Viscoelastic Model Analysis of In-situ Pressuremter Creep Test in Permafrost

In order to investigate the creep behavior of warm and ice-rich frozen soils, a number of pressuremeter tests were carried out in permafrost regions on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau with Menard pressuremeter. Then, the regression analysis results of the creep curves generated by Merchant model and relevant parameters were obtained. The test results indicate that the temperature plays a more important role than the water content in affecting the mechanical behavior of warm frozen soils. As pressure increases, the proportion of instantaneous strain in the total strain under each pressure decreases gradually. The regression results show that the instantaneous shear modulus increases linearly with decreasing temperature, but the delayed shear modulus as well as the viscous coefficient present a power function trend. Their peak values appear at the water content of 46%, which is rather different from the test result on lower temperature frozen soils.     

Functional stability,substrate utilisation and biological indicators of soils following environmental impacts

Stability of a soil property to perturbation comprises both resistance and resilience. Resistance is defined as the ability of the soil to withstand the immediate effects of perturbation, and resilience the ability of the soil to recover from perturbation. Functional stability is used here to describe the stability of a biological function to perturbation, rather than the stability of physical structure or chemical properties. The function chosen for this study was the short-term decomposition of added plant residues, and the perturbations were copper and heat stresses. Previous studies had shown that functional stability was reduced greatly in soils with experimentally reduced biodiversity. The objective of this study was to determine the relative sensitivity of functional stability and potential indicators of biological status to detect alteration of field soils by various environmental impacts. Functional stability, protozoan populations and substrate mineralisation kinetics, were measured on paired soils with: high or low plant species diversity; hydrocarbon pollution or not; extensive or intensive agricultural management practices. Substrate mineralisation kinetics were poorly related to the soil’s antecedent conditions and were stimulated significantly by hydrocarbon pollution. Protozoan populations were potentially useful for detecting differences within soil type, but will require greater taxonomic input to be most useful. Functional stability, particularly resistance, was able to quantify differences between and within soils. The potential development of the technique in relation to soil health is discussed.     

Spatial pattern and heterogeneity of soil properties in sand dunes under grazing and restoration in Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China

Applying a combination of classical and geostatistical methods, we identified soil properties and their spatial variation in a 5-year grazed sand dune (GSD5) and a 20-year recovered sand dune (RSD20) in Horqin Sandy Land, northern China. The paper assesses the effect of grazing, topography and vegetation restoration on spatial heterogeneity of soil properties. The results showed that soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, very fine sand (0.1–0.05 mm) content and their coefficients of variation were lower in GSD5 than in RSD20, while soil water contents (0–20 cm and 20–40 cm depths) were higher in GSD5 than in RSD20. Geostatistical analysis revealed that the spatial structured variance accounted for the largest proportion of total sample variance in soil properties at the measured scale under grazing and restoration. The spatial autocorrelation ranges were 66.30 m for soil organic carbon and 50.80 m for total nitrogen in GSD5 less than those in RSD20 (70.00 m and 76.10 m, respectively), while the spatial autocorrelation ranges of soil particle size fractions and soil water contents in RSD20 were less than those in GSD5. Kriging-interpolated maps also showed that the heterogeneity of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen and their degree of patch fragmentation were higher in GSD5 than in RSD20. These results suggested that continuous grazing resulted in an increase in spatial variability of soil nutrient and a decrease in spatial variability of soil particle size fractions and soil water content. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen of sand dunes are associated closely with soil particle size fractions, relative height of sampling site and vegetation cover. Spatial patterns of soil properties are most strongly related to grazing, topography and plant-induced heterogeneity in sand dune ecosystems prone to wind erosion.     

基于地统计的额济纳绿洲地下水位埋深空间异质性研究

利用地统计学方法定量研究了额济纳绿洲地下水位埋深的空间异质性.结果表明:额济纳绿洲地下水位埋深分布有较大的空间异质性,地下水位埋深的理论模型为球体模型;额济纳绿洲地下水位埋深主要受结构性因子的影响;地下水位埋深的变程在22.6km左右.地下水位埋深的空间分布总体上表现为从南到北,从西向东逐渐增大的分布格局.局部分布上,...     

Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of Populus euphratica Oliv forest during the growing season in the extreme arid region northwest China

Based on successive observation, fifteen-day evapotranspiration (ET_c) of Populus euphratica Oliv forest, in the extreme arid region northwest China, was estimated by application of Bowen ratio-energy balance method (BREB) during the growing season in 2005. During the growing season in 2005, total ET_c was 446.96 mm. From the beginning of growing season, the ET_c increased gradually, and reached its maximum value of 6.724 mm d⁻¹ in the last fifteen days of June. Hereafter the ET_c dropped rapidly, and reached its minimum value of 1.215 mm d⁻¹ at the end of growing season. The variation pattern of crop coefficient (K_c) was similar to that of ET_c. From the beginning of growing season, the K_c value increased rapidly, and reached its maximum value of 0.623 in the last fifteen days of June. Afterward, with slowing growth of P. euphratica, the value dropped rapidly to the end of growing season. According to this study, the ET_c of P. euphratica forest is affected not only by meteorological factors, but by water content in soil.     

Comparison of three evapotranspiration models with eddy covariance measurements for a Populus euphratica Oliv. forest in an arid region of northwestern China

The accurate estimation of evapotranspiration(ET) in arid regions is important for improving the water use efficiency of vegetation. Based on successive observations from May to October of 2014, we estimated the ET of a Populus euphratica Oliv. forest during the growing season in an extremely arid region using the PM(Penman-Monteith), SW(Shuttleworth-Wallace) and SSW(an improved canopy transpiration model) models. Estimated ET values were compared with those of the eddy covariance measurements. Results indicated that the actual ET of the P. euphratica forest was always overestimated by the PM model. The accuracy of the SW model was higher than that of the PM model. However, some data were not easily obtained because of the complicated structure of the SW model. The newly proposed SSW model gave the most accurate ET values, and its accuracy was higher at hourly than at daily time scale. In conclusion, the SSW model is more suitable for sparse vegetation system at large scales in extremely arid regions.     

Contents of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in water-stable aggregates in abandoned agricultural lands in an arid ecosystem of Northwest China

Soil organic matter content in water-stable aggregates(WSA) in the arid ecosystems(abandoned agricultural lands especially) of China is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the WSA sizes and stability, and soil organic carbon(OC) and nitrogen(N) contents in agricultural lands with abandonment ages of 0, 3, 12, 20, 30 and 40 years, respectively, in the Minqin Oasis of Northwest China. The total soil OC and N contents at depths of 0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm in abandoned agricultural lands were compared to those in cultivated land(the control). Agricultural land abandonment significantly(P0.05) influenced the distribution of MWD(mean weight diameter), and OC and N contents. There were significant increases in MWD and the proportion of macroaggregates(sizes 0.25 mm) as the age of agricultural land abandonment increased. The effect of abandonment ages of agricultural lands on MWD was determined by the changes of OC and N accumulation in WSA sizes 2 mm. The total OC and N contents presented a stratification phenomenon across soil depths in this arid ecosystem. That is, both of them decreased significantly at depths of 0–20 and 40–60 cm while increased at the depth of 20–40 cm. The WSA sizes 0.053 mm had the highest soil OC and N contents(accounting for 51.41%–55.59% and 42.61%–48.94% of their total, respectively). Soil OC and N contents in microaggregates(sizes 0.053–0.25 mm) were the dominant factors that influenced the variations of total OC and N contents in abandoned agricultural lands. The results of this study suggested that agricultural land abandonment may result in the recovery of WSA stability and the shifting of soil organic matter from the silt+clay(0.053 mm) and microaggregate fractions to the macroaggregate fractions. However, agricultural land abandonment did not increase total soil OC and N contents in the short-term.     

Geomorphologic patterns of dune networks in the Tengger Desert,China

Dune networks are widely distributed in the world's deserts,which include primary ridges and secondary ridges.However,they have not been sufficiently studied in a systematic manner and their origins and spatial and morphological characteristics remain unclear.To provide information on the geomorphology of dune networks,we analyze the software geomorphologic patterns of the dune networks in China's Tengger Desert using matrix and laboratory to process remote-sensing images.Based on analysis of image features and their layout in a topographic map,we identify two types of dune networks (square and rectangular dune networks) with different size and morphological structures in the Tengger Desert.Four important geomorphic pattern parameters,ridge length,spacing,orientation and defect density,are analyzed.The length of primary ridges of dune networks decreases from northwest of the desert to the southeast,resulting an increasing spacing and a transition from rectangular dune networks to square dune networks.Wind regime and sediment supply are responsible for the variation in pattern parameters.We use the spacing and defect density data to estimate the construction time of dune networks and found that the dune networks in the Tengger Desert formed since about 1.3 ka BP.     

Warming effects on plant biomass allocation and correlations with the soil environment in an alpine meadow,China

Alpine meadow ecosystem is fragile and highly sensitive to climate change.An understanding of the allocation of above-and below-ground plant biomass and correlations with environmental factors in alpine meadow ecosystem can result in better protection and effective utilization of alpine meadow vegetation.We chose an alpine meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China as the study area and designed experimental warming plots using a randomized block experimental design.We used single-tube infrared radiators as warming devices,established the warming treatments,and measured plant above- (AGB) and below-ground biomass (BGB) during the growing seasons (May to September) in 2012 and 2013.We determined the allocation of biomass and the relationship between biomass and soil environment under the warming treatment.Biomass indices including above-ground biomass,below-ground biomass and the ratio of root to shoot (R/S) ,and soil factors including soil moisture and soil temperature at different depths were measured.The results showed that (1) BGB of the alpine meadow had the most significant allometric correlation with its AGB (y=298.7x~ (0.44) ,P0.001) ,but the relationship decreased under warming treatment and the determination coefficient of the functional equation was 0.102 which was less than that of 0.188 of the unwarming treatment (control) ; (2) BGB increased,especially in the deeper soil layers under warming treatment (P0.05) .At 0–10 cm soil depth,the percentages of BGB under warming treatment were smaller than those of the control treatment with the decreases being 8.52% and 8.23% in 2012 and 2013,respectively.However,the BGB increased 2.13% and 2.06% in 2012 and 2013,respectively,at 10–50 cm soil depths; (3) BGB had significant positive correlations with soil moisture at 100 cm depth and with soil temperature at 20–100 cm depths (P0.05) ,but the mean correlation coefficient of soil temperature was 0.354,greater than the 0.245 of soil moisture.R/S ratio had a significant negative correlation with soil temperature at 20 cm depth (P0.05) .The warmer soil temperatures in shallow layers increased the biomass allocation to above-ground plant parts,which leading to the increase in AGB;whereas the enhanced thawing of frozen soil in deep layers causing by warming treatment produced more moisture that affected plant biomass allocation.