Agricultural Water Management

The conversion of natural forests to plantations often degrades hydrological functions, yet the recovery trajectory and the relative roles of litter and soil remain poorly quantified. Using a chronosequence of Carya cathayensis plantations (6-, 20-, 50-year-old) and a natural forest (NF) control, we quantified how land use change and stand age affect water conservation capacity through litter and…

Increasing water scarcity and rainfall variability under climate change are major constraints to sustainable crop production in dryland agricultural systems, highlighting the need for irrigation strategies that not only adapt to changing climates but also improve grain yield (GY) and resource-use efficiency. Here, we developed a Soil–Plant–Environment informed Irrigation (SPEI) framework and eval…

Stachys inflata Benth. (Lamiaceae) is a critically important medicinal species in traditional Iranian medicine, yet the precise ecological drivers of its phytochemical plasticity and therapeutic efficacy remain poorly understood. This study provides a comprehensive investigation into how multi-dimensional ecological factors—including altitude, soil physicochemical properties, water content, and c…

Drought-to-flood transitions (DTF) show regional contrasts across China’s major maize-producing regions, yet whether the flood phase mitigates or compounds drought impacts remains unresolved. 1-km observations (2000–2019) are used to identify soil-moisture-defined DTF and track canopy function with 8-day gross primary productivity (GPP) percentiles. Responses are quantified with two metrics: Comp…