Effects of crushed wheat straw with plastic film mulch on soil hydrothermal properties and water use efficiency of sunflower in the northwestern arid region of China

作者：Jin-Xia Zhang, Fangfang Ren, Rui Zhang, Lin Ding, Fuqiang Li, Xuan Li, Tao Zhong, Meng Yin, Liangliang Du, Runheng Yang, Pengliang Tian · 发表于：Scientific Reports · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41598-025-05760-0 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Irrigation Practices and Water Management、Plant responses to water stress、Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems

(M2)], resulting in eight experimental treatments. The results showed that mulching method significantly (P < 0.05) modified soil hydrothermal conditions, sunflower seedling emergence rate, the growth, yield and WUE, with SF demonstrating superior performance. Soil water holding capacity increased as irrigation quota increased. Compared to the control (N), SF increased soil water storage by 17.51% (M1 level) and 11.87% (M2 level), while enhancing 0-25 cm soil temperature by 0.9 °C throughout the growing season. Thermal regulation patterns exhibited treatment-specific characteristics: SF and F displayed warming effects (+ 0.9 °C and + 1.7 °C of soil temperature, respectively), contrasting that S had a cooling effect (- 0.6 °C of soil temperature), especially at the seedling stage. Sunflower seedling emergence rate followed the order of SF > F > S > N, and M1 > M2. Mulching, by regulating soil temperature and conserving soil moisture, ultimately led to a significant increase in yield. Three-year averaged sunflower yield analysis showed SF and F enhanced productivity by 35.36% and 44.94% respectively compared to N, while SF maintaining superior WUE, SFM2 treatment was as high as 23.17 kg/(mm ha). Principal component analysis indicated that SFM2 as the optimal management strategy. These findings provide empirical evidence for developing sustainable water-saving cultivation practices in arid agroecosystems.