Root Water Uptake Patterns for Nitraria during the Growth Period Differing in Time Interval from a Precipitation Event in Arid Regions

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I can not reviewing this manuscript due to the lacks of figures and tables.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

So sorry. All figures have been added into the manuscript.

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Author

Thank you for the well-prepared and described research material and the well-prepared text of the article. In the whole text, I am asking for only one amendment (additions)

MWL and CMWL /GMWL terms must be explained in the text of your paper. I know the term : meteorologic water line - but you shoud prepare your paper as the most easy to understand even for the new reader of the topic and you should not use shortcuts without explaining them. Instead of this - you use in your text only shortcuts CMWL /GMWL 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your appreciation and encouragement. Gratitude! The MWL terms have been explained at section 3.1 when first mentioned.

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Authors, 

The manuscript has several limitations and contains fundamental errors on the other hand I could not see the figures in the manuscript. I think it is not publishable for this journal. 

Best regards. 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you for your comments. I have seriously revised the manuscript and added all figures.

Best regards.

Reviewer 4 Report

The identification and quantification of root activities and water uptake patterns of arid vegetation remain challenging. Aiming at abovementioned issue, this paper quantitatively examined the water uptake behaviours of a prevalent desert species of Nitraria during the growth phase. A multivariate linear mixed model based on water stable isotopes is adopted to mainly focus on the time interval with a precipitation pulse. The work will contribute to understanding entangled water transport processes and eco-hydrological feedback along with the soil-vegetation interface in arid ecosystems and the scientific allocation of water resources with the consideration of ecological protection. However, there are still some problems.

1. Improve the describe of title.
2. In the abstract, there are no description about method and no quantitative conclusion. Please improve the abstract.
3. Add more description about method in the last paragraph of the introduction.
4. Add more latest references, especially in the past 3 years.
5. There are many serious problems with language. The usage of odd or even numbers, verb. Please avoid the usage of these words its, their, etc. Check the paper thoroughly.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your valuable comments. I have studied them carefully and made point-to-point responses.

1 5. I have checked the paper thoroughly and corrected many language problems (Title included).

2 3. I have supplemented quantitative conclusion in the Abstract mentioned properly the method adopted in the Introduction. Besides, the detailed description for method have been presented at section 2.2 and 2.3.

4. I have added several latest related references with proper citation.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

the revised the manuscript could be accepted for publication.