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JOURNAL OF DESERT RESEARCH ›› 2017, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (6): 1150-1157.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2016.00103

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Water Sources of Typical Desert Riparian Plants in the Lower Reaches of Tarim River

Wang Yuyang1,2, Chen Yapeng1, Li Weihong1, Wang Rizhao1,2, Zhou Yingying1,3, Zhang Jianpeng2,4   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    3. College of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054;
    4. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
  • Received:2016-06-06 Revised:2016-11-08 Online:2017-11-20 Published:2017-11-20

Abstract: The Lower Reaches of the Tarim River is featured with an extraordinary dry and hot climate.Vegetation here has a harsh environment to survival, and water is the most crucial ecological factor. The research of water sources used by desert plants in the growing season helps to understand the water use strategy of the desert plants, which will be useful to vegetation reconstruction in the Lower Reaches of Tarim River. In this study, the stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) of stem water of four dominant plant species, groundwater and soil water in the lower reaches of Tarim River were measured in May, July, August and September, 2015. And then we used the Multi-source mixed liner model (IsoSource) to analyze the probable contribution of potential water sources used by these dominant desert plants. In addition, we use the proportional similarity index (PSI) to analyze the water use relationship between different desert plants. The result indicated that: (1) in the Lower Reaches of Tarim River, Populus euphratica oliv (young and mature) and Tamarix ramosissima can hardly use soil water stored at 0-50 cm depth, but mainly uptook deep soil water stored below 200 cm depth and groundwater, Glycyrrhiza inflata and Alhagi spar folia mainly acquired soil water stored at 50-200 cm depth. (2) During growing season, P. euphratica oliv (young and mature) and T. ramosissima had a fierce water competition, except for individual months. lycyrrhiza inflata and Alhagi spar folia also had a strong water competition, however, P. euphratica oliv (young and mature) and T. ramosissima had a weak water competition with G. inflata and A. spar folia. (3) In order to adapt extremely drought environment, P. euphratica oliv (young and mature) and T. ramosissima had a stable water sources, and the feasible proportion of water sources used by different plants had a slight fluctuation in the Lower Reaches of Tarim River.

Key words: Tarim River, desert plant, water sources, stable isotopes

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