首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
   检索      


Water use by perennial plants in the transition zone between river oasis and desert in NW China
Authors:Frank M Thomas  Andrea Foetzki  Stefan K Arndt  Helge Bruelheide  Dirk Gries  Xiangyi Li  Fanjiang Zeng  Ximing Zhang  Michael Runge
Institution:aDepartment of Plant Ecology, Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany;bDepartment of Chemical Physiology of Plants, Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria;cXinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 40 South Beijing Road, 830011 Urumqi, China
Abstract:The study aimed at establishing the role of two possible water sources (inundation, ground water) for the water supply to the perennial plant species Alhagi sparsifolia, Calligonum caput-medusae, Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima growing in the transition zone between a river oasis and the open desert at the southern fringe of the Taklamakan desert (Xinjiang province, NW China). The basic hypothesis was that inundations, which normally occur in summer when rivers from a nearby mountain range carry high water, contribute significantly to the plants’ water supply. When, in the first summer, inundations did not occur, four sites, each of which covered by a relatively dense stand of one species, were artificially flooded. Soil and plant water relations as well as meteorological variables were measured during two growing seasons. Water use efficiency of production (WUEP) was calculated by relating biomass production, which was determined using allometric regressions, to water use.The effects of artificial flooding on the plant water relations were negligible. Water use was relatively high, especially in the A. sparsifolia and the P. euphratica stands and in a dense stand of T. ramosissima (up to approx. 500 kgH2O m−2 year−1). Using the total above-ground biomass in the calculation, WUEP was highest in C. caput-medusae and P. euphratica, and lowest, in A. sparsifolia. From soil and plant water relations, and against the background of the climate and the productivity of the vegetation, it is concluded that all perennial plants in the transition zone between oases and desert in that region must have sufficient access to ground water to ensure long-term survival. Management of ground water such that it remains continuously accessible to the perennial plants is a prerequisite for the conservation and sustainable use of the vegetation in the transition zone.
Keywords:Biomass production  Central Asia  Ground water  Inundation  Penman–  Monteith equation  Soil water content  Stomatal conductance  Taklamakan desert  Transpiration  Xylem sap flow
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录!
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号