Mulching effects on water storage in soil and its depletion by alfalfa in the Loess Plateau of northwestern China

Fan, Jun; Gao, Yu; Wang, Quanjiu; Malhi, S. S.; Li, Yangyang

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2014.02.018

Cited by 85 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Increased soil temperature observed in the mulched plots also agreed with the findings of RAMAKRISHNA et al (2006). Under straw mulch, ZHANG et al (2009) andJUN et al (2014) also observed that soil temperature decreased in the warmer period and increased in the colder period when compared to those of non-mulched soil. Soil moisture showed a linear behaviour according to the volume of sawdust applied ( Figure 1A), with initial and final rates respectively at 37% and 71% confirming that the sawdust contributed towards high moisture rates.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 78%

“…When comparing soil moisture in absence and presence of sawdust, the moisture of soil covered was always higher than in the absence of sawdust. Straw mulch and gravel mulch both enhanced soil water content at the 15cm depth (JUN et al, 2014).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organic mulching and its skillful application can lead to improved soil organic matter contents (YOUNIS et al, 2012), recovering other soil characteristics as aggregation, water holding capacity (MUPANGWA et al, 2013), and nutrients content (JUN et al, 2014). As consequence, in general, increase the economic productivity of horticultural crops.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In soil management, appropriate mulching provides environmental and agronomical advantages such as preventing weed growth (SINKEVIČIENĖ et al, 2009), controlling diurnal/seasonal fluctuations in soil temperature, protecting soil from erosion (JAFARI et al, 2012) or increasing water use efficiency by reducing evaporation (JUN et al, 2014). Organic mulching and its skillful application can lead to improved soil organic matter contents (YOUNIS et al, 2012), recovering other soil characteristics as aggregation, water holding capacity (MUPANGWA et al, 2013), and nutrients content (JUN et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Growth and yield of anthurium in response to sawdust mulching

et al. 2016

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Growth and yield of anthurium in response to sawdust mulching

et al. 2016

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“…Li et al (2016) found that compared with single fish-scale pits, the fish-scale pit with mulching significantly increased soil water storage and water compensation in jujube orchard owing to the increase of water infiltration and the decrease of evaporation. Gravel and straw are widely used as cover materials in the Loess Plateau (Xie et al 2010;Ma and Li 2011;Fan et al 2014;Wang et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish-Scale Pits with Diversion Holes Enhance Water Conservation in Semi-arid Loess Soil: Experiments with Soil Columns, Mulching, and Simulated Rainfall

Zheng

Wang

et al. 2019

J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

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Fish-scale pits, as one of the most important ecological engineering in semi-arid areas, especially in the Loess Plateau, China, effectively reduced water and soil loss by intercepting runoff. However, the water saved by the pits is mainly accumulated in the upper soil layer and thus easily loosed by ineffective evaporation. In this study, soil column simulation experiments were conducted to observe the effects of diversion holes on soil evaporation and soil water distribution in the loessial soil under two rainfall depths and different soil surface treatments. The soil samples were passed through a 2-mm sieve. The soil filling height and the soil volume was 140 cm and 54,652.17 cm 3 in each soil column, respectively. For each treatment, there were three replicates. The results showed that gravel-mulching (GM), straw-mulching (SM), and diversion hole (DH) significantly decreased soil water evaporation compared with non-mulching (CK) under the different rainfall depths (P < 0.05). Under rainfall of 100 mm, the DH, GM, and SM caused an increase in the soil water content (SWC) in the 80-120 cm layer by 101.0%, 23.6%, and 65.5%, respectively. Under rainfall of 30 mm, CK increased SWC in the 0-40 cm layer, both GM and SM increased the SWC in the 0-60 cm layer, and the DH treatment allowed an increase in the 0-120 cm layer. Our results suggest that DH was a better measure to reduce soil evaporation and improve rainfall resource utilization, especially under high rainfall events. Our research provides scientific basis for the technology of soil deep spatiotemporal control and is of great significance to the balance and restoration of the ecological environment in the semi-arid Loess Plateau.

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Maize‐potato rotation maintains soil water balance and improves productivity

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2020

Agronomy Journal

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Continuous maize cropping dries soils, while continuous potato cropping results in a soil moisture surplus, but decreases land productivity. To determine whether soil water balance and economic returns could be manipulated through maize‐potato rotation. The effects of 1) continuous maize cropping (M), 2) continuous potato cropping (P) and 3) maize‐potato rotation (R) on the variation in soil water content, water consumption, biomass and yield, economic benefits, and water economic yield were investigated. The depth of soil water consumption reached the maximum in 2016 (a dry year), at 260 cm, 200 cm, and 200 cm in M, P, and R, respectively. Compared with soil water storage in the 0–280 cm before planting in 2013, those after six years of cultivation were decreased by 186.31 mm in M, increased by 42.20 mm in P, and increased by 11.29 mm in R. R increased the post‐flowering/total depletion% by 16.81–44.65%, the post‐flowering/total biomass percentage by 10.83–24.83%, and water use efficiency of grain/tubers by 15.52–23.39% in 2016–2018, compared with M. Compared with M, R and P increased the total benefit by 55.44% and 41.62%, decreased ET by 10.69% and 17.93%, and increased EWUE by 74.02% and 72.52%, respectively. However, tuber yield and the water use efficiency of tubers in P decreased by 31.19% and 16.78%, respectively, from 2014–2017. Treatment R maintained the soil water balance, alleviated the over‐consumption of deep soil water caused by continuous maize cropping, and reduced the decline in soil productivity caused by continuous potato cropping.

show abstract

Mulching effects on water storage in soil and its depletion by alfalfa in the Loess Plateau of northwestern China

Cited by 85 publications

References 31 publications

Growth and yield of anthurium in response to sawdust mulching

Growth and yield of anthurium in response to sawdust mulching

Fish-Scale Pits with Diversion Holes Enhance Water Conservation in Semi-arid Loess Soil: Experiments with Soil Columns, Mulching, and Simulated Rainfall

Maize‐potato rotation maintains soil water balance and improves productivity

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