Tonggang Zha

Poplar plantation has the potential to alter the water balance in semiarid inner Mongolia

Poplar plantation is the most dominant broadleaf forest type in northern China. Since the mid-1990s plantation was intensified to combat desertification along Chinas northwestern border, i.e., within Inner Mongolia (IM). This evoked much concern regarding the ecological and environmental effects on areas that naturally grow grass or shrub vegetation. To highlight potential consequences of large-scale poplar plantations on the water budget within semiarid IM, we compared the growing season water balance (evapotranspiration (ET) and precipitation (PPT)) of a 3-yr old poplar plantation (Kp(3)) and a natural shrubland (Ks) in the Kubuqi Desert in western IM, and a 6-yr old poplar plantation (Bp(6)) growing under sub-humid climate near Beijing. The results showed that, despite 33% lower PPT at Kp(3), ET was 2% higher at Kp(3) (228 mm) as compared with Ks (223 mm) in May-September 2006. The difference derived mainly from higher ET at the plantation during drier periods of the growing season, which also indicated that the poplars must have partly transpired groundwater. Estimated growing season ET at Bp(6) was about 550 mm and more than 100% higher than at Kp(3). It is estimated that increases in leaf area index and net radiation at Kp(3) provide future potential for the poplars in Kubuqi to exceed the present ET and ET of the natural shrubland by 100-200%. These increases in ET are only possible through the permanent use of groundwater either directly by the trees or through increased irrigation. This may significantly change the water balance in the area (e.g., high ET at the cost of a reduction in the water table), which renders large-scale plantations a questionable tool in sustainable arid-land management.

Soil water affects transpiration response to rainfall and vapor pressure deficit in poplar plantation

Abstract Influences of environmental factors on transpiration are interactive. Sensitivities of transpiration responses to both evaporative demand and rainfall under contrasting soil water conditions constitute the physiological basis of the drought tolerance of trees. Such knowledge is practically significant for plantation management, especially for irrigation management. We therefore conducted a 6-year study on the transpiration of a poplar plantation in temperate China to elucidate the existence and pattern of the influence of the soil water over stand transpiration responses to (1) vapor pressure deficit (VPD), the major indicator of air dryness and (2) the rainfall, in terms of total amount and event size. The results showed that the response of plantation transpiration (Ec) to VPD was conditioned by soil moisture. There was a significant difference in the frequency distribution of maximum sap flux under contrasting soil relative extractable water. Ec after rainfall of different sizes varied under similar VPD. The increasing occurrences of only large rainfall events led to enhanced total Ec during the growing season, but prolonged rainless intervals did not lead to a continuous decrease of Ec, suggesting appreciable supplements from the soil water were present to sustain transpiration. In addition, the balance of soil water between replenishment and extraction also conditioned the influence of rainfall over subsequent Ec during the respective rainless intervals. Based on the Ec responses to VPD and rainfall under different soil moisture levels, irrigation that directly replenishes the deep soil layers in order to alleviate water stress on transpiration during the small-rain event-dominated growing season is an effective and water-saving approach to guarantee trees survival during drought period.