This study aimed to determine the water loss quantity of surface soil from temperate forests after severe earthquake. We established three plots at each of the landslide and non-landslide Cupressus funehris stands at Shiyan site, two plots in the landslide and three in the non-landslide Cryptomeriafortunei forest stands at the Shuangdian site near the fault belt of the Wenchuan Earthquake. Each of the plots was 20 m x 20 m. In June and October, for analysis of soil water properties, soil samples were collected by aluminum cylinders (100 cm3) at each of three soil layers (0-10，10-20, 20-40 cm), respectively, at the center and near the four corners of each plot. We found that saturated water content and capillary water capacity were lower in landslide plots than in non-landslide ones, with the landslide-induced soil water loss at the forest stands ranging from 74 to 357 t/hm2, indicating that earthquake-induced landslide dried the surface soil of forest. Such earthquake-induced soil drying varied with different forest stands. Compared with that of C. ^unebris, the surface soil of C. fortunei lost less soil water, suggesting the greater water retention ability of the latter. The water stress created by earthquake-induced landslides may be the dominant contributor to the tree mortality in C. funebris and C.fortunei in the fault zone of the Wenchuan Earthquake.
展开▼
