Potential Variation of Evapotranspiration Induced by Typical Vegetation Changes in Northwest China

Yanmin Shuai, Yanjun Tian, Congying Shao, Jiapeng Huang, Lingxiao Gu, Qingling Zhang and Ruishan Zhao
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Yanmin Shuai: Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Yanjun Tian: School of Geomatics, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin 123000, China
Congying Shao: Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Jiapeng Huang: School of Geomatics, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin 123000, China
Lingxiao Gu: School of Surveying and Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454003, China
Qingling Zhang: School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-sen University Shenzhen Campus, Shenzhen 518107, China
Ruishan Zhao: School of Geomatics, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin 123000, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: Evapotranspiration (ET), as a key eco-hydrological parameter, plays an important role in understanding sustainable ecosystem development. Each plant category has a unique functional trait on transpiration and photosynthesis, with ET implying that water cycle and energy transformation is linked with vegetation type. Changes in surface vegetation directly alter biophysical land surface properties, hence affecting energy and ET transfer. With the rapid increase in land surface changes, there is a need to further understand and quantify the effects of vegetation change on ET, especially over the vulnerable water-cycle region in the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China. We adopted the GlobalLand30 land cover and MOD16A2 in 2010 and 2020 to investigate, discuss the spatio-temporal characteristics of annual and seasonal ET of cultivated land, grassland, and forests in Northwest China, and quantify the impact on vegetation changes with absolute and relative changes from different climatic subecoregions on ET. Our results show the following: (1) Forest ET was generally the highest at 688 mm, followed by cultivated land and grassland with 200–400 mm in arid climatic subecoregions. (2) Returning cultivated land to forests and cultivated land expansion potentially enhances ET by 90–110 mm/10a, with the relative rate of change increasing by 22.1% and 45.8%, respectively, away from unchanged vegetation within identical subecoregions. (3) The ET of most investigated areas gains the highest value in summer, followed by spring, autumn, and winter. This study provides reference for sustainable ecosystem development and the reasonable utilization of limited water resources in Northwest China.

Keywords: evapotranspiration; vegetation change; water resources; variation; Northwest China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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