2.2.5 Statistical analysis
The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to test the differences in RT, response duration time, and WFV among different rainfall patterns and vegetation types, in which data were not normally distributed. The Bonferroni method was used to correct pairwise comparisons (α=0.05). A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to compare the difference in soil water storage over the growing season. Least significant difference (LSD) was used as a post hoc-test for multiple comparisons of means (α=0.05). Linear regression models were established between the total rainfall amount and the change in soil water storage in the 13th rainfall-soil wetting process. Statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS statistical package (SPSS 22.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA) and Origin 9.3 (OriginLab, Corp., Northampton, MA, USA).