The runoff characteristics and harmonic analysis of the soil moisture dynamics in<Emphasis Type="Italic">Robinia pseudoacacia</Emphasis> stand

Robinia pseudoacacia stands act as a typical ecological protection forest in hilly semi-arid area of China. Two fields of surface runoff were separately set up inR. pseudoacacia stand and its clearcut area in the western Liaoning Province (18°50’–122°25’ E, 40°24’–42°34’ N) for measuring the characteristics of runoff and sediment as well as soil moisture dynamics. Contractive analysis of the two land types showed that there existed a significant difference in volumes of runoff and sediment between the sites ofR. pseudoacacia stand and its clearcut area. The runoff volume and sediment volume in clearcut are were much bigger than those inR. pseudoacacia stand, with an increase amount of 40%–177% for runoff and 180%–400% for sediment. Hydrograph of surface runoff of typical rainfall showed that the peak value of runoff inR. pseudoacacia stand was decreased by 1.0–2.5×10⁻³m³·s⁻¹ compared with that in its clearcut area, and the occurring time of peak value of runoff inR. pseudoacacia stand was 10–20 min later than that in its clearcut area. Harmonic analysis of soil moisture dynamics indicated that the soil moisture inR. pseudoacacia stand was 2.3% higher than that in clearcut area, and the soil moisture both inR. pseudoacia stand and its clearcut area could be divided into dry season and humid season and varied periodically with annual raifall precipitation. It was concluded thatR. pseudoacacia stand plays a very important role in storing water, increasing soil moisture, and reducing surface runoff and soil erosion. Foundation item: This paper was supported by Chinese “863” Plan Water-Saving Agriculture (2002AA2Z4321), the Key Knowledge Innovation Project (SCXZY0103), and The “Tenth-five” Plan of Liaoning Province (2001212001). Biography: GAO Peng (1967-), male, Dr. candidate, associate professor of Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, P. R. China. Responsible editor: Song Funan