-
Dear Editors and Reviewers,
Thank
you
for
your
letter
and
comments
on
our
manuscript
titled
“
Temporal
variability
in
soil
moisture
after
thinning
in
semi-arid
Picea
crassifolia
plantations
in
northwestern
China
”
(
FORECO_2017_459
).
These
comments
helped
us
improve
our
manuscript,
and
provided
important
guidance for future research.
We
have
addressed
the
editor
’
s
and
the
reviewers
’
comments
to
the
best
of
our
abilities,
and
revised
text
to
meet
the
Forest
Ecology
and
Management style requirements. We hope this meets your requirements for
a publication.
We
marked
the
revised
portions
in
red
and
highlighted
them
yellow
in
the
manuscript.
The main comments and our specific responses are detailed
below:
Editor:
Please
explain
how
the
results
in
this
paper
are
significantly
different
from those in Zhu, X., He, ., Du, J., Yang, ., Chen, ., 2015. Effects of
thinning on the soil moisture of the Picea crassifolia plantation in
Qilian Mountains. Forest Research. 28, 55
–
60.)
Response:
We
apologize
for
our
earlier
lack
of
clarity
about
the
differences
between
our
study
and
those
in
“
Zhu,
X.,
He,
.,
Du,
J.,
Yang,
.,
Chen, ., 2015. Effects of thinning on the soil moisture of the
Picea
crassifolia
plantation
in
Qilian
Mountains.
Forest
Research.
28,
55
–
60
”
(
named “previous article” below
). Specifically, we found three main
differences in
the temporal variability and hydrological responses of
soil moisture between our study and
the “previous article”
.
First,
the
scope
of
data
analysis
and
use
were
different:
The
“previous
article”
just
applied
the
one
growing
season
data
(from
June
28
th
to
October
25
th
2013)
from
the
natural
forest
and
the
plantations
with
no thinning and thinned in 20% intensity. In addition, t
he “previous
article”
also
has
not considered
the effect
of 40% thinning on
the soil
moisture of the
Picea crassifolia
plantation. However, in the present
study,
we
applied
four
years
data
(from
June
27
th
2012
to
October
30
th
2015
in HD and NF;
from January 1
th
2014 to October
29
th
2015 in MD
and LD) from
the
natural
forest
and
the
plantations
with
no
thinning,
thinned
in
20%,
and thinned in 40% intensity to analysis the temporal variability and
hydrological responses of soil moisture in semi-arid
Picea crassifolia
plantations in northwestern China.
Second, the content of the research was different:
The “previous
article”
only
considered
the
spatial
and
temporal
dynamic
changes
of
soil
moisture, but did not involve the inter-annual, and seasonal dynamic
changes
of
the
soil
moisture.
In
the
present
study,
however,
not
only
did
we
considered
the
effects
of
thinning
on
the
spatial
and
temporal
dynamic
changes,
the inter-annual changes, and seasonal dynamic changes of the
soil moisture; but we also considered the changes in soil hydrological
response
after
thinning.
Our
goals
were
to
understand
the
changes
in
soil
hydrological
response
and
soil
moisture
dynamics,
and
to
determine
whether thinning management can effectively improve the state of soil
moisture in the subalpine
Picea crassifolia
plantations in the Qilian
Mountains.
Third, the research purpose and the result were also different: The
mainly
purpose
of
the
“previous
article”
was
to
preliminary
explore
the
thinning
on
the
plantation
forest
soil
moisture,
and
they
found
that
the
intermediate thinning can significantly increase soil moisture content
at
the
depth
of
60
cm.
However,
they
didn
’
t
point
out
that
which
or
what
the
thinning
intensity
or
plantation
density
can
be
benefit
to
sustainability
of
planted
forests
in
these
water-limited
regions.
In
this
study, not only we did confirmed that the intermediate thinning can
significantly
increase
soil
moisture
content
at
the
deep
soil
layer,
but
we
also
found
that
high
planting
density
was
the
main
cause
of
severe
soil
moisture
deficits
in
the
long-term,
and
it
could
be
mitigated
by
20
-
40%
thinning (~3139 trees ha
-1
).
In addition, by investigating the effect of
thinning
on
the
soil
hydrological
response,
we
found
that
soil
hydrological response may be temporarily
modified by thinning according
to
changes
in
canopy
structure,
precipitation
properties,
and
antecedent
soil
moisture
conditions.
Soil
moisture
in
natural
forest
rapidly
infiltrated into deep soil, which greatly improved the efficiency of
precipitation
use.
Thinning
significantly
increased
the
capacity
for
soil
infiltration, and moderate thinning intensity may be conducive to deep
soil-water
recharge.
Further,
according
to
the
global
circulation
prediction models and
trend analysis results and weather patterns, deep
VSWC may increase if precipitation patterns shift to produce larger but
less
frequent
rainfall
events
during
the
growing
season,
and
this
change
will benefit growth of the vegetation planted at higher density in this
semi-arid region.
Reviewer 1
I
found
the
topic
very
interesting.
The
scientific
(experimental)
set-up
is valid and the data is presented clearly, and analyzed in detail. My
detailed comments are all in the attached pdf-file.
Response: Thank you for your encouraging remarks and valuable comments.
We
corrected
our
text
according
to
your
comments
submitted
in
the
attached
pdf- file. Our responses to your comments are as follows:
Comments in attached pdf- file
1. Keywords: maybe re-
consider “Rainfall”
Response:
We
fully
agree
that
it
is
necessary
to
re-
consider
“Rainfall”
in the Keywords section. In addition, the statement
of “
Rainfall
” was
corrected as
“
Soil hydrological response
”
(
L31
).
2. Ln. 37: Expand, . why are these specific regions water-limited.
Response: We apologize for our earlier lack of clarity. To increase
clarity,
we
have
re-written
this
sentence
accordingly,
and
we
have
corrected “
Grassland afforestation is critical in efforts to prevent
wide-spread
land
degradation
in
arid
and
semi-arid
regions
of
China
(
Chen
et al., 2008a; Yang et al., 2014
). However, sustainability of planted
forests is severely limited by soil moisture conditions. Soil moisture
is fundamental to sustainability in water-limited ecosystems (
Newman et
al.,
2006;
Yang
et
al.,
2014
).
”
as
“
Grassland
afforestation
is
critical
in
efforts
to
prevent
wide-spread
land
degradation
in
arid
and
semi-arid
regions of China (
Chen
et al.,
2008a; Yang
et al., 2014
), where rainfall
is
the
main
source
of
soil
moisture,
and
where
many
vegetation
restoration
projects
were
implemented
(
Li,
2004
).
However,
soil
moisture
is
the
most
crucial
factor
to
sustainability
of
planted
forests
in
these
water-limited
ecosystems
(
Newman
et
al.,
2006;
Yang
et
al.,
2014
).
(
L35-40
)
”
.
3. Ln. 47: What
is meant
by
“statistical moments of soil moisture, such
as mean and variance”
Response:
It
is
meant
that
changes
to
canopy
structure
due
to
large-scale
clearings or intermediate disturbance events may lead to changes in the
mean
and
the
variance
of
the
soil
moisture.
We
amended
our
text
to
clarify,
and
now
it
reads:
“
Changes
to
forest
canopy
structure
due
to
large- scale
harvesting
may
lead
to
changes
in
soil
properties,
residual
tree
growth,
and the mean and the variance of the soil moisture (
Chen et al., 1993;
Olchev
et
al.,
2009;
He
et
al.,
2013;
Kaarakka
et
al.,
2014
).
”
(
L48-51
).
4.
Ln. 60: add “ecosystems” (instead of cosystem)
Response:
The statement
of “cosystem” was corrected as “ecosystems”
(
L62
).
5.
Ln. 68: change “determining” to “affecting”
Response:
The
statement
of
“determining”
was
corrected
as
“affecting”
(
L71
).
6. Ln. 71: Expand this sentence a bit. Growing season
–
where At the
studied region/area
Response:
To
increase
clarity,
we
have
re-written
this
sentence
accordingly (
L71-75
). And our studied region/area is also experiencing
this
precipitation
patterns,
with
larger
but
less
frequent
rainfall
events
during
the
growing
season,
and
more
frequent
extreme
hydrological
events.
7. Ln. 74
–
80: Heisler-White, He et al. and Sun et al.
→
showed where,
in what type of ecosystem, how does it relate to the studied one, .
elaborate more on how these studies relate to the current one.
Response:
That was an excellent suggestion, and we have made revisions
according
to
your
comments
(
L78-80,
L83,
L85-86
).
The
study
of
Heisler-White
et
al.
(2008)
provides
a
background
knowledge
of
the
supply
of
the
precipitation
on
soil
profile.
The
studies
of
He
et
al.
(2012)
and
Sun et al. (2015)
investigated the soil moisture dynamics of typical
ecosystems (forestland, shrubland, grassland, and meadows) in response
to precipitation, which can provide a reference for our research.
提供背景知识，了解降水对土壤的补给情况；
He et al. and Sun et a l.
的研究
研究了祁连山天然植被（林地、草地和灌丛）的土壤水分情况，是本文章研究的基础。
The
response
of
soil
moisture
to
rainfall
event
size
in
subalpine
grassland and meadows in a semi-arid mountain range: A case study in
northwestern C
hina’s Qilian Mountains
Sun, F., Lü, Y., Wang, J., Hu, J., Fu, B., 2015. Soil moisture dynamics
of typical ecosystems in response to precipitation: A monitoring-based
analysis of hydrological service in the Qilian Mountains. Catena 129,
63-75.
8. Ln. 98: ponderosa
→
Ponderosa
Response:
The statement of “ponderosa” was corrected as “Ponderosa”
(
L97
).
9. Ln. 118
–121: what is meant by “Tianbao”. Re
-phrase this sentence,
not
sure
what
is
meant
by
“returning
the
grain
areas..”
Refers
to
shift
from agriculture to forestry
Response: Thank you for your valuable suggestions. We amended our text
to
clarify,
and
now
it
reads:
“
In
recent
decades,
with
the
implementation
of projects National Forest Conservation Program
, “Grain for Green”
program, and others and others, the area of planted vegetation in the
Qilian
Mountains
has
increased
significantly
(
Li,
2004
),
and
many
semi-arid
grasslands
were
converted
to
Picea
crassifolia
plantation
forests (
He et al., 2012
).
” (
L128-132
).
10.
Ln. 124: Remove “growth efficiency”
Response: The
“
growth efficiency
”
was removed (
L134
).
11.
Ln. 125: What is “weak stability”
in this context –
soil moisture
or something else
Response:
We were happy to clarify the idea of a “weak stability of the
ecosystem”,
which
meant
that
the
stabi
lity
of
the
whole
ecological
system
will
show
a
decreasing
trend
with
vegetation
succession.
To
increase
the
validity of this point, we included literature sources that related to
the
stability
of
the
ecosystem
(
Yue
and
Ma,
1991;
Sankaran
and
McNaughton,
1999;
Jiang
et
al.,
2002
),
and
the
bases
on
which
stability
was
evaluated:
(1) suitability for local environmental conditions, (2) the resistance
to
and
the
ability
to
recover
from
an
external
disturbance,
(3)
the
ability
of
self-renewal
and
normal
development,
and
(4)
having
a
relatively
stable
population structure.
12.
Ln.
126:
Replace:
“
enhancement
”
→
“
Improving
the
stability
of
the
system
”
Response:
The
statement
of
“
Enhancement
of
the
stability
in
this
system”
was corrected as “Improving
the stabilit
y of the system” (
L136
).
13
. Ln. 163: What is meant by “limited number of Larix” –
maybe add
a stem density estimate
Response:
Thank
you
for
your
valuable
suggestions.
We
added
a
stem
density
to clarify, and now it reads:
“
The vast, recently afforested areas had
a
high
stand
density
around
4500
trees
ha
-1
,
and
contained
a
limited
number
of
Larix
principis-rupprechtii
Mayr
trees
(around
210
trees
ha
-1
).
”
(
L172-174
).
14.
Ln. 165: Remove “management”
Response:
The “management” was removed
(
L175
).
15.
Ln.
166
–
167:
last
sentence
of
the
paragraph
needs
re-phrasing
→
The
thinning
aimed
to
remove
poor-growing
trees
as
well
those
lacking
vigor.
What
is
meant
by
“
fish-scale
pit
”
,
if
this
a
regional
term,
define
it.
Does density in this context refer to stand density . to the density of
the trees in a given area, in the pit)
Response:
That was an excellent suggestion, and we have made revisions
according to your comments (
L167-177
).
The “
fish-scale pit
” in this
study is a regional term and
meant that “
the pit of the plant trees
”.
In addition, the density in this context refer to stand density
of the
trees in a given area.
16.
Ln. 169: Rephrase. Maybe something like: “In early August 2013, a
survey
was
carried
out
in
the
P.
crassifolia
plantation
and
in
the
nearby/adjacent
natural
P.
crassifolia
stand,
which
at
the
time
of
sampling
were
31
and
41
years,
respectively.
Selected
stands
had
similar
site conditions.”
Response:
That was an excellent suggestion, and we have made revisions
according to your comments (
L182-185
).
17. Ln. 176
–177: Remove “except for the gathering of wild mushrooms
between July and August”
Response:
The “except for the gathering of wild mushrooms between July
and August” was removed
(
L190
).
18
. Ln. 198: Change to “a soil pit with the dimensions of”
Response:
The
statement
of
“a
soil
pit
with
a
dimensions
of”
was
corrected as “a soil pit with the dimensions of”
(
L210
).
19. Ln. 199: Change 5
→
“
five
”
Response:
the statements of “5” was corrected as “five”
(
L212
).
20.
Ln.
204
–
205:
What
is
me
ant
by
“the
accepted
range
of
soil
temperature
change”(
-40
to
+60
C)
temperature
change
in
the
soil
or
where
If
in
the
soil, why such extreme numbers
Response: 这个只是仪器的测定范围，
研究区土壤温度在什么什么范围
（各个图
层的都加加上 ）
，所以用该仪器可以保证所测区域温度准确。
21.
Ln. 206: Remove “nearly
-origina
l”
Response:
The “nearly
-
original” was removed
(L).
22. Ln. 212: Why was this data (2014
–
2015) not available Maybe add an
explanation.
Response:
The
80-cm
data
from
the
NF
stand
were
not
available
for
the
2014
and
2015
growing
season
due
to
the
volumetric
water
content
and
temperature ECH2O sensor at this layer was damaged. And we added an
explanation at the line of
L225-227
.
23. Ln. 214: Equation
→
equations
Response:
The statement
of “equation” was corrected as “equation
s
”
(
L229
).
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