By quantifying the soil moisture characteristics of 0~1 000 cm layer after the mutual conversions between apple orchard and farmland in Changwu tableland region, soil water environment effects resulted from the mutual conversions between apple orchard and farmland were analyzed. The results showed that, the average soil moistures of 200~1 000 cm in the apple orchards of 2 a, 7 a, 17 a, 23 a, and 29 a were 22.8%, 21.4%, 16.8%, 15.4%, and 14.9%, respectively. In the 500~1000 cm soil layer, the average soil moisture (14.5%) of the 29 a apple orchard was higher than that of the 23 a apple orchard (13.3%), and the orchards of 17~29 a showed slight drying. Based on the change of soil moisture in apple orchards and farmlands after the conversions, the maximum planting years for apple orchard was 21 a. As the farmlands converted from apple orchards were cultivated for 1 a, 5 a, and 10 a, the soil moisture of their 200~1 000 cm layers were 15.3%, 15.7%, and 16.2%, respectively. The thicknesses of dried soil layers that could restore to the stable soil moisture were 140 cm (1 a), 220 cm (5 a), and 400 cm (10 a), respectively. |