Soil moisture is an important factor that affects terrestrial vegetation
ecosystems and biological growth and development, and water deficit is
one of the major environmental factors threatening vegetation
restoration in the Loess Plateau. To determine the change in the soil
water deficit characteristics from farmland to forestland on the Loess
Plateau, in this study, we measured the soil water storage and deficit
in abandoned grassland, shrubland, pioneer forestland and climax
forestland along with vegetation succession. The results showed that the
soil water content and the soil water storage with natural vegetation
recovery from the abandoned grassland to shrubland and forestland showed
a gradual declining trend, while on the contrary, the soil water deficit
was increasing during succession, it was more severe in the deep soil
than in the shallow soil layers, and the soil water deficit in July and
September of the rainy season as well as that the vigorous growing
period of plants was more serious than that in May and November, which
are in the non-rainy season of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The vegetation
types, soil texture and soil depth were the key factors affecting the
soil water deficiency status in the process of vegetation succession.
The results could have great potential in the sustainable development of
forestry and provide a theoretical basis for effective water management
and reasonable vegetation restoration in arid and semiarid loess
regions.