Response of Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency to Drought over China during 1982–2015: Spatiotemporal Variability and Resilience

Guo, Limai; Sun, Fubao; Liu, Wenbin; Zhang, Yongguang; Wang, Hong; Cui, Huijuan; Wang, Hongquan; Zhang, Jie; Du, Benxu

doi:10.3390/f10070598

Cited by 53 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…After severe drought, an ecosystem needs a recovery period [71]. If another drought occurs, the recovered ecosystem can respond quickly and to some extent ensure the stability of the ecosystem WUE level [9]. The resilience of ecosystem WUE found in this study is consistent with previous studies [26,69].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Responses of Water Use Efficiency to Drought in Southwest China

Zhao

Xiao

et al. 2020

Remote Sensing

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Water use efficiency (WUE) measures the tradeoff between carbon uptake and water consumption in terrestrial ecosystems. It remains unclear how the responses of WUE to drought vary with drought severity. We assessed the spatio-temporal variations of ecosystem WUE and its responses to drought for terrestrial ecosystems in Southwest China over the period 2000–2017. The annual WUE values varied with vegetation type in the region: Forests (3.25 gC kg−1H2O) > shrublands (2.00 gC kg−1H2O) > croplands (1.76 gC kg−1H2O) > grasslands (1.04 gC kg−1H2O). During the period 2000–2017, frequent droughts occurred in Southwest China, and overall, drought had an enhancement effect on WUE. However, the effects of drought on WUE varied with vegetation type and drought severity. Croplands were the most sensitive to drought, and slight water deficiency led to the decline of cropland WUE. Over grasslands, mild drought increased its WUE while moderate and severe drought reduced its WUE. For forests and shrublands, mild and moderate drought increased their WUE, and only severe drought reduce their WUE, indicating that these ecosystems had stronger resistance to drought. Assessing the patterns and trends of ecosystem WUE and its responses to drought are essential for understanding plant water use strategy and informing ecosystem water management.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Responses of Water Use Efficiency to Drought in Southwest China

Zhao

Xiao

et al. 2020

Remote Sensing

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“…Their value is larger than our simulated value because they used GPP instead of NPP. In previous studies, forests and grasslands were demonstrated to have the highest and lowest WUE values (Guo et al, 2019; Liu et al, 2015; Zhu et al, 2015), respectively. WUE results obtained via our simulation were found to exhibit a similar trend, with the highest values being associated with forests, followed by shrublands, and grasslands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The annual WUE value for the TP during the period of 1979–2010 was calculated to be approximately 0.38 g C kg −1 H 2 O in our study; this value is in good agreement with their results. Guo et al (2019) showed that TP had a lowest WUE of 0.78 g C kg −1 H 2 O compared with other subregions in China. Their value is larger than our simulated value because they used GPP instead of NPP.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variability and Driving Factors of Tibetan Plateau Water Use Efficiency

Lin

Wang

et al. 2020

JGR Atmospheres

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Water use efficiency (WUE) provides vital information about the carbon-water coupling relationship of a terrestrial ecosystem. Understanding the spatiotemporal variability and driving factors of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) WUE can facilitate the prediction of the response of the carbon-water process in the TP to climate change. We used a land surface model to investigate spatiotemporal changes in WUE and the responses to environmental factors, such as atmospheric CO 2 concentration and climate and land use change. Our results suggest that the average annual TP WUE was 0.38 g C kg −1 H 2 O and that this variable tended to increase at a rate of 0.001 g C kg −1 H 2 O year −1 during the period of 1979-2010. Changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration caused a significant increase in the rate of WUE change (i.e., 0.00051 g C kg −1 H 2 O year −1); these changes were also found to most significantly contribute to WUE increase in the TP and account for approximately 51% of the WUE fluctuation. Increasing temperature was found to result in a decreasing WUE (rate: −0.00028 g C kg −1 H 2 O year −1). Regarding results on vegetation type, forested areas had the highest WUE (i.e., 0.88 g C kg −1 H 2 O) and the highest rate of WUE change (i.e., 0.004 g C kg −1 H 2 O year −1), whereas the lowest WUE (i.e., 0.26 g C kg −1 H 2 O) was found in steppe and alpine vegetation areas. Although all other vegetation types were associated with increasing WUE, there was no significant change in the WUE of steppe areas. The main factors influencing WUE fluctuation for different vegetation types were found to be atmospheric CO 2 concentration and temperature change.

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“…Drought could induce stomatal closure to reduce water loss, thus decreasing carbon uptake. The response of WUE varies among ecosystems [ 22 , 23 ] and droughts with different duration and severity [ 24 , 25 ]. Higher WUE during droughts was found in Northeast China and South China comprised of abundant forests, whereas WUE was decreased over northwestern China [ 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The response of WUE varies among ecosystems [ 22 , 23 ] and droughts with different duration and severity [ 24 , 25 ]. Higher WUE during droughts was found in Northeast China and South China comprised of abundant forests, whereas WUE was decreased over northwestern China [ 23 ]. However, how the multiple ecosystem metrics (GPP, NPP, LAI, and WUE) respond to flash droughts and how the response time varies over different regions remain unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote sensing of the impact of flash drought events on terrestrial carbon dynamics over China

Zhang

Yuan

Otkin

2020

Carbon Balance Manage

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Background Flash drought poses a great threat to terrestrial ecosystems and influences carbon dynamics due to its unusually rapid onset and increasing frequency in a warming climate. Understanding the response of regional terrestrial carbon dynamics to flash drought requires long-term observations of carbon fluxes and soil moisture at a large scale. Here, MODIS satellite observations of ecosystem productivity and ERA5 reanalysis modeling of soil moisture are used to detect the response of ecosystems to flash drought over China. Results The results show that GPP, NPP, and LAI respond to 79–86% of the flash drought events over China, with highest and lowest response frequency for NPP and LAI, respectively. The discrepancies in the response of GPP, NPP, and LAI to flash drought result from vegetation physiological and structural changes. The negative anomalies of GPP, NPP, and LAI occur within 19 days after the start of flash drought, with the fastest response occurring over North China, and slower responses in southern and northeastern China. Water use efficiency (WUE) is increased in most regions of China except for western regions during flash drought, illustrating the resilience of ecosystems to rapid changes in soil moisture conditions. Conclusions This study shows the rapid response of ecosystems to flash drought based on remote-sensing observations, especially for northern China with semiarid climates. Besides, NPP is more sensitive than GPP and LAI to flash drought under the influence of vegetation respiration and physiological regulations. Although the mean WUE increases during flash drought over most of China, western China shows less resilience to flash drought with little changes in WUE during the recovery stage. This study highlights the impacts of flash drought on ecosystems and the necessity to monitor rapid drought intensification.

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Response of Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency to Drought over China during 1982–2015: Spatiotemporal Variability and Resilience

Cited by 53 publications

References 67 publications

Responses of Water Use Efficiency to Drought in Southwest China

Responses of Water Use Efficiency to Drought in Southwest China

Spatiotemporal Variability and Driving Factors of Tibetan Plateau Water Use Efficiency

Remote sensing of the impact of flash drought events on terrestrial carbon dynamics over China

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