The Effect of the Soil Water Holding Capacity and Permeability under Different Patterns of Land Use in the Eastern Qilian Mountains

This study investigated the effect of the soil water holding capacity and permeability under different land use patterns in the Tianzhu alpine region of the Eastern Qilian Mountains, four land use patterns are selected, namely, natural grassland, rehabilitated land, Oats land and perennial grassland. As time lasts, different land use patterns imposed significant effects on the water holding capacity power and permeability. The soil bulk density is rehabilitated land(1.104 g/cm3) > perennial grassland(1.061 g/cm3 ) > Oats land(1.011 g/cm3) > natural grassland(0.781 g/cm3); the soil overall porosity is natural grassland(68.196%) > Oats land(60.606%) > perennial grassland(58.93%) > rehabilitated land(57.5%); the natural grassland has the most water holding capacity power and soil steady infiltration rate(681.966 t/hm2 and 3.02 mm/min), while the rehabilitated land has the least(575.005 t/hm2 and 1.004 mm/min). In terms of soil water-holding capacity and permeability, the natural grassland is the best out of these four use patterns while the rehabilitated land is the worst pattern. In other words, both oats land and perennial grassland have better water holding capacity power and permeability than the rehabilitated land.