Effect of sand-fixing vegetation on the hydrological regulation function of sand dunes and its practical significance

doi:10.1007/s40333-023-0002-y

Journal of Arid Land

2023, Vol. 15

Issue (1): 52-62 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-023-0002-y

Research article

Effect of sand-fixing vegetation on the hydrological regulation function of sand dunes and its practical significance

Alamusa ¹, SU Yuhang¹^,², YIN Jiawang¹^,², ZHOU Quanlai¹, WANG Yongcui¹^,^*(

)

¹Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
²University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

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Abstract

Soil water content is a key controlling factor for vegetation restoration in sand dunes. The deep seepage and lateral migration of water in dunes affect the recharge process of deep soil water and groundwater in sand dune ecosystems. To determine the influence of vegetation on the hydrological regulation function of sand dunes, we examined the deep seepage and lateral migration of dune water with different vegetation coverages during the growing season in the Horqin Sandy Land, China. The results showed that the deep seepage and lateral migration of water decreased with the increase in vegetation coverage on the dunes. The accumulated deep seepage water of mobile dunes (vegetation coverage<5%) and dunes with vegetation coverage of 18.03%, 27.12%, and 50.65% accounted for 56.53%, 51.82%, 18.98%, and 0.26%, respectively, of the rainfall in the same period. The accumulated lateral migration of water in these dunes accounted for 12.39%, 6.33%, 2.23%, and 7.61% of the rainfall in the same period. The direction and position of the dune slope affected the soil water deep seepage and lateral migration process. The amounts of deep seepage and lateral migration of water on the windward slope were lower than those on the leeward slope. The amounts of deep seepage and lateral migration of water showed a decreasing trend from the bottom to the middle and to the top of the dune slope. According to the above results, during the construction of sand-control projects in sandy regions, we suggest that a certain area of mobile dunes (>13.75%) should be retained as a water resource reservoir to maintain the water balance of artificial fixed dune ecosystems. These findings provide reliable evidence for the accurate assessment of water resources within the sand dune ecosystem and guide the construction of desertification control projects.

Key words： vegetation coverage hydrological regulation soil water deep seepage sand dune water balance desertification control

Received: 02 September 2022 Published: 31 January 2023

Corresponding Authors: ^*WANG Yongcui (E-mail: dmjiang@iae.ac.cn)

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	Alamusa
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Cite this article:

Alamusa , SU Yuhang, YIN Jiawang, ZHOU Quanlai, WANG Yongcui. Effect of sand-fixing vegetation on the hydrological regulation function of sand dunes and its practical significance. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(1): 52-62.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-023-0002-y OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2023/V15/I1/52

Fig. 1 A scene of mobile dunes supplying water to the inter-dune lowlands. (a), seepage water from mobile dunes recharging inter-dune lowlands; (b), inter-dune lowland water between mobile dunes.

Table 1 Basic information of the study sites

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the installation of devices for monitoring deep seepage and lateral migration of soil water. (a), devices for monitoring the deep seepage and lateral migration of soil water; (b), installation location of monitoring devices in sand dunes; (c), installation position of devices at the monitoring site.

Fig. 3 Precipitation during the observation period in the study area

Table 2 Numerical comparison of deep seepage recharge and lateral recharge in dunes

Fig. 4 Temporal dynamics of total seepage and lateral water in sand dunes and rainfall from May to October

Table 3 Correlation analysis between rainfall and seepage water in sand dunes

Fig. 5 Cumulative deep seepage and lateral migration of water on different slope directions (a) and positions of the dunes (b). F-1, fixed dunes with 50.65% vegetation coverage; F-2, semi-fixed dunes with 27.12% vegetation coverage; F-3, semi-fixed dunes with 18.03% vegetation coverage; M, mobile sand dunes.


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