| With the method of Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA)，this study discussed the spatial and tem-
poral distribution characteristics of soil moisture in the Hanquangou watershed of the Qilian Mountains and analyzed its relationship with the environmental factors(e.g., altitude, slope, aspect, slope position, landform types, land-use types and soil porosity). The results indicated that: (1) The soil moisture of shrub-grassland and shrub-woodland was the
highest during the study period, and then followed by shrub, woodland, grassland retrieved from cropland, cropland,
woodland retrieved from cropland, and natural grassland; (2) Altitude, slope, soil porosity and land-use types are the
main factors that affected seasonal dynamics of soil moisture, and the main impacting factors in each month were also different. For example, the factors were mainly associated with the aspect in Juy, with land-use types in August and September and with altitude in October; (3) The total cofficient of variation (CV) of soil water in 0~ 10 cm of 23 plots
was the maximum, while the CV of 10 ~ 20 em was the minimum; (4) The effects of soil porosity on the vertical distri-
bution of soil moisture were the most significant, and then followed by slope position, aspect and altitude . This study
provides a theoretical basis for the future establishment of mesoscale simulation of the spatial distribution of soil moisture in the Qilian Mountains. |