Evaluating the soil hydraulic functions of vegetation restoration in a subtropical hilly catchment: Insights from continuous soil moisture monitoring

The global trend of vegetation "greening" in the context of ecological restoration necessitates an urgent assessment of ecosystem services. As essential components of ecosystem services, the hydraulic functions of soil in infiltrating and retaining water following vegetation restoration remain unclear, especially in subtropical mountainous and hilly areas with complex topographies. From 2018 to 2021, soil moisture data collected at five-minute intervals were monitored for three restoration strategies in a hilly catchment of China's Three Gorges Reservoir area. The restoration strategies included planted forest (PF) and natural restoration (naturally regenerated forest, NF; deforested pasture, DP). The soil moisture response to rainfall under these strategies was evaluated using several metrics, including the time difference between peak rainfall intensity and peak soil moisture response (T-p2p), cumulative infiltration, and occurrence frequency of preferential flow (PRF). The results showed that the average soil moisture content (SMC) of PF was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of NF and DP in both dry and wet seasons, regardless of upslope or downslope location. However, the topographic position affected the difference in average SMC between DP and NF. At the downslope location, the average SMC of DP (0.39 cm(3) cm(-3)) was significantly higher than that of NF (0.33 cm(3) cm(-3)). Conversely, at the upslope location, the average SMC of DP (0.27 cm(3) cm(-3)) was lower than that of NF (0.30 cm(3) cm(-3)). These findings suggested that PF had a lower amount of soil water storage than NF and DP, which was supported by the lowest cumulative infiltration in PF during storm events. The response of soil moisture to storms in PF (T-p2p = 3.1 h) was slower than that in NF (T-p2p = 1.9 h) and DP (T-p2p = 2.5 h). This was consistent with the lower occurrence frequency of preferential flow in PF (PRF = 19.2 %) than NF (PRF = 39.2 %) and DP (PRF = 32.9 %). Therefore, longer response time and less preferential flow indicated that the PF had a relatively poor soil moisture responsiveness to storm events. Accordingly, this study highlights the insufficiency of afforestation in soil water infiltration and retention compared to natural restoration, meriting consideration when assessing soil hydraulic functions in vegetation restoration areas.