3.3. Comparisons of SWC and isotopes in shrub and grassland
sites
There was a significant difference in SWC between shrub and grassland
sites (p < 0.05) (Figure 4a). However, δ2H
in soil water showed no significant difference between shrub and
grassland sites (p = 0.068>0.05), in contrast to
δ18O (p < 0.05) (Figure 4b). Likewise,
significant differences in plant water between shrub and grassland sites
for δ18O were observed (p < 0.05), but
non-significant differences were observed in plant water (p =
0.06>0.05) for δ2H (Figure 3a). Both
δ18O and δ2H values in shallow soil
water (0–20 cm) were highly variable, and relatively stable in deeper
soil layers for both the two sites (Figure 4b). The isotopic values in
surface soil water were enriched in June and July, but were depleted in
August and September (Figure 4b). The δ18O and
δ2H values in the grassland plants were greater than
in the shrubs from May to September, but almost the same in October,
indicating that grassland plant water has a stronger dynamic
fractionation effect in the process of transportation and is more
sensitive to environmental conditions comparing with shrub plant water.