Is the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt Sustainable to Long-Term Drip Irrigation with High Saline Groundwater?

Jian-guo, Zhang; Xinwen, Xu; Li, Shengyu; Zhao, Ying; Zhang, Afeng; Zhang, Tibin; Jiang, Rui

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164106

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…More frequent irrigation schedules (once per 1.5 weeks) have proven better for dealing with drought [12] (Figure 2). Our studies have demonstrated that saline irrigation could significantly influence the dynamics and distribution of soil moisture and salt [13]. Given the buildup of soil salinity through irrigation with saline water, sustainable irrigation strategies are critical to reducing ecological risks [14].…”

Section: Saline Water Irrigation For Shelterbelt Engineering In Desertmentioning

confidence: 82%

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An Artificial Oasis in a Deadly Desert: Practices and Enlightenments

Zhao

Xue

et al. 2022

Water

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Building highway and its biological protection system in a drought-affected shifting-sand desert is a great challenge. This challenge was completed by the construction of the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt (TDHS)—the longest of its kind in the world (436 km). The TDHS can serve as a model for highway construction and desertification control using eco-friendly and cost-effective approaches in other desert regions. Notably, we proved that local saline groundwater irrigation offers potential advantages and opportunities for the growth of halophytes and sandy soil development in hyper-arid desert environments. Here, we systematically (1) summarize the project, its results, and vital technical issues of saline water irrigation; (2) address soil hydrological processes that play a crucial role in maintaining those systems; and (3) highlight useful insights for soil development, plant survival, and soil–plant–water–biota synergy mechanisms. Indeed, the TDHS project has provided a proof of concept for restoration and desert greening initiatives.

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Section: Saline Water Irrigation For Shelterbelt Engineering In Desertmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…This kind of action can ensure the survival of an oasis, and can help jumpstart (i.e., catastrophic shifts) a natural spring that continues to feed an oasis long into the future. Figure 2 is sourced and updated from [13].…”

Section: Saline Water Irrigation For Shelterbelt Engineering In Desertmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Artificial Oasis in a Deadly Desert: Practices and Enlightenments

Zhao

Xue

et al. 2022

Water

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“…The Taklamakan desert has an average wind speed of 5.6 mph and gale (> 44.7 mph) occurs > 130 days·year −1 ( Lei et al, 2008 ). Soils in the Taklamakan desert are aeolian sandy soils with 87.3% sand, 12.4% silt, and 0.3% clay ( Zhang et al, 2016 ). In 2005, the shrub shelterbelts (72 ~ 78 m in width) were constructed to prevent mobile sand dunes from covering the Tarim desert highway by planting drought and salt tolerant species, such as Haloxylon ammodendron (C. A.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bunge., Tamarix chinensis Lour., and Calligonum mongolicum Turcz ( Li, 2010 ). Due to the hyper arid environment of the Taklamakan desert, groundwater has been pumped for drip irrigation to water the shelterbelts from March to October regularly ( Zhang et al, 2016 ). The 12-year drip irrigation by using saline groundwater and high evaporation have resulted in soil salinization ( Wang et al, 2012 ), and H. ammodendron becomes the dominant plant species in the shelterbelts ( Li, 2010 ; Zhang et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rare Taxa Drive the Response of Soil Fungal Guilds to Soil Salinization in the Taklamakan Desert

et al. 2022

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Salinization poses great threats to soil fungal communities that would cause the losses of ecosystems services. Soil fungal communities are composed of different functional guilds such as saprotrophic, symbiotrophic, and pathotrophic fungi, and each guild includes many rare taxa and a few abundant taxa. Despite of low abundance, rare taxa may be crucial in determining the responses of entire soil fungal communities to salinization. However, it remains poorly understood how rare taxa mediate the impacts of soil salinization on soil fungal community structure. Here, we took advantage of a salinity gradient in a desert ecosystem ranging from 0.60 to 31.09 g kg−1 that was created by a 12-year saline-water irrigation and assessed how the rare vs. abundant taxa of soil saprotrophic, symbiotrophic, and pathotrophic fungi respond to soil salinization through changes in the community biodiversity and composition. We found that the rare taxa of soil saprotrophic, symbiotrophic, and pathographic fungi were more sensitive to changes in soil salinity compared to the abundant taxa. In addition, the community composition of rare taxa of the saprotrophic and pathotrophic fungi not the symbiotrophic fungi was positively associated with soil salinity change. However, the symbiotrophic fungi showed greater variations in the species richness along the salinity gradient. These findings highlight the importance to differentiate rare taxa in predicting how the biodiversity and functional groups of soil fungal communities respond to soil salinization.

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“…The richness and composition of the soil nutrients determine the species, numbers, and activities of the microorganisms [25]. In the Tarim Desert Highway shelterbelt, the irrigation salinity mainly affected the soil salinity in the 0-20 cm range [26]. Therefore, highly saline water used for drip irrigation is not conducive to the survival of microorganisms and adversely affects their functional diversity, genetic diversity, and species diversity in the Tarim Desert Highway shelterbelt.…”

Section: Composition Characters Of Soil Salinitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Saline Water for Drip Irrigation on Microbial Diversity and on Fertility of Aeolian Sandy Soils

Jin

Wang

2021

Diversity

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Saline water is widely distributed in the arid environment and sometimes represents the only source of irrigation water to restore and reconstruct vegetation. However, the effects of saline water on the bacterial diversity and fertility level of aeolian sandy soil are not well understood. In this study, we investigated a vegetation belt along the Tarim Desert Highway that has been constructed as a windbreak and consists of desert shrubs and was irrigated with saline water at six levels of salinity along the Tarim Desert Highway. The bacterial diversity was studied using Biolog Eco, a phospholipid fatty acid analysis, and a polymerase chain reaction–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and the soil fertility was calculated and expressed as the integrated fertility index. The soil bacterial diversity (in terms of carbon metabolism, genes, and fatty acid species) was significantly affected by the level of salinity, and the microbial activity was low under high salinity. Fertility was also markedly affected by the degree of salinity and by the depth of soil, being lower at higher salinity levels and in the top layer (0–5 cm), and was also correlated to both the metabolic diversity index of soil microorganisms and the diversity index of fatty acids of soil microorganisms. The genetic diversity index of soil microorganisms shared a polynomial relation with fertility and contributed to it positively and significantly. Therefore, using less saline water for drip irrigation could avoid salt accumulation in soil and arrest its compaction, promote the formation of soil aggregates and the build-up of nutrients, and increase microbial activity, thus playing a crucial role in promoting the circulation, conversion, and utilization of nutrients in aeolian sandy soils and improving the soil quality. The judicious use of saline water, therefore, deserves serious consideration in irrigation practices.

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Is the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt Sustainable to Long-Term Drip Irrigation with High Saline Groundwater?

Cited by 9 publications

References 33 publications

An Artificial Oasis in a Deadly Desert: Practices and Enlightenments

An Artificial Oasis in a Deadly Desert: Practices and Enlightenments

Rare Taxa Drive the Response of Soil Fungal Guilds to Soil Salinization in the Taklamakan Desert

Effect of Saline Water for Drip Irrigation on Microbial Diversity and on Fertility of Aeolian Sandy Soils

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