Complementary water-use strategies mitigate drought impacts of mixed arbor-shrub stands in a loess gully area: A quantitative analysis

Complementary water-use strategies mitigate drought impacts of mixed arbor-shrub stands in a loess gully area: A quantitative analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Complementary water-use strategies mitigate drought impacts of mixed arbor-shrub stands in a loess gully area: A quantitative analysis Fan Yang, Yuxue Ma, Lihu Yang, Liang Gong, Xianfang Song, Weibo Ji, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8257719/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Plant and Soil → Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aims The loess gully area is a key zone for large-scale revegetation programs in China; however, accurate prediction of mixed arbor-shrub stands responses to variable drought intensities remains poorly quantified. Therefore, quantitative understanding water use strategies of typical revegetation stands under drought is crucial. Methods Here, we quantitatively investigated the seasonal water use strategies of mixed Caragana korshinskii Kom. and Artemisia vulgaris Lam. in loess gully region during the growing season in 2023, basing on continuous monitoring of transpiration and 20 times sampling of δ²H and δ¹⁸O. Results The transpiration of A. vulgaris declined significantly in response to a summer drought by 19.7%, whereas that of C. korshinskii remained stable, indicating different drought resistance and resilience of these two species. Corresponding to different changes in transpiration, the two species also exhibited divergent water use strategies. In the wet spring, both species took up water predominantly from the surface layer (0–20 cm) (approximately 32.55% for C. korshinskii and 51.18% for A. vulgaris ). However, under the summer drought, C. korshinskii switched to soil water of the deep layer (60–110 cm, by 43.23%), whereas A. vulgaris mainly relied on soil water of the middle layer (20–60 cm, by 38.07%). Conclusion The ability to switch to different water sources indicated that the mixed arbor and shrub stands could reduce interspecific stress and improved drought resistance and resilience. This study enhances our understanding of species-specific water-use strategies in mixed arbor–shrub stands under summer drought, and provides hydrological insights for water resource management in water-limited areas. water use strategy absolute water uptake plant transpiration mixed arbor-shrub stands summer drought Loess gully area Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Plant and Soil → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 20 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Dec, 2025 Editor invited by journal 10 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 10 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 01 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8257719","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":558436150,"identity":"b478743e-9ca9-4334-ad9e-c1a2abcf4a28","order_by":0,"name":"Fan Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fan","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":558436151,"identity":"c1513b4d-e2f0-432e-bf29-8c06de6341fa","order_by":1,"name":"Yuxue 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analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-and-soil","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"plso","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant and Soil](https://www.springer.com/journal/11104)","snPcode":"11104","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11104/3","title":"Plant and Soil","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"water use strategy, absolute water uptake, plant transpiration, mixed arbor-shrub stands, summer drought, Loess gully area","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8257719/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8257719/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eAims\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe loess gully area is a key zone for large-scale revegetation programs in China; however, accurate prediction of mixed arbor-shrub stands responses to variable drought intensities remains poorly quantified. Therefore, quantitative understanding water use strategies of typical revegetation stands under drought is crucial.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eHere, we quantitatively investigated the seasonal water use strategies of mixed \u003cem\u003eCaragana korshinskii\u003c/em\u003e Kom. and \u003cem\u003eArtemisia vulgaris\u003c/em\u003e Lam. in loess gully region during the growing season in 2023, basing on continuous monitoring of transpiration and 20 times sampling of δ\u0026sup2;H and δ\u0026sup1;⁸O.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe transpiration of \u003cem\u003eA. vulgaris\u003c/em\u003e declined significantly in response to a summer drought by 19.7%, whereas that of \u003cem\u003eC. korshinskii\u003c/em\u003e remained stable, indicating different drought resistance and resilience of these two species. Corresponding to different changes in transpiration, the two species also exhibited divergent water use strategies. In the wet spring, both species took up water predominantly from the surface layer (0\u0026ndash;20 cm) (approximately 32.55% for \u003cem\u003eC. korshinskii\u003c/em\u003e and 51.18% for \u003cem\u003eA. vulgaris\u003c/em\u003e). However, under the summer drought, \u003cem\u003eC. korshinskii\u003c/em\u003e switched to soil water of the deep layer (60\u0026ndash;110 cm, by 43.23%), whereas \u003cem\u003eA. vulgaris\u003c/em\u003e mainly relied on soil water of the middle layer (20\u0026ndash;60 cm, by 38.07%).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe ability to switch to different water sources indicated that the mixed arbor and shrub stands could reduce interspecific stress and improved drought resistance and resilience. This study enhances our understanding of species-specific water-use strategies in mixed arbor\u0026ndash;shrub stands under summer drought, and provides hydrological insights for water resource management in water-limited areas.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Complementary water-use strategies mitigate drought impacts of mixed arbor-shrub stands in a loess gully area: A quantitative analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-16 19:53:03","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8257719/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revisions","date":"2026-01-20T13:47:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-12-11T11:22:55+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-10T20:03:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Plant and Soil","date":"2025-12-10T08:21:28+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-10T06:44:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Plant and Soil","date":"2025-12-02T03:21:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-and-soil","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"plso","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant and Soil](https://www.springer.com/journal/11104)","snPcode":"11104","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11104/3","title":"Plant and Soil","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1bca64f0-b5c1-4bf0-b86a-606c0eb1e98a","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 16th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-20T16:13:24+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8257719","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-026-08538-z","journal":{"identity":"plant-and-soil","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Plant and Soil"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-19 15:59:33","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 19th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-16 19:53:03","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s11104-026-08538-z","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-026-08538-z","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8257719","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8257719","identity":"rs-8257719","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}