Wu et al. (2025) A comparison of water use strategies between pure and mixed forests on the Chinese Loess Plateau

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Functional Ecology
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-28
• Authors: Xiaofei Wu, Xiaoying Yan, Xinmei Liu, Tianqi Guo, Chenyi Ju, Mingbin Huang
• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.70227

Research Groups

Not specified in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study investigated the water use strategies of pure and mixed forests on the Chinese Loess Plateau over two years, revealing that mixed forests exhibit more conservative water use, characterized by deeper water acquisition and stricter stomatal regulation, compared to pure forests.

Objective

• To compare and understand the water use strategies of typical pure Pinus tabuliformis, pure Robinia pseudoacacia, and mixed Pinus tabuliformis × Robinia pseudoacacia forests on the central Chinese Loess Plateau.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Central Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP)
• Temporal Scale: Two years (2022, a wet year; 2023, a normal year), specifically during the growing seasons.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not specified in the abstract.
• Data sources:
  • Fine root dry biomass and length density measurements.
  • Soil water content (SWC) monitoring.
  • Stand transpiration (Tr) monitoring.
  • Stable water isotope analysis for water source utilization.
  • Stomatal conductance response to vapour pressure deficit (VPD) assessment.
  • Environmental drivers: air temperature, net radiation, vapour pressure deficit (VPD), and reference evapotranspiration.

Main Results

• The mixed Pinus tabuliformis × Robinia pseudoacacia (PT × RP) forest exhibited higher fine root dry biomass than both pure forests, with an intermediate fine root length density (exceeding PT but lower than RP).
• Variations in SWC and Tr across growing seasons were greater in the PT × RP forest than in the pure PT forest but less than in the pure RP forest.
• Tr trends corresponded to fine root length density and showed significant responses to environmental drivers (air temperature, net radiation, VPD, and reference evapotranspiration).
• All forests reduced water absorption from the surface layer from a wet to a normal year.
• The PT × RP forest showed a larger increase in the absorption proportion from the deep layer (7.8% for PT and 6.4% for RP in the mixed forest) compared to both the pure PT (6.3%) and pure RP (6.0%) forests.
• Stomatal regulation was stricter in the PT × RP forest (m/Gcref: 0.7–1.3) than in the pure forests (0.4–0.9).
• Overall, mixed forests employed more conservative water use strategies, evidenced by deeper water acquisition and stricter stomatal regulation, compared to pure forests.

Contributions

• Provides critical scientific insights for afforestation efforts and water resource management on the Chinese Loess Plateau.
• Enhances the understanding of how tree water use strategies differ between pure and mixed forest stands in water-limited regions.

Funding

Not specified in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Wu2025comparison,
  author = {Wu, Xiaofei and Yan, Xiaoying and Liu, Xinmei and Guo, Tianqi and Ju, Chenyi and Huang, Mingbin},
  title = {A comparison of water use strategies between pure and mixed forests on the Chinese Loess Plateau},
  journal = {Functional Ecology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1111/1365-2435.70227},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.70227}
}