TY - JOUR
T1 - Biocrust impacts on dryland soil water balance
T2 - A path toward the whole picture
AU - Li, Shenglong
AU - Bowker, Matthew A.
AU - Xiao, Bo
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 42077010), the “Light of West China” Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (no. 2019), and the Open Fund for Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration in Northwestern China of Ningxia University (no. LDER2022Z02). The authors are grateful to the Shenmu National Experimental Station of Soil Erosion and Environment for its logistical support. Furthermore, the authors express thanks to Lifang Xiao, Fuhai Sun, Weiqiang Dou, Yousong Cao, and Zihao Jiang for their assistances in the collection and analysis of field data.
Funding Information:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 42077010), the “Light of West China” Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (no. 2019), and the Open Fund for Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration in Northwestern China of Ningxia University (no. LDER2022Z02).
Funding Information:
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 42077010), the “Light of West China” Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (no. 2019), and the Open Fund for Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration in Northwestern China of Ningxia University (no. LDER2022Z02). The authors are grateful to the Shenmu National Experimental Station of Soil Erosion and Environment for its logistical support. Furthermore, the authors express thanks to Lifang Xiao, Fuhai Sun, Weiqiang Dou, Yousong Cao, and Zihao Jiang for their assistances in the collection and analysis of field data.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - As a crucial living feature inhabiting the soil–atmosphere boundary, biocrusts play a vital role in liquid water or vapor transport through surface soil and thus have strong effects on soil water regimes. However, it remains unclear how biocrusts affect annual or multiyear soil water budgets through the regulation of evaporation outputs and non-rainfall water (NRW) or infiltration inputs. Thus, we used automated microlysimeters to continually investigate the differences in evaporation and NRW rates between moss-dominated biocrusts and bare soil at 0–5 cm depth for 2 years. The upper 30 cm of soil moisture (θ) and water storage (W) of bare soil and biocrusts were also monitored. Our results showed that the daily evaporation rate (E) of biocrusts was 17% higher than bare soil. Especially after rainfall events, biocrusts had higher E and larger cumulative evaporation than bare soil. Besides, the daily NRW of biocrusts averaged 15% higher than bare soil over 2 years. Furthermore, biocrusts increased θ by 11%–76% at 0–10 cm depth but decreased θ by 32%–56% at 20–30 cm depth in comparison to bare soil, and they subsequently decreased W by 20% at 0–30 cm depth. Summarized annually, the NRW amount of biocrusts was 19% higher than bare soil, but at the same time, the cumulative evaporation of biocrusts was also 19% higher than bare soil. Finally, biocrusts resulted in more water loss at shallow depth through evaporation and lessened total W throughout 0–30 cm depth of soil. These findings demonstrate that although biocrusts input more NRW into surface soil, these water inputs partially offset their intensified evaporation. Given that all rainfall water infiltrates into the soil in our study system, our findings indicate that biocrusts may have an overall negative effect on soil water balance there, while at the same time increasing water storage and availability of the deeper soil underlying biocrusts.
AB - As a crucial living feature inhabiting the soil–atmosphere boundary, biocrusts play a vital role in liquid water or vapor transport through surface soil and thus have strong effects on soil water regimes. However, it remains unclear how biocrusts affect annual or multiyear soil water budgets through the regulation of evaporation outputs and non-rainfall water (NRW) or infiltration inputs. Thus, we used automated microlysimeters to continually investigate the differences in evaporation and NRW rates between moss-dominated biocrusts and bare soil at 0–5 cm depth for 2 years. The upper 30 cm of soil moisture (θ) and water storage (W) of bare soil and biocrusts were also monitored. Our results showed that the daily evaporation rate (E) of biocrusts was 17% higher than bare soil. Especially after rainfall events, biocrusts had higher E and larger cumulative evaporation than bare soil. Besides, the daily NRW of biocrusts averaged 15% higher than bare soil over 2 years. Furthermore, biocrusts increased θ by 11%–76% at 0–10 cm depth but decreased θ by 32%–56% at 20–30 cm depth in comparison to bare soil, and they subsequently decreased W by 20% at 0–30 cm depth. Summarized annually, the NRW amount of biocrusts was 19% higher than bare soil, but at the same time, the cumulative evaporation of biocrusts was also 19% higher than bare soil. Finally, biocrusts resulted in more water loss at shallow depth through evaporation and lessened total W throughout 0–30 cm depth of soil. These findings demonstrate that although biocrusts input more NRW into surface soil, these water inputs partially offset their intensified evaporation. Given that all rainfall water infiltrates into the soil in our study system, our findings indicate that biocrusts may have an overall negative effect on soil water balance there, while at the same time increasing water storage and availability of the deeper soil underlying biocrusts.
KW - Chinese Loess Plateau
KW - automated microlysimeter
KW - evaporation
KW - non-rainfall water
KW - soil water balance
KW - soil water storage
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U2 - 10.1111/gcb.16416
DO - 10.1111/gcb.16416
M3 - Article
C2 - 36054625
AN - SCOPUS:85137819571
SN - 1354-1013
VL - 28
SP - 6462
EP - 6481
JO - Global change biology
JF - Global change biology
IS - 21
ER -