/d以下。     

柴达木盆地生态植被的地下水阈值

生态植被的地下水阈值是指植被依赖地下水生长的最大水位埋深和溶解性总固体含量（TDS）。控制地下水开采生态风险的基础是弄清生态植被与地下水的依存关系并给出地下水阈值。文章利用遥感数据集MOD13Q1和水文地质调查获得的实测数据,统计分析了柴达木盆地主要平原区生态植被与潜水的水位埋深、TDS的关系。结果表明:天然植被依赖地下水的阈值是水位埋深为5.3 m、TDS为7.5 g/L;埋深＞5.3 m地带的天然植被基本与地下水无关;埋深＜1.1 m是水生植被、湿生植被与湿生耐盐碱植被适宜生长的水位埋深区间;埋深1.4~3.5 m是耐盐植被及中生植被与旱生植被适合生长的水位埋深区间;TDS≤1.5 g/L适宜植被生长,1.5 g/L＜TDS≤5 g/L较适宜植被生长,5 g/L＜TDS≤7.5 g/L基本不适宜植被生长,TDS＞7.5 g/L不适宜植被生长。     

Impact of land-surface elevation and riparian evapotranspiration seasonality on groundwater budget in MODFLOW models

Riparian groundwater evapotranspiration (ETg) constitutes a major component of the water balance especially in many arid and semi-arid environments. Although spatial and temporal variability of riparian ETg are controlled by climate, vegetation and subsurface characteristics, depth to water table (DTWT) is often considered the major controlling factor. Relationships between ETg rates and DTWT, referred to as ETg curves, are implemented in MODFLOW ETg packages (EVT, ETS1 and RIP-ET) with different functional forms. Here, the sensitivity of the groundwater budget in MODFLOW groundwater models to ETg parameters (including ETg curves, land-surface elevation and ETg seasonality) are investigated. A MODFLOW model of the hypothetical Dry Alkaline Valley in the Southwestern USA is used to show how spatial representation of riparian vegetation and digital elevation model (DEM) processing methods impact the water budget when RIPGIS-NET (a GIS-based ETg program) is used with MODFLOW’s RIP-ET package, and results are compared with the EVT and ETS1 packages. Results show considerable impact on ETg and other groundwater budget components caused by spatial representation of riparian vegetation, vegetation type, fractional coverage areas and land-surface elevation. RIPGIS-NET enhances ETg estimation in MODFLOW by incorporating vegetation and land-surface parameters, providing a tool for ecohydrology studies, riparian ecosystem management and stream restoration.     

Responses of typical grasslands in a semi-arid basin on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to climate change and disturbances

Alpine grassland ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) are vulnerable to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, which may have significant effects on the QTP’s carbon budgets. In this study, vegetation and soil characteristics were compared among alpine grassland ecosystems in a semi-arid basin on the northeast ridge of the QTP (1) among alpine swamp meadow, meadow, steppe meadow and steppe soils, which represent the direction of succession under climate-warming conditions, and (2) among alpine, degraded and tilled meadow soils to investigate the effects of human disturbance. The results showed that (1) if the alpine grassland ecosystems succeed in this direction, climate warming will cause a loss of carbon, and (2) tilling activity also results in carbon loss. Therefore, these results indicate that anthropogenic disturbance regimes that change more rapidly than climate may exert a more profound influence on carbon dynamics and balance. However, the plots that were set in the present study represented only part of the basin due to road accessibility. Relationships between leaf area index (biomass and soil carbon) and fractional vegetation cover × vegetation height from this study are fairly good, which can be applied at regional scale to estimate carbon pools. In combination with detailed information of grassland types, climate and human activities, the effects of climate change and disturbances can be estimated using remote sensing datasets.     

陕北能源化工基地资源开发引起的植被生态风险

地下水和煤炭资源开发是否会破环生态环境,以及会给生态环境安全带来多大的风险,是陕北能源化工基地资源开发和生态环境保护中不可逾越的课题。以陕北能源化工基地生态环境最为脆弱的风沙滩地区为研究区,在研究地下水位埋深与植被生态关系的基础上,建立了不同地貌类型、不同潜水水位埋深对应的植被群落类型和植被指数的分布关系,利用Modflow软件建立了风沙滩地区地下水流数值模拟模型,采用蒙特卡洛方法建立了植被生态随机模型,根据地下水水位埋深与植被生态的关系实现了地下水流模型和植被生态模型的耦合求解,对地下水资源和煤炭资源开发可能引起的植被生态变化进行预测和风险评估。