(SWC)
measured
at the
most
time-stable
locations
(MTSLs)
under
each
land use
type
. Objectives
of this
study
were
to (1) identify
the MTSLs
for the
different
soil layers
under
each land use type and (2) to investigate the
soil water relations between adjacent land use types using the SWC measured at the identified MTSLs. The
SWC was measured in 2012 and 2013 at 10-cm depth intervals within 0–260 cm soil profiles at 36 locations
along three transects that passed through spring wheat, shelterbelt, and maize subplots. A time-stability analysis
of SWC was used to identify the MTSLs in the four different soil layers under each of the three land use types. The
results indicated that temporal variations in soil water in the same soil layer among the three land use types
tended to have similar patterns. The SWC of the different soil layers under maize exhibited the highest temporal
stability among the three land use types. The SWC measured at the MTSLs identified for each soil layer under each
land use type was proven to represent their mean SWC. Correlation analyses of the SWCs measured at the MTSLs
between two land use types indicated that soil water relations occurred between adjacent land use types but not
between those that were non-adjacent land use types by the correlation analyses of the SWCs measured at the
MTSLs between two land use types. In the upper soil layer (0–200 cm), soil water relations were mainly affected
by shelterbelt root water uptake from the adjacent cropland into which the tree roots had extended. In the lower
soil layer (200–260 cm), the soil water relations among the three land use types were due to groundwater recharge,
which was a result of crop irrigation that had raised the water table to a level at which it could replenish
this soil layer.
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