Potential Use of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Systems in Landscape Irrigation under Full and Limited Irrigation Conditions

Response to Reviewer X Comments

1. Summary

First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks for your valuable and contributing reviews. Your suggestions were quite contributing. I did my best to perform entire revisions you recommended.

Response 1:

L8, delete “especially”, Correction was done.

L9- L10, “irrigations” change to “irrigation”, “Use” to “The use”, Correction was done.

L12, “quantities, and to prevent” to “quantities and prevent”, Correction was done.

L13, “green areas of Selçuklu district” to “green areas in Selçuklu district”, Correction was done.

L15, “terms irrigation” to “terms of irrigation”, Correction was done.

L24, “irrigations of Selçuklu district” to “irrigations in Selçuklu district”, Correction was done.

-   The entire text should be carefully checked and attention should be paid to grammatical issues including the addition of "the" and “,”… The entire text was carefully checked by a colleague whose native landuage is English. .

L29, “take a healthy” to “take in healthy”, Correction was done.

L45, “the city drinking” to “the city's drinking”, Correction was done.

L48, “well-comprehended” to “well understood”, Correction was done.

L51, “precipitations to plant root” to “precipitations in plant root”, Correction was done.

L52, “play” to “plays”, Correction was done.

L56, “significant waste of water.” to “significant water waste.”, Correction was done.

-L56, this ref added.

  Zhu, X.; Xu, Z.; Liu, Z.; Liu, M.; Yin, Z.; Yin, L.; Zheng, W.; Impact of dam construction on precipitation: a regional perspective. Mar. Freshw. Res. 2022, 74, 877-890. doi: https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1071/MF22135

L57, “In irrigation” to “In the irrigation”, Correction was done.

L59 this ref is added.

Liu, Z.; Xu, J.; Liu, M.; Yin, Z.; Liu, X.; Yin, L.; Zheng, W.; Remote sensing and geostatistics in urban water-resource monitoring: a review. Mar. Freshw. Res. 2023, 74(10), 747-765. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1071/MF22167

L61, “cropping pattern” to “cropping patterns” Correction was done.

L65, “irrigation system” to “irrigation system will” Correction was done.

L65  this ref is added.

Yin, L.; Wang, L.; Keim, B.D.; Konsoer, K.; Yin, Z.; Liu, M.; Zheng, W.; Spatial and wavelet analysis of precipitation and river discharge during operation of the Three Gorges Dam, China. Ecol. Indic. 2023, 154, 110837. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110837

L66, “Pop-up (fixed sprinklers)” to “The pop-up (fixed sprinkler)”, Correction was done.

L67, “thus it” to “which”, Correction was done.

L68, “cause” to “causes”, Correction was done.

L69, “irrigation system, which has” to “irrigation systems, which have”, Correction was done.

L70, “has started to be used for irrigation of lawn” to “have started to be used for irrigation of lawns”, Correction was done.

L75, “with deficit” to “with deficits”, Correction was done.

L77, “getting” to “becoming”, Correction was done.

L78, “is used” to “are used”, Correction was done.

L84, “results achieved” to “results can be achieved”, Correction was done.

L85, delete “to” in “to worldwide” Correction was done.

L88, “central refuge” to “central refuges”, Correction was done.

L89, “method in irrigation” to “methods in the irrigation’, Correction was done.

L91, “Effects of different system design” to “The effects of different system designs”, Correction was done.

L183 and 185, “locations of each plot” to “locations on each plot”, Correction was done.

L186, “is reached to” to “reaches”; “was” to “is”, Correction was done.

L206, “as study” to “a study”, Correction was done.

L222, “a deficit water” to “a deficit in water”, Correction was done.

L224 and 226, “consumptions were” to “consumption was”, Correction was done.

L229, “consumptions of sub-surface” to “consumption from sub-surface”, Correction was done.

L256, “waited” to “awaited”, Correction was done.

L261, “28th of May” to “May 28,”, Correction was done.

L262, “in the same time” to “at the same time”, Correction was done.

L291, “was” to “were”, Correction was done.

L292, “consumptions” to “consumption”, Correction was done.

L293, “in the present study,” to “in present study”, Correction was done.

L314, “were” to “was”, Correction was done.

L315, “precipitations of” to “the precipitation in”, Correction was done.

L322, “method” to “methods”, Correction was done.

L342, “dominantly” to “predominantly”, Correction was done.

L347, “reach” to “reached”, Correction was done.

L355, “reach up” to “reached up”, Correction was done.

L386, “Potential use of sub-surface” to “The potential use of the sub-surface”, Correction was done.

L388, “in terms irrigation” to “in terms of irrigation”, Correction was done.

L393, “destructions” to “changes”, Correction was done.

Comments 2: The discussion section needs to be strengthened and discussed in depth.

Response 2: Discussion section was strengthened and discussed in depth as follows:

1- Açıkgöz (1995) reported that roots were shallow in the areas where water was not limited, whereas under drought conditions, roots developed downwards in order to take up water. Baştuğ and Büyüktaş (2003) conducted a study to determine the effects of different irrigation levels applied on golf courses on some quality characteristics of turf grass. As a result of the research, they reported that in conditions where water is not limited, the roots are shallow and therefore their weight is low.

Açıkıkgoz E (1995) Tarımsal Ekoloji. Uludag˘ Üniversitesi, Bursa.

BASTUG, Ruhi; BUYUKTAS, Dursun. The effects of different irrigation levels applied in golf courses on some quality characteristics of turfgrass. Irrigation Science, 2003, 22: 87-93.

2- Baştuğ and Büyüktaş (2003), conducted in order to determine the effects of different irrigation levels on ET and quality characteristics of turfgrass. In the study, four different irrigation treatments were examined: 100% (S1), 75% (S3), and 50% (S4) of the evaporation measured in Class A Pan; the S2 irrigation treatment represented the irrigation level practiced by the golf course management. According to the trial subjects (S1, S2, S3 and S4), respectively; They applied 780.3, 690.0, 587.5, and 391.8 mm of irrigation water.

C- Baştuğ and Büyüktaş (2003), conducted in order to determine the effects of different irrigation levels on ET and quality characteristics of turfgrass. According to the trial subjects, plant water consumption is as follows; They found it to be 895.7, 809.0, 710.7 and 524.7.

3-In the research conducted by Mecham (1996) using a lysimeter to determine the actual and reference plant water consumption and related plant coefficients of cold climate grasses between April and October in the north of Colorado, he found the water consumption of grass plants during vegetation to be 736 mm.

Mecham, B.Q., 1996. Scheduling Tufgrass Irrigation by Various ET Equations. Evapotranspiration and Irrigation Scheduling. Proceedings of the International Conference. San Antonio Convention Center, pp. 245- 249.Texas.

4- They emphasized that there is a relationship between irrigation amount and root development, depending on the species and varieties (Bowman, Devitt, Engelke, & Rufty, 1998; Sinclair, Schreffler, Wherley, & Dukes, 2011;). In general, no significant change in rooting was observed at different irrigation amounts between 60% and 100% ETa (Fu, Fry, & Huang, 2007; Su et al., 2007). However, under a more severe deficit irrigation regime (20% ETa), Fu et al. (2007) observed a greater number and length of roots, but this was accompanied by a reduction in turfgrass quality.

Bowman, D. C., Devitt, D. A., Engelke, M. C., & Rufty, T. W. (1998). Root architecture affects nitrate leaching from bentgrass turf. Crop Science, 38(6), 1633–1639. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.2135/cropsci1998. 0011183X003800060036x

Sinclair, T. R., Schreffler, A., Wherley, B., & Dukes, M. D. (2011). Irrigation frequency and amount effect on root extension during sod establishment of warm-season grasses. HortScience, 46(8), 1202–1205.

Wherley, B. (2011). Turfgrass growth, quality, and reflective heat load in response to deficit irrigation practices. In L. Labedzki (Ed.), Evapotranspiration (pp. 419–430). Rijeka, Croatia: InTech.

Fu, J., Fry, J., & Huang, B. (2007). Tall fescue rooting as affected by deficit irrigation. HortScience, 42(3), 688–691.

Su, K., Bremer, D. J., Keeley, S. J., & Fry, J. D. (2007). Effects of high temperature and drought on a hybrid bluegrass compared with Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue. Crop Science, 47(5), 2152–2161. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.2135/cropsci2006.12.0781

5- Differences in turfgrass quality among species and varieties became more noticeable as the irrigation amount was reduced. In contrast to most agricultural systems, for turfgrass, any reductions in shoot growth are perceived to be beneficial, as long as visual and functional quality are not significantly sacrificed (Wherley, 2011).

As with turfgrass quality, turf irrigated with larger irrigation amounts showed higher DMP. It is important to highlight the positive correlation between turfgrass quality and daily DMP in irrigated turfgrass.

In general, during the growing season, average visual turf quality can be maintained at an acceptable level through deficit irrigation (up to 40% ETa), while turfgrass quality can be achieved with irrigation above 60%–80% ETa.(Gomez A. et al 2018).

Wherley, B. (2011). Turfgrass growth, quality, and reflective heat load inresponse to deficit irrigation practices. In L. Labedzki (Ed.),Evapotran-spiration(pp. 419–430). Rijeka, Croatia: InTech

GÓMEZ‐ARMAYONES, Carlos, et al. Assessing evidence on the agronomic and environmental impacts of turfgrass irrigation management. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 2018, 204.4: 333-346.

6-Moderate deficit irrigation strategies can be applied during the year without significantly compromising on turfgrass quality. However, during high-stress periods such as hot summer days or intense traffic, irrigation strategies should reflect the target use (sports, amenity, landscape) and accept there may be periods with reduced visual turfgrass quality. Deeper rooting was shown to be related to improved turfgrass quality particularly during drought events and faster recovery after drought stress.

GÓMEZ‐ARMAYONES, Carlos, et al. Assessing evidence on the agronomic and environmental impacts of turfgrass irrigation management. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 2018, 204.4: 333-346.

Comments 3: The format of all references should be prepared according to the guidelines of the journal.

Response 3.

I prepared the referee corrections according to the guidelines of the journal.

Response to Reviewer X Comments

1. Summary

First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks for your valuable and contributing reviews. Your suggestions were quite contributing. I did my best to perform entire revisions you recommended.

2. Questions for General Evaluation

Reviewer’s Evaluation

Response and Revisions

3. Point-by-point response to Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments 1: In line 41, I hope to give the reader an idea about some types of spreading weeds and their nature.

Response 1:

1-Turfgrass can be divided into two groups: cool-season and warm-season grasses. Cool-season grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, Poa pratensis, Festuca rubra, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea, etc.) are more cold-tolerant and exhibit a longer growing season than warm-season grasses (Bermudagrass, blue grama, buffalograss, zoysiagrass, etc.). Cold tolerance is usually the first desirable characteristic when selecting perennial plants, whether it is turfgrasses or bushes and trees. (Orta et al. 2023).

Orta, A.H.; Todorovic, M.; Ahi, Y. Cool-and Warm-Season Turfgrass Irrigation with Subsurface Drip and Sprinkler Methods Using Different Water Management Strategies and Tools. Water 2023, 15, 272. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15020272

 2-Turfgrass as a component of urban vegetation, to the mitigation of the urban heat island effect (Spronken-Smith and others 2000).

Spronken-Smith, R. A., T. R. Oke, and W. P. Lowry. 2000. Advection and the surface energy balance across an irrigated

urban park. International Journal of Climatology 20:1033–1047.

Comments 2: In line 49, please provide evidence that supports the irrigation values mentioned.

Dear referee, I don't understand what you mean here. Because there is no value in the place you specified.

Comments 3. In line 67, I would like to suggest placing symbolic images of the irrigation methods used

Response 3

                                    a                                          b

Figure 1. The sub-surface drip (a) and pop-up (b) irrigation systems

Comments 4: On line 137, it is preferable to put the transaction number in lowercase (S1)

Response 4: Dear referee, thank you very much for your suggestion. However, since the S1 symbols are written in capital letters in all figures, graphs and pictures, it will be difficult to correct them.

Comments 5: I note that the study was conducted during the years 2017 and 2018. Is there any effect of the climate changes occurring during these days? Therefore, I recommend setting recent climate data for the years 2021 and 2022 as a date for constant change.

Response 5: Dear referee, thank you very much for your suggestion. However, this study was conducted and completed in 2017 and 2018. Actually, I wanted to continue this work for another 10 years. But for some reasons I had to finish the study. As a result, this research was not designed to determine the effects of climate change. But I will take your suggestion into consideration in my future research.

Comments 6: A table or graph of added water quantities, consumption rates, and anything like that can be sufficient

Response 6: Dear referee, I wanted to give it all in my article to show the details about the study.

Comments 7 The pictures are unclear and inexpressive and need to be completely changed

Response 7: Dear referee, thank you very much for your suggestion. Similar studies are generally interpreted by giving results based on numbers. In my work, I wanted to support the numbers visually with pictures. For this, I used the most beautiful pictures available in my article.

Comments 8 The research needs more reference studies

Response 8: More reference works have been added to the article.

Comments 9 The results need further discussion

Response 9: The results were further discussed, supported by previous studies.

Response to Reviewer X Comments

1. Summary

First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks for your valuable and contributing reviews. Your suggestions were quite contributing. I did my best to perform entire revisions you recommended.

2. Questions for General Evaluation

Reviewer’s Evaluation

Response and Revisions

Comments 1: Kindly check minor spelling mistake. The abstract needs a better composition of words. There is only one author in this manuscript. Did all the extensive work is done by single person?

Response 1: Minor spelling mistake checked. This study was derived from my PhD student's thesis. Therefore, since he passed away, I could not write his name in the article. However, I wrote the following statements in the "Acknowledgments" section at the end of my article.

“This study was derived from Ph.D. Thesis entitled as “Investigation of Usability of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Method For Green Fields” of My PhD student Selman KAYA, with whom I conducted this study, passed away in October 2021. May God rest his place in heaven”.

Comments 2: Authors should explain why they chose Subsurface Drip Irrigation Systems in this work.

Response 2: Dear Referee, I explain why used Subsurface Drip Irrigation System in this work in Line66-Line80.

 1-The use of subsurface drip irrigation systems has been increasing and yields various benefits, including the ability to apply water close to the plant root system without wetting the soil surface, which results in small losses by evaporation and thus high application efficiency (Ayars et al., 1999; Fan and Li, 2018). Because the drip lines are not exposed on the surface, mechanical damage and solar radiation are minimized, facilitating crop management practices and increasing the longevity of the system (Martínez and Reca, 2014).

Ayars, J.E., Phene, C.J., Hutmacher, R.B., Davis, K.R., Schoneman, R.A., Vail, S.S., Mead, R.M., 1999. Subsurface drip irrigation of row crops : a review of 15 years of research at the Water Management. Agric. Water Manag. 42, 1–27.

Fan, W., Li, G., 2018. Effect of soil properties on hydraulic characteristics under subsurface drip irrigation. IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 121. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/ 10.1088/1755-1315/121/5/052042.

Martínez, J., Reca, J., 2014. Water use efficiency of surface drip irrigation versus an alternative subsurface drip irrigation method. J. Irrig. Drain. Eng. 140, 04014030 https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1061/(asce)ir.1943-4774.0000745.

2-Subsurface irrigation systems, on the other hand, apply water directly to the root zone, thereby avoiding problems such as overspray, runoff, wind drift, and human exposure (Leinauer and Devitt, 2013).

Leinauer, B., and D.A. Devitt. 2013. Irrigation science and technology. In: B. Horgan, J. Stier, and S. Bonos, editors, Agronomy Mono­graph 56. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, Madison, WI. p. 1075–1133.

3-The irreversibility of global climate change brings about serious reductions in freshwater resources. At the same time, the increasing world population and the corresponding increase in water demand limit the use of water in crop production. The water and drought stress caused by this cause serious stress for both cool climate and warm climate grass species. While grass fields are an important source of recreation in many world capitals, increasing drought may cause these fields to become increasingly idle and perhaps decrease national happiness indexes. These stress conditions can occur alone, or it is possible for many factors to come together. This situation can cause irreversible damage.((Huang et al., 2014)

Huang, B., DaCosta, M., & Jiang, Y. (2014). Research advances in mechanisms of turfgrass tolerance to abiotic stresses: from physiology to molecular biology. Critical reviews in plant sciences, 33(2-3), 141-189

Comments 3:. Insert the area studied in this experiment if possible.

Response 3:

Figure 3: Experimental area

Comments 4: Results are well indicated.

Response 4: Dear referee, thank you very much for your opinion.

Comments 5: Could be more detailed. The lines should be more focused for highlighting the important finding of this work.

Response 5: The results were further discussed, supported by previous studies.

Comments 6: Strengthen the part of the discussion with 2 or 3 new references.

Response 6: More reference works have been added to the article.

Comments 6: Minor language issues must be addressed to improve quality of the MS.

Response 6: The English language of the article was reviewed in line with the opinions of the referees. Entire text was passed through grammar and spelling check of a colleague whose native language is English.