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Effect of pruning intensity on soil moisture and water use efficiency in jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill.) plantations in the hilly Loess Plateau Region, China

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Abstract

Jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill.) is a traditional economic forest crop and is widely cultivated in hilly areas of the Loess Plateau, China. However, soil desiccation was discovered in jujube plantations. Pruning is recognized as a water-saving method that can reduces soil water consumption. In this study, we monitored the jujube plots with control (CK), light (C1), medium (C2) and high (C3) pruning intensities during the jujube growing period of 2012–2015 to explore the effect of pruning intensity on soil moisture and water use efficiency (WUE) of jujube plantations in the hilly Loess Plateau Region. The results showed that pruning is an effective method for soil water conservation in jujube plantations. Soil moisture increased with increasing pruning intensity during the jujube growing period of 2012–2015. C1, C2 and C3 pruning intensities increased soil water storage by 6.1–18.3, 14.4–40.0 and 24.3–63.3 mm, respectively, compared to CK pruning intensity. Pruning promoted soil moisture infiltration to deeper soil layer. Soil moisture infiltrated to soil depths of 240, 280 and >300 cm under C3 pruning intensity, 220, 260 and 260 cm under C2 pruning intensity, 200, 240 and 220 cm under C1 pruning intensity, and 180, 200 and 160 cm under CK pruning intensity in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Soil water deficit was alleviated by higher pruning intensity. In 2013–2015, soil water change was positive under C2 (6.4 mm) and C3 (26.8 mm) pruning intensities but negative under C1 (−20.5 mm) and CK (−40.6 mm) pruning intensities. Moreover, pruning significantly improved fresh fruit yield and WUE of jujube plants. Fresh fruit yields were highest under C1 pruning intensity with the values of 6897.1–13,059.3 kg/hm2, which were 2758.4–4712.8, 385.7–1432.1 and 802.8–2331.5 kg/hm2 higher than those under CK, C2, and C3 pruning intensities during the jujube growing period of 2012–2015, respectively. However, C3 pruning intensity had the highest WUE values of 2.92–3.13 kg/m3, which were 1.6–2.0, 1.1–1.2 and 1.0–1.1 times greater than those under CK, C1 and C2 pruning intensities, respectively. Therefore, C3 pruning intensity is recommended to jujube plantations for its economic and ecological benefits. These results provide an alternative strategy to mitigate soil desiccation in jujube plantations in the hilly Loess Plateau Region, which is critical for sustainable cultivation of economic forest trees in this region.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the China National Support Program (2015BAC01B03), the Shaanxi Co-ordination Program (2016KTZDNY0105) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YED0300201). The authors would like to thank the staff of Mizhi Experimental Station of Northwest A&F University and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable contributions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Shanshan Jin & Youke Wang

  2. Research Center of Soil and Water Conservation and Ecological Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Ministry of Education, Yangling, 712100, China

    Youke Wang & Xing Wang

  3. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Yonghong Bai

  4. Beijing Research Center of Information Technology in Agriculture, Beijing, 100097, China

    Leigang Shi

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  1. Shanshan Jin
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Correspondence to Youke Wang.

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Jin, S., Wang, Y., Wang, X. et al. Effect of pruning intensity on soil moisture and water use efficiency in jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill.) plantations in the hilly Loess Plateau Region, China. J. Arid Land 11, 446–460 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-019-0129-z

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