24. March 2025
A new study published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences has analyzed soil water storage of two similar soils over a period of eight years at two climatically different locations in Germany. The results show how the soil water storage adapts to changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration. After prolonged drought periods, the soil water storage could not fully recover for several years, meaning that the typical water reserves in spring may not be available. This suggests that such drought periods can have long-term effects on plant growth and crop yields, in addition to short-term impacts. At the warmer study site, researchers observed that the earlier onset of the vegetation period influenced soil water storage.
Soils contain pore spaces that can store varying amounts of water. Depending on the region, agricultural soils exhibit characteristic seasonal patterns in water storage: In temperate climates, the soil water storage typically replenishes during winter. During the vegetation period, from spring to autumn, it decreases due to evapotranspiration. However, it remains unclear how different climatic conditions affect these storage patterns.
To investigate this, researchers conducted their study within the German lysimeter network TERENO-SOILCan (TERrestrial ENvironmental Observatories) at two climatically distinct sites in Germany: Dedelow in Brandenburg, characterized by a relatively dry, continental climate, and Selhausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, which experiences a warmer and more humid climate.
At the dry site in Dedelow, intact, cylindrical soil blocks with a surface area of one square meter and a depth of 1.5 meters were extracted while preserving their natural stratification. These blocks were placed in lysimeters at both the Selhausen and Dedelow sites. Lysimeters are specialized measurement devices that accurately capture the complete soil water balance, enabling researchers to determine how much water, in the form of precipitation, infiltrated the soil or was lost through evapotranspiration or drainage. Using time series analyses from 2014 to 2021, the researchers examined how soil water storage changed over the years. Crop rotation and soil management remained constant, providing crucial insights into how the soil water balance responds to climatic conditions over time.
Same soil at different locations: How do responses to precipitation differ?
The study suggests that the soil responded differently at the two sites. In Selhausen, where conditions are warmer and wetter, the timing of maximum soil water storage shifted: In years with high precipitation, this maximum occurred earlier, while in drier years it was delayed compared to the drier site in Dedelow. This indicates that the soil in Selhausen reacted more dynamically. Additionally, the changes in water storage revealed significant effects of an earlier start of the vegetation period in spring. In Dedelow, however, the patterns of water storage remained largely stable over the years. After dry periods, the soil water storage at the humid site replenished quickly due to higher rainfall, whereas at the dry site in Dedelow, the effects of prolonged drought persisted longer.
"Our results show that changes in climatic conditions affect soil water storage. The time series analysis enables us to further investigate whether soil properties—and thus the soil water storage capacity—undergo long-term changes in response to climate shifts," explains Dr. Annelie Ehrhardt, lead author of the study.
Future research and potential applications
How does soil water storage change in the long term, and what are the implications for agriculture and the soil water balance? The researchers recommend long-term monitoring of soil moisture patterns and plant-available water. This knowledge could help farmers adjust crop rotations and cultivation practices to better match changes in soil water availability and potentially altered soil properties, ensuring that water is available for crop production at the right time. It might also help optimize groundwater recharge and soil water quality.
Project partner
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
- University of Bonn
- Research Centre Jülich
Funding:
This research was funded by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), a research institution of the Leibniz Association and a non-profit registered association, financed equally by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg (MWFK). Additionally, the study was supported by the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) under grant no. 22404117. Jannis Groh was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) – project no. 460817082. The researchers also acknowledge the support of TERENO and SOILCan, which were funded by the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Acknowledgements: We would like to express our sincere thanks to the staff at ZALF, Jörg Haase and Gernot Verch, as well as to the team at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Werner Küpper and Philipp Meulendick, who were responsible for the operation of the instruments and data collection at both sites.
Further Information:
To the original publication: https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/29/313/2025/
Text disclaimer:
This is a summary of the original text created with the help of artificial intelligence: Ehrhardt, A., Groh, J., & Gerke, H. H. (2025). Effects of different climatic conditions on soil water storage patterns. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 29(1), 313–334. DOI: 10.5194/hess-29-313-2025, published Open Access under the CC BY 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The text has been carefully reviewed and revised in accordance with AI regulations at ZALF.
