Table 2. Changes in soil water content and field water holding capacity in shelter forests of different forest ages.

Soil characteristics	Soil depth/cm	YF	MAF	NMF	MF	OMF
Soil water content/%	0–20	4.69 ± 0.23Ea	5.33 ± 0.29Ca	6.65 ± 0.24Aa	6.10 ± 0.26Ba	5.04 ± 0.21Da
	20–40	6.19 ± 0.32Cb	7.28 ± 0.20Bb	7.80 ± 0.17Ab	7.65 ± 0.17Ab	7.07 ± 0.17Bb
	40–60	7.50 ± 0.44Dc	8.60 ± 0.10Bc	9.27 ± 0.17Ac	8.83 ± 0.24Bc	7.98 ± 0.21Cc
Field water holding capacity/%	0–20	24.86 ± 0.87Da	25.86 ± 0.78Ca	27.81 ± 0.49Aa	26.53 ± 0.53Ba	25.55 ± 1.26CDa
	20–40	24.21 ± 1.22Db	25.11 ± 0.93Cab	26.89 ± 0.42Ab	26.04 ± 0.31Bab	24.98 ± 0.72Cb
	40–60	23.86 ± 0.50Cc	24.98 ± 0.57Bb	26.33 ± 0.45Ab	25.59 ± 0.98ABb	24.82 ± 0.78Bb

Note:

Different uppercase letters in the same soil depth indicate significant differences between different forest age classes while different lowercase letters in the same age classes indicate significant differences between different soil depths, (p < 0.05). YF, Young forest; MAF, Middle-aged forest; NMF, Near-mature forest; MF, Mature forest; OMF, Over-mature forest.