Soil moisture in different vegetation management methods of Caragana korshinskii shrub in the semi-arid loess area

In this study, the effects of different vegetation management methods CK (no stubble and no weeding), stubble and weeding, stubble, or weeding on soil moisture in Caragana korshinskii shrubs were analyzed through the dynamic detection of soil moisture in a 0 – 1.8 m soil layer in the growing season between 2016 − 2018, in the Longtan catchment of Dingxi in Gansu Province, China, in order to explore the soil moisture of C. korshinskii in semi-arid loess areas under different vegetation management methods. The results showed that: 1) The stubble and weeding management resulted in the highest soil moisture, and the soil moisture corresponding to the stubble and weeding management method was higher than that related to the other three management methods in the uphill, middle, and downhill slopes. 2) During the entire growing season, each management method resulted in 0 − 0.4 m shallow soil moisture fluctuation at the maximum, while no significant change could be observed for 1.0 − 1.8 m soils. The temperature and rainfall exhibited a certain impact on the soil water characteristics but, regardless of arid or flat water years, the stubble and weeding management resulted in higher soil moisture of the soil layer than the other three management methods. 3) The soil moisture related to the different vegetation management methods could be divided into the active, second active, and stable layers using the optimal segmentation method. In the case of the stubble and weeding management of soil moisture, the active and secondary active layers were at 0 − 0.8 m, corresponding to a more significant depth than in the case of the other three management methods. Moreover, the CK soil moisture content was below 0.3 m, its depth was less than that of the other three management methods. The results of this study show that during the growing season of the study area, stubble and weeding are more suitable for the vegetation management of Caragana korshinskii shrubs in the area. Furthermore, it is important for the soil moisture management of the artificial vegetation in this area and the construction of stable artificial vegetation communities in semi-arid loess areas.