Soil water depletion patterns in rainfed apple orchards and wheat fields

Agricultural production in the Weibei rainfed highland, Northwest China, is challenged by severe drought and water shortages. While the land use pattern has shifted gradually from crop production to orchard farming in Weibei, little is known about the influence of fruit industry development on regional water resources and the rationality of planting orchards. Here, we characterized soil water depletion patterns in rainfed orchards and farmlands to evaluate the occurrence of soil desiccation under land use conversion from farmlands to orchards in Weibei. Soil moisture dynamics were monitored in the 0–150 cm soil profiles of different aged Red Fuji apple orchards (young: 7 years, mature: 13 years, old: 22 years) and long-term cultivated winter wheat fields. We measured soil moisture content by oven-drying method in the middle of each month during the growing season of apple trees (March–September 2019). The over-depletion and depletion of soil water were analyzed to evaluate water stress and differential water depletion by distinct vegetation, respectively. The soil desiccation index was used to determine the occurrence of dry soil layers. Water stress was only observed at the 0–70-cm soil depths in the old orchards (mid-June) and farmlands (mid-May–mid-July). Water depletion took place at deeper depths for longer periods in the older orchards than in the younger orchards. Soil desiccation was absent in the young orchards, with mild desiccation at the 0–80-cm soil depths in the mature and old orchards in mid-June. The desiccation intensity was mild at the 0–60-cm soil depths in mid-April–mid-May, intense at the 0–150-cm soil depths in mid-June, and moderate at the 20–150-cm soil depths in mid-July. Results of this study demonstrate the mitigation of water stress and soil desiccation following conversion from wheat fields to apple orchards, which verifies the rationality of planting orchards in the rainfed highland area. Our findings provide strong support for developing a novel model of agro-industrial development, ecological construction, and sustainable economy in the vast arid and semi-arid areas of Northwest China.