Study on Water Suitability of Apple Plantations in the Loess Plateau under Climate Change

Xuerui Gao, Ai Wang, Yong Zhao, Xining Zhao, Miao Sun, Junkai Du and Chengcheng Gang
Additional contact information
Xuerui Gao: Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Ai Wang: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Yong Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Xining Zhao: Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Miao Sun: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Junkai Du: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Chengcheng Gang: Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: With the implementation of the Grain for Green Project, the apple plantation area is increasing in Loess Plateau. However, due to severe water scarcity, the sustainability of apple tree growth is threatened. In this paper, we used meteorological data (1990–2013) and forecasted climate data (2019–2050) to estimate water demand and establish a water suitability model to study the water balance between available water and water consumption of the apple trees. The results show that: (i) the order of the average water demand of apple plantation in each subarea is Shaanxi Province > Yuncheng area > Gansu Province > Sanmenxia Region, ranging from 500 to 950 mm; (ii) the temporal variability of water suitability from 1990 to 2013 is large, and the higher values are concentrated in the late growth stage of the apple trees and the lower values are concentrated in the early growth stage; (iii) the temporal and spatial distribution of water suitability is relatively stable and even in the Loess Plateau in the period of 2019–2050; (iv) the water suitability is mainly affected by effective precipitation and reference evapotranspiration and the reference evapotranspiration is mainly affected by the solar radiation (36%) and average temperature (38%). Furthermore, due to the joint influence of precipitation increases and solar radiation (average temperature) increases, the future water suitability of the apple plantation area in the Loess Plateau is showing a non-significant downward trend under RCP4.5 scenario.

Keywords: water balance; apple plantation; water suitability; climate change; the Loess Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2504/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2504/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:11:p:2504-:d:181561

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().