DearEditorsandReviewers,Thankyouforyourletterandcommentsonourmanuscripttitled“Temporalvariabilityinsoilmoistureafterthinninginsemi-aridPiceacrassifoliaplantationsinnorthwesternChina”(FORECO_2017_459).Thesecommentshelpedusimproveourmanuscript,andprovidedimportantguidanceforfutureresearch.Wehaveaddressedtheeditor’sandthereviewers’commentstothebestofourabilities,andrevisedtexttomeettheForestEcologyandManagementstylerequirements.Wehopethismeetsyourrequirementsforapublication.Wemarkedtherevisedportionsinredandhighlightedthemyellowinthemanuscript.Themaincommentsandourspecificresponsesaredetailedbelow:Editor:PleaseexplainhowtheresultsinthispaperaresignificantlydifferentfromthoseinZhu,X.,He,Z.B.,Du,J.,Yang,J.J.,Chen,L.F.,2015.EffectsofthinningonthesoilmoistureofthePiceacrassifoliaplantationinQilianMountains.ForestResearch.28,55–60.)Response:Weapologizeforourearlierlackofclarityaboutthedifferencesbetweenourstudyandthosein“Zhu,X.,He,Z.B.,Du,J.,Yang,J.J.,Chen,L.F.,2015.EffectsofthinningonthesoilmoistureofthePiceacrassifoliaplantationinQilianMountains.ForestResearch.28,55–60”(named“previousarticle”below).Specifically,wefoundthreemaindifferencesinthetemporalvariabilityandhydrologicalresponsesofsoilmoisturebetweenourstudyandthe“previousarticle”.First,thescopeofdataanalysisanduseweredifferent:The“previousarticle”justappliedtheonegrowingseasondata(fromJune28thtoOctober25th2013)fromthenaturalforestandtheplantationswithnothinningandthinnedin20%intensity.Inaddition,the“previousarticle”alsohasnotconsideredtheeffectof40%thinningonthesoilmoistureofthePiceacrassifoliaplantation.However,inthepresentstudy,weappliedfouryearsdata(fromJune27th2012toOctober30th2015inHDandNF;fromJanuary1th2014toOctober29th2015inMDandLD)fromthenaturalforestandtheplantationswithnothinning,thinnedin20%,andthinnedin40%intensitytoanalysisthetemporalvariabilityandhydrologicalresponsesofsoilmoistureinsemi-aridPiceacrassifoliaplantationsinnorthwesternChina.Second,thecontentoftheresearchwasdifferent:The“previousarticle”onlyconsideredthespatialandtemporaldynamicchangesofsoilmoisture,butdidnotinvolvetheinter-annual,andseasonaldynamicchangesofthesoilmoisture.Inthepresentstudy,however,notonlydidweconsideredtheeffectsofthinningonthespatialandtemporaldynamicchanges,theinter-annualchanges,andseasonaldynamicchangesofthesoilmoisture;butwealsoconsideredthechangesinsoilhydrologicalresponseafterthinning.Ourgoalsweretounderstandthechangesinsoilhydrologicalresponseandsoilmoisturedynamics,andtodeterminewhetherthinningmanagementcaneffectivelyimprovethestateofsoilmoistureinthesubalpinePiceacrassifoliaplantationsintheQilianMountains.Third,theresearchpurposeandtheresultwerealsodifferent:Themainlypurposeofthe“previousarticle”wastopreliminaryexplorethethinningontheplantationforestsoilmoisture,andtheyfoundthattheintermediatethinningcansignificantlyincreasesoilmoisturecontentatthedepthof60cm.However,theydidn’tpointoutthatwhichorwhatthethinningintensityorplantationdensitycanbebenefittosustainabilityofplantedforestsinthesewater-limitedregions.Inthisstudy,notonlywedidconfirmedthattheintermediatethinningcansignificantlyincreasesoilmoisturecontentatthedeepsoillayer,butwealsofoundthathighplantingdensitywasthemaincauseofseveresoilmoisturedeficitsinthelong-term,anditcouldbemitigatedby20-40%thinning(~3139treesha-1).Inaddition,byinvestigatingtheeffectofthinningonthesoilhydrologicalresponse,wefoundthatsoilhydrologicalresponsemaybetemporarilymodifiedbythinningaccordingtochangesincanopystructure,precipitationproperties,andantecedentsoilmoistureconditions.Soilmoistureinnaturalforestrapidlyinfiltratedintodeepsoil,whichgreatlyimprovedtheefficiencyofprecipitationuse.Thinningsignificantlyincreasedthecapacityforsoilinfiltration,andmoderatethinningintensitymaybeconducivetodeepsoil-waterrecharge.Further,accordingtotheglobalcirculationpredictionmodelsandtrendanalysisresultsandweatherpatterns,deepVSWCmayincreaseifprecipitationpatternsshifttoproducelargerbutlessfrequentrainfalleventsduringthegrowingseason,andthischangewillbenefitgrowthofthevegetationplantedathigherdensityinthissemi-aridregion.Reviewer1Ifoundthetopicveryinteresting.Thescientific(experimental)set-upisvalidandthedataispresentedclearly,andanalyzedindetail.Mydetailedcommentsareallintheattachedpdf-file.Response:Thankyouforyourencouragingremarksandvaluablecomments.Wecorrectedourtextaccordingtoyourcommentssubmittedintheattachedpdf-file.Ourresponsestoyourcommentsareasfollows:Commentsinattachedpdf-file1.Keywords:maybere-consider“Rainfall”Response:Wefullyagreethatitisnecessarytore-consider“Rainfall”intheKeywordssection.Inaddition,thestatementof“Rainfall”wascorrectedas“Soilhydrologicalresponse”(L31).2.Ln.37:Expand,i.e.whyarethesespecificregionswater-limited.Response:Weapologizeforourearlierlackofclarity.Toincreaseclarity,wehavere-writtenthissentenceaccordingly,andwehavecorrected“Grasslandafforestationiscriticalineffortstopreventwide-spreadlanddegradationinaridandsemi-aridregionsofChina(Chenetal.,2008a;Yangetal.,2014).However,sustainabilityofplantedfores