Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China
Salinization is a major threat to the sustainability of land and water resources, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Understanding the water uptake from different soil depths for desert plants is useful for exploring salinity-tolerance mechanism in desert plants in extremely-arid and salinity-...
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doaj-fbb206d427104c5fb7890e71f006e8142021-01-29T05:48:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2021-01-01810.3389/fenvs.2020.585464585464Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW ChinaYong-Qin Cui0Li-Qin Niu1Jin-Li Xiang2Jia-Huan Sun3Jian-Hua Xiao4Jian-Ying Ma5College of Resources and Environment, University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, ChinaKey Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, ChinaSalinization is a major threat to the sustainability of land and water resources, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Understanding the water uptake from different soil depths for desert plants is useful for exploring salinity-tolerance mechanism in desert plants in extremely-arid and salinity-affected area. To understand water uptake from different soil depths for desert plants in Dunhuang, NW China, we used oxygen isotope composition in plant xylem water and soil water to determine the water sources in three different saline sites differing in their degree of soil electrical conductance (site 2 < site 1 < site 3). The co-existing desert plants in each saline site extracted different depth of soil water respectively: K. foliatum mainly used shallow soil water (0–20 cm); H. caspica and N. tangutorum mainly used deep soil water (40–200 cm); A. sparsifolia used water from the 120–200 cm soil layers, while T. ramosissima and E. angustifolia mainly extracted deeper soil water (>200 cm). Compared to that in saline site 2, Tamarix ramosissima and Alhagi sparsifolia can switch their water sources to deeper soil water when enduring more salt stress. Also, a significant and positive correlation between soil EC and soil water δ18O values was observed, indicating the evaporation would cause increase in salt concentration and isotopic enrichment in the upper soil profile. Overall, our results suggest that plants may explore deeper soil water to adapt to salt stress under severe salinity. This work may contribute to selecting salt-tolerant plants species which is vital to saline soil rehabilitation and utilization.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.585464/fullstable oxygen isotopedesert plantssaline landsoil water utilizationDunhuang |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Yong-Qin Cui Li-Qin Niu Jin-Li Xiang Jia-Huan Sun Jian-Hua Xiao Jian-Ying Ma |
spellingShingle |
Yong-Qin Cui Li-Qin Niu Jin-Li Xiang Jia-Huan Sun Jian-Hua Xiao Jian-Ying Ma Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China Frontiers in Environmental Science stable oxygen isotope desert plants saline land soil water utilization Dunhuang |
author_facet |
Yong-Qin Cui Li-Qin Niu Jin-Li Xiang Jia-Huan Sun Jian-Hua Xiao Jian-Ying Ma |
author_sort |
Yong-Qin Cui |
title |
Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China |
title_short |
Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China |
title_full |
Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China |
title_fullStr |
Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Water Uptake from Different Soil Depths for Desert Plants in Saline Lands of Dunhuang, NW China |
title_sort |
water uptake from different soil depths for desert plants in saline lands of dunhuang, nw china |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Environmental Science |
issn |
2296-665X |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
Salinization is a major threat to the sustainability of land and water resources, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Understanding the water uptake from different soil depths for desert plants is useful for exploring salinity-tolerance mechanism in desert plants in extremely-arid and salinity-affected area. To understand water uptake from different soil depths for desert plants in Dunhuang, NW China, we used oxygen isotope composition in plant xylem water and soil water to determine the water sources in three different saline sites differing in their degree of soil electrical conductance (site 2 < site 1 < site 3). The co-existing desert plants in each saline site extracted different depth of soil water respectively: K. foliatum mainly used shallow soil water (0–20 cm); H. caspica and N. tangutorum mainly used deep soil water (40–200 cm); A. sparsifolia used water from the 120–200 cm soil layers, while T. ramosissima and E. angustifolia mainly extracted deeper soil water (>200 cm). Compared to that in saline site 2, Tamarix ramosissima and Alhagi sparsifolia can switch their water sources to deeper soil water when enduring more salt stress. Also, a significant and positive correlation between soil EC and soil water δ18O values was observed, indicating the evaporation would cause increase in salt concentration and isotopic enrichment in the upper soil profile. Overall, our results suggest that plants may explore deeper soil water to adapt to salt stress under severe salinity. This work may contribute to selecting salt-tolerant plants species which is vital to saline soil rehabilitation and utilization. |
topic |
stable oxygen isotope desert plants saline land soil water utilization Dunhuang |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.585464/full |
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