ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1614204
Spatial Patterns and Key Driving Factors of Wheat Harvest Index Under Irrigation and Rainfed Conditions in Arid Regions
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China
- 2Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Key Laboratory of Oasis Town and Mountain-basin System Ecology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China, Shihezi, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China
- 3Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Xinjiang, Wulumuqi, Wulumuqi, China
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The harvest index (HI), a crucial agronomic trait that measures the ratio of grain yield to aboveground biomass, serves not only as a vital indicator for assessing wheat yield but also as a core parameter for predicting straw resource. It reflects the "sourcesink" relationship and biomass allocation strategies in crops. However, the spatial distribution patterns of wheat HI and their key driving factors in arid regions remain unclear. This study was conducted in Xinjiang, a typical arid region of China, during 2022-2023, involving two years of large-scale systematic sampling. By integrating multidimensional factors such as geographical and climatic conditions, agronomic management practices, and soil nutrient status, methods including correlation analysis, random forest models, structural equation modeling, and linear regression analysis were employed to systematically investigate the spatial distribution characteristics and driving mechanisms of wheat HI under different irrigation regimes in arid regions. The results revealed that: (1) Wheat HI in arid regions exhibited significant spatial heterogeneity (0.43-0.67), with an overall distribution pattern of "central high, peripheral low" and "northern high, southern low." Irrigation significantly enhanced wheat HI (p < 0.01), and irrigated wheat demonstrated significantly higher HI, yield, and aboveground biomass (AGB) compared to rainfed wheat (p < 0.01). ( 2) The importance rankings of influencing factors differed between irrigation regimes. For irrigated wheat, the order of importance was: Geographic-climatic factors, soil nutrient factors, agronomic management factors. Comprehensive analysis identified longitude (lon), plant height (H), latitude (lat), and bulk density (BD) as the key drivers of the
Keywords: Arid region wheat, Harvest index (HI), irrigation, Spatial heterogeneity, Driving factors
Received: 18 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Wutanbieke, Zhong, Chen, Huo and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hegan Dong, College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China
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