The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency
Extensive afforestation activities in the Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) of China have profoundly altered the underlying surface conditions, thereby impacting the carbon sequestration and water cycle. However, under the circumstances of the warming-humidifying trends in northwest China, it’s challenging to...
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2500425X |
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| author | Jiazheng Li Rong Wu Mengjing Li Zijun Wang Chenfeng Cui Junrong Liu |
| author_facet | Jiazheng Li Rong Wu Mengjing Li Zijun Wang Chenfeng Cui Junrong Liu |
| author_sort | Jiazheng Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Extensive afforestation activities in the Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) of China have profoundly altered the underlying surface conditions, thereby impacting the carbon sequestration and water cycle. However, under the circumstances of the warming-humidifying trends in northwest China, it’s challenging to clarify direct and indirect effects of carbon sequestration increase and climate change on evapotranspiraton (ET) and water resource variation (represented by water yield, WY) in this typical fragile ecological zone. To address this, we calculated the Net Primary Productivity (NPP) by a modified CASA model, proposed an indicator (sensitivity of carbon sequestration, SC) to characterize the ecological efficiency of revegetation and found it decrease significantly (−0.77 a-1; p < 0.05). Then we incorporated SC into a quantitative attribution analysis framework. The results indicated that the decoupled responses of ET and WY to six driving factors (NPP; precipitation, PRE; temperature, TEMP; vapor pressure deficit, VPD; solar radiation, RAD; wind speed, WS) presented significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Spatially, NPP dominated the positive and negative changes in ET and WY respectively, enhancing ET at a rate of 3.52 mm·a-1 and suppressing WY at a rate of 4.12 mm·a-1. Among climate factors, PRE and TEMP also explained 12 % and 8 % of ET change, respectively. Temporally, the interaction between NPP and ET steadily shrank at a rate of 0.003 a-1, while that between most climate factors and ET increased to different degrees, indicating that ET may slightly shift from being driven by vegetation to being driven by climate. From the perspective of SC, we found that the lower the SC in an area, the greater the contribution of climate change to ET. While the unstable increase of PRE, decrease of SC, and the warming-humidifying trends were jointly intensifying the potential water resource crisis. The results help us balance the contradiction between ecological benefits and limited water resources. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-09ccb4852da945499010ad2fd2b75d8a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-09ccb4852da945499010ad2fd2b75d8a2025-08-20T03:13:49ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-05-0117411349510.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113495The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiencyJiazheng Li0Rong Wu1Mengjing Li2Zijun Wang3Chenfeng Cui4Junrong Liu5College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement and Early Warning Technology for Urban Environmental Health Risks, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Corresponding authors.China Coal Aerial Survey and Remote Sensing Group Co., Ltd, China; Corresponding authors.Extensive afforestation activities in the Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) of China have profoundly altered the underlying surface conditions, thereby impacting the carbon sequestration and water cycle. However, under the circumstances of the warming-humidifying trends in northwest China, it’s challenging to clarify direct and indirect effects of carbon sequestration increase and climate change on evapotranspiraton (ET) and water resource variation (represented by water yield, WY) in this typical fragile ecological zone. To address this, we calculated the Net Primary Productivity (NPP) by a modified CASA model, proposed an indicator (sensitivity of carbon sequestration, SC) to characterize the ecological efficiency of revegetation and found it decrease significantly (−0.77 a-1; p < 0.05). Then we incorporated SC into a quantitative attribution analysis framework. The results indicated that the decoupled responses of ET and WY to six driving factors (NPP; precipitation, PRE; temperature, TEMP; vapor pressure deficit, VPD; solar radiation, RAD; wind speed, WS) presented significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Spatially, NPP dominated the positive and negative changes in ET and WY respectively, enhancing ET at a rate of 3.52 mm·a-1 and suppressing WY at a rate of 4.12 mm·a-1. Among climate factors, PRE and TEMP also explained 12 % and 8 % of ET change, respectively. Temporally, the interaction between NPP and ET steadily shrank at a rate of 0.003 a-1, while that between most climate factors and ET increased to different degrees, indicating that ET may slightly shift from being driven by vegetation to being driven by climate. From the perspective of SC, we found that the lower the SC in an area, the greater the contribution of climate change to ET. While the unstable increase of PRE, decrease of SC, and the warming-humidifying trends were jointly intensifying the potential water resource crisis. The results help us balance the contradiction between ecological benefits and limited water resources.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2500425XEvapotranspiration (ET)Water yield (WY)Sensitivity of carbon sequestration (SC)Attribution analysisWarming-humidifying trendsMu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) |
| spellingShingle | Jiazheng Li Rong Wu Mengjing Li Zijun Wang Chenfeng Cui Junrong Liu The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency Ecological Indicators Evapotranspiration (ET) Water yield (WY) Sensitivity of carbon sequestration (SC) Attribution analysis Warming-humidifying trends Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) |
| title | The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency |
| title_full | The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency |
| title_fullStr | The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency |
| title_full_unstemmed | The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency |
| title_short | The hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the Mu Us Sandy land of China under the background of declining ecological efficiency |
| title_sort | hydrological impact of greening and climate change on the mu us sandy land of china under the background of declining ecological efficiency |
| topic | Evapotranspiration (ET) Water yield (WY) Sensitivity of carbon sequestration (SC) Attribution analysis Warming-humidifying trends Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2500425X |
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