Objective This study aimed to analyze the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of soil moisture on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains and its influencing factors, with a focus on examining the impact of cropland expansion on soil moisture. Methods Based on 1 km daily soil moisture data, land use data, meteorological data, and other datasets from 2000 to 2020, the Theil-Sen Median trend analysis, Mann-Kendall significance test, and Pearson correlation analysis were employed to investigate changes in soil moisture within the 0-50 cm soil layer. Additionally, the Geodetector model was used to identify the main factors influencing soil moisture and their spatial differentiation characteristics. Results From 2000 to 2020, soil moisture in the 0-50 cm layer on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains exhibited an overall decreasing trend, with the most significant changes observed in the 0-10 cm layer. Under different land use types, soil moisture in croplands decreased significantly, while changes in forestlands and unused lands were not significant, and grasslands showed a slight increase in soil moisture. The average soil moisture followed the order of forestlands>grasslands>croplands>unused lands. Spatially, soil moisture decreased in most areas, but increased in the northern, southern, and eastern regions of the studied area. Soil moisture generally showed a downward trend across different elevation ranges, but gradually increased with rising elevation. When unused lands were converted to croplands, soil moisture increased at all depth levels, particularly at the 0-10 cm depth. The reduction in soil moisture was relatively small when grasslands were converted to croplands, whereas the decrease was more pronounced across all depth levels when forestlands were converted to croplands, particularly at the 40-50 cm depth. Vegetation type, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration had the greatest impact on soil moisture, with influence values of 0.63, 0.57 and 0.51, respectively. Among these factors, the interaction between precipitation and vegetation type had the most significant effect on the spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture. Conclusion From 2000 to 2020, soil moisture on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains showed a declining trend, with over 80% of the area experiencing a decrease in soil moisture. Soil moisture decreased significantly in croplands, it also declined when forestlands and grasslands were converted to croplands. Soil moisture variation was primarily significantly influenced by the interaction between precipitation and vegetation type.
HANG L, WANGJ L, PANY Y, et al. Temporal and spatial variation of soil moisture and its possible impact on regional air temperature in China[J].Water,2020,12(6):e1807.
CHENB, LUY F, ZHANY F, et al. Spatial distribution characteristics of soil moisture and its influence on vegetation in desert-oasis ecotone[J].Journal of Northwest Forestry University,2023,38(2):25-32.
[4]
LEGATESD R, MAHMOODR, LEVIAD F, et al. Soil moisture: A central and unifying theme in physical geography[J].Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment,2011,35(1):65-86.
BAOQ L, DINGJ L, WANGJ Z, et al. Spatio-temporal variation of soil moisture in arid area based on VIC land surface model[J].Acta Ecologica Sinica,2020,40(9):3048-3059.
WANGJ J, DINGJ L, ZHANGZ. Temporal-spatial dynamic change characteristics of soil moisture in Ebinur Lake basin from 2008 to 2014[J].Acta Ecologica Sinica,2019,39(5):1784-1794.
YIC G. Spatial-temporal variation of soil moisture and its influencing factors in arid and semi-arid areas of China from 2000 to 2020[D].Xinyang Henan: Xinyang Normal University, 2022.
BAIX, JIAX X, SHAOM A, et al. Simulating long-term soil water balance in response to land use change in the Northern China's Loess Plateau[J].Advances in Water Science,2021,32(1):109-119.
[13]
施政乐.晋西黄土区不同地类土壤水分时空变化及影响因素研究[D].北京:北京林业大学,2022.
[14]
SHIZ L. Study on the spatiotemporal variation and influencing factors of soil moisture in different land types in the loess region of western Shanxi[D].Beijing: Beijing Forestry University, 2022.
QIAOB, CHENG Q, SHIM M, et al. Soil moisture dynamics and response to precipitation under different,land use patterns:A case study of shallow mountain dry land in Huzhu, Qinghai[J]. Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin, 2020, 36(13): 115-123.
[17]
YANGL, CHENL D, WEIW, et al. Comparison of deep soil moisture in two re-vegetation watersheds in semi-arid regions[J].Journal of Hydrology,2014,513:314-321.
GENGY, HABULAHAT, CHENGL, et al. Relationship between temporal and spatial variation characteristics of soil moisture and its meteorological factors on the northern slope of the middle Tianshan Mountains[J].Agriculture and Technology,2018,38(2):226-229,251.
[20]
ZHANGK, WANGQ Q, CHAOL J, et al. Ground observation-based analysis of soil moisture spatiotemporal variability across a humid to semi-humid transitional zone in China[J].Journal of Hydrology,2019,574:903-914.
DONGJ Y, LUOM, MENGF H, et al. Characteristics of spatiotemporal pattern evolution of soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau[J].Research of Soil and Water Conservation,2024,31(2):110-121.
BAIX, WANGZ F, YANGL X. Correlation analysis between soil moisture and environmental factors by remote sensing in upper reach of Heihe River watershed[J].Remote Sensing Information,2016,31(6):121-127.
YANGX M, WANGR H. Analysis of soil moisture variation characteristics and driving force in Kekeya area based on geographic detector[J].Science Technology and Engineering,2024,24(26):11148-11157.
WANGW, SAIMEITIA, ABUDUWEILIJ. Analysis of spatiotemporal variation characteristics and driving factors of NDVI in central Asia based on the geographical detector model[J].Remote Sensing of Land and Resources2019,31(4):32-40.
ZHUL, LUOG P, XUW Q, et al. Changes of land-use and environmental effect in arid oasis city: A case study of Urumqi in Xinjiang[J].Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment,2008,22(3):13-19.
GES B, SONGX J, CHENR, et al. The spatiotemporal changes and driving factors of ERSEI on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains in the past 30 years[J].Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment,2024,40(7):865-876.
[33]
LIQ L, SHIG S, SHANGGUANW, et al. A 1 km daily soil moisture dataset over China using in situ measurement and machine learning[J].Earth System Science Data,2022,14(12):5267-5286.
[34]
PENGS Z, GANGC C, CAOY, et al. Assessment of climate change trends over the Loess Plateau in China from 1901 to 2100[J].International Journal of Climatology,2018,38(5):2250-2264.
[35]
PENGS Z, DINGY X, LIUW Z, et al. 1 km monthly temperature and precipitation dataset for China from 1901 to 2017[J].Earth System Science Data,2019,11(4):1931-1946.
[36]
DINGY X, PENGS Z. Spatiotemporal change and attribution of potential evapotranspiration over China from 1901 to 2100[J].Theoretical and Applied Climatology,2021,145(1/2):79-94.
[37]
YANGJ, HUANGX. The 30 m annual land cover dataset and its dynamics in China from 1990 to 2019[J].Earth System Science Data,2021,13(8):3907-3925.
LONGX J, LIX J. Mountain attitude classification indexes adjustment based on multi-source data in China[J].Scientia Geographica Sinica,2017,37(10):1577-1584.
[40]
FISCHERG, NACHTERGAELEF, PRIELERS, et al. Global agro-ecological zones assessment for agriculture (GAEZ 2008)[J].IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria and FAO, Rome, Italy, 2008, e10.
[41]
MILICHL, WEISSE. GAC NDVI interannual coefficient of variation (CoV) images: Ground truth sampling of the Sahel along north-south transects[J].International Journal of Remote Sensing,2000,21(2):235-260.
[42]
CHUH S, VENEVSKYS, WUC, et al. NDVI-based vegetation dynamics and its response to climate changes at Amur-Heilongjiang River basin from 1982 to 2015[J].Science of the Total Environment,2019,650:2051-2062.
[43]
王劲峰,徐成东.地理探测器:原理与展望[J].地理学报,2017,72(1):116-134.
[44]
WANGJ F, XUC D. Geodetector: Principle and prospective[J].Acta Geographica Sinica,2017,72(1):116-134.
[45]
YANGL, WEIW, CHENL D, et al. Response of temporal variation of soil moisture to vegetation restoration in semi-arid Loess Plateau, China[J].Catena,2014,115:123-133.
ZHUM L, LIUJ. Study on evaluation index system of regional benefit of agricultural high efficiency and water saving in arid area of northwest China[J].Water Saving Irrigation,2016(2):95-100.
[48]
PULIDO-BOSCHA, RIGOL-SANCHEZJ P, VALLEJOSA, et al. Impacts of agricultural irrigation on groundwater salinity[J].Environmental Earth Sciences,2018,77(5):e197.
[49]
SINGHA. Soil salinization management for sustainable development: A review[J].Journal of Environmental Management,2021,277:e111383.
LIUX D. Hydrological effect simulation of climate and land use change in the upper reaches of Hotan River based on SWAT model[D].Qufu: Shangdong Qufu Normal University,2019.
[52]
刘粲.黄土高原植被恢复对土壤水分的影响研究[D].石家庄:河北地质大学,2022.
[53]
LIUC. Effects of vegetation restoration on soil moisture in Loess Plateau[D].Shijiazhuang: Hebei GEO University,2022.
ZHANGB Q, SHAOR, ZHAOX N, et al. Effects of large-scale vegetation restoration on eco-hydrological processes over the Loess Plateau, China[J].Journal of Basic Science and Engineering,2020,28(3):594-606.
YAOX L, FUB J, LÜY H. Spatial patterns of soil moisture at transect scale in the Loess Plateau of China[J].Acta Ecologica Sinica,2012,32(16):4961-4968.
CHENJ, SONGN P, CHENL, et al. Soil moisture dynamics and its response to precipitation in different cover types of desert steppe[J].Journal of Soil and Water Conservation,2021,35(6):198-206.
[60]
CAIJ J, ZHOUB T, CHENS Y, et al. Spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture and its driving factors in the northern agricultural regions of China[J].Water,2024,16(4):e556.
ZHANGX, LIM X, MAZ G. Evapotranspiration variability over global arid and semi-arid regions from 1982 to 2011[J].Chinese Journal of Atmospheric Sciences,2018,42(2):251-267.
[63]
CRAVEA, GASCUEL-ODOUXC. The influence of topography on time and space distribution of soil surface water content[J].Hydrological Processes,1997,11(2):203-210.
[64]
WANKMÜLLERF P, DELVALL, LEHMANNP, et al. Global influence of soil texture on ecosystem water limitation[J].Nature,2024,635(8039):631-638.
[65]
ZHOUW X, LIC J, WANGS, et al. Effects of vegetation restoration on soil properties and vegetation attributes in the arid and semi-arid regions of China[J].Journal of Environmental Management,2023,343:e118186.
[66]
FUQ, LIB, HOUY, et al. Effects of land use and climate change on ecosystem services in Central Asia’s arid regions: A case study in Altay Prefecture, China[J].Science of the Total Environment,2017,607:633-646.