Interrelation of soil water and plant water revealed by hydrogen-oxygen isotopes across alpine shrub and grassland in northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The alpine grassland shrubbization of the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on the background of global change and overgrazing, is a prominent and serious problem. However, the water competition ability of shrubs and alpine grasslands is rarely reported. Here, we tracked the δ O and δ H of soil water, plant water, precipitation, and groundwater, analysed sources of water use in shrub and grassland by Mix SIAR model. Our results showed that both δ O and δ H in soil, precipitation, and plant varied significantly over time, groundwater remained relatively stable in P. fruticosa shrub and alpine grassland sites during observation. Considering groundwater, precipitation, soil water, and plant water, a progressive enrichment in δ O or δ H existed from groundwater and precipitation to soil water to plant water for each month. Alpine grassland was more susceptible to drought stress, had a stronger partitioning effect in dynamic transport than shrub. The P. fruticosa shrub displayed more flexible water utilisations, and was more competitive for water than grasslands. Furthermore, the plants in alpine shrub and grassland reached water use balance in August. Shrubs degraded from alpine grassland changed water use pattern of grassland, thereby changing soil water storage. These results contribute to in-depth understanding the alpine grassland shrubbization from water use patterns of grassland and shrub plants on the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.