Differentiation of water sources and hydrological thresholds of herb-to-shrub communities across a revegetated chronosequence in Baijitan National Nature Reserve, China: a quantitative analysis using hydrogen-oxygen stable isotopes

The results confirm that vegetation restoration facilitates a complementary water-use strategy. The stability-maintaining mechanism can be described as shrubs enhancing drought resilience by accessing deep water reserves, while herbaceous species foster community renewal through rapid exploitation of shallow resources. This underscores the key role of plant water-use strategies in the ecological reconstruction of arid regions.