Abstract:Field plot experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of gravel mulching degree on soil moisture dynamics, water consumption characteristic， crop yields and water use efficiency in the whole growth period of summer maize and winter wheat in the crops rotation. The results showed that gravel mulching can hold soil water storage and suppress evaporation, the increase of gravel mulching degree could improve soil storage ability for precipitation and irrigation, compared with CK, and the water storage capacity is mainly reflected in the 0~40cm soil layer, followed by the 40~100cm soil layer water storage, 100~200cm soil water storage did not change obviously. The gravel mulching improving soil water storage ability was observed mainly at seedling stage of summer maize and jointing stage of winter wheat in the crops rotation system, and the gravel mulching degree of 8kg/m2 increased the soil water storage by 12.77% and 6.63% compared with CK respectively, and the effects was weakened because of the increased canopy and rainfall. The total water consumption was decreased during growing period approximately，and the water consumption coefficient was decreased with gravel mulching degree in the crops rotation systems. The water consumption percentage in each stage was increased with the increase of gravel mulching degree besides the period before jointing. Gravel mulching treatments significantly improved the WUE and PUE of summer maize and winter wheat. In the growing period of summer maize, WUE and PUE were increased by 33.05% and 26.65%, and the winter wheat were increased by 12.68% and 20.00% respectively. In addition, gravel mulching treatments, compared with CK, could significantly increase economic yields and biomass yields. In the growing period of summer maize, economic yields and biomass yields were increased by 4.45%~26.66% and 5.81%~25.78%,the winter wheat were increased by 2.06%~15.34% and 2.32%~26.49%, respectively.
