Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Comparison of evapotranspiration components and water-use efficiency among different land use patterns of temperate steppe in the Northern China pastoral-farming ecotone

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Biometeorology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water-use efficiency (WUE), which links carbon and water cycles, is an important indicator of assessing the interactions between ecosystems and regional climate. Using chamber methods with and without plant removal treatments, we investigated WUE and evapotranspiration (ET) components in three ecosystems with different land-use types in Northern China pastoral-farming ecotone. In comparison, ET of the ecosystems with grazing exclusion and cultivating was 6.7 and 13.4 % higher than that of the ecosystem with free grazing. The difference in ET was primarily due to the different magnitudes of soil water evaporation (E) rather than canopy transpiration (T). Canopy WUE (WUEc, i.e., the ratio of gross primary productivity to T) at the grazing excluded and cultivated sites was 17 and 36 % higher than that at the grazing site. Ecosystem WUE (WUEnep, i.e., the ratio of net ecosystem productivity to ET) at the cultivated site was 34 and 28 % lower in comparison with grazed and grazing excluded stepped, respectively. The varied leaf area index (LAI) of different land uses was correlated with microclimate and ecosystem vapor/carbon exchange. The LAI changing with land uses should be the primary regulation of grassland WUE. These findings facilitate the mechanistic understanding of carbon-water relationships at canopy and ecosystem levels and projection of the effects of land-use change on regional climate and productivity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

G:

Grazed steppe

GE:

Grazing exclusion steppe

C:

Steppe cultivated to cropland

DS:

Sprayed with herbicide, its plant cover was dead and dry

CL:

Plants was clipped to ground and removed

CK:

Control plot without any treatments

E:

Evaporation

T:

Transpiration

I:

Interception evaporation

ET:

Evapotranspiration

NEE:

Net ecosystem exchange

NEP:

Net ecosystem productivity

GEP:

Gross ecosystem productivity

Re:

Ecosystem respiration

WUE:

Water use efficiency

WUEc:

Canopy water use efficiency, calculated as GEP/T

WUEnee:

Instantaneous ecosystem water use efficiency, the ratio of NEE to ET

WUEnep:

Ecosystem water use efficiency, the ratio of NEP to ET

WUEgep:

Ecosystem water use efficiency, the ratio of GEP to ET

AT:

Air temperature

ST:

Soil temperature

SM:

Soil moisture

Rn:

Net radiation

VPD:

Vapor pressure deficit

LAI:

Leaf area index

References

  • Béziat P, Rivalland V, Tallec T, Jarosz N, Boulet G, Gentine P, Ceschia E (2013) Evaluation of a simple approach for crop evapotranspiration partitioning and analysis of the water budget distribution for several crop species. Agric For Meteorol 177:46–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai W, Wan S, Niu S, Liu W, Chen Q, Wang Q, Zhang W, Han X, Li L (2010) Increased temperature and precipitation interact to affect root production, mortality, and turnover in a temperate steppe: implications for ecosystem C cycling. Glob Chang Biol 16(4):1306–1316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai Y, Wu J, Xing Q, Pan Q, Huang J, Yang D, Han X (2008) Primary production and rain use efficiency across a precipitation gradient on the Mongolia plateau. Ecology 89(8):2140–2153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beer C, Ciais P, Reichstein M, Baldocchi D, Law B, Papale D, Soussana JF, Ammann C, Buchmann N, Frank D (2009) Temporal and among‐site variability of inherent water use efficiency at the ecosystem level. Global biogeochemical cycles 23:2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brümmer C, Black TA, Jassal RS, Grant NJ, Spittlehouse DL, Chen B, Nesic Z, Amiro BD, Arain MA, Barr AG (2012) How climate and vegetation type influence evapotranspiration and water use efficiency in Canadian forest, peatland and grassland ecosystems. Agric For Meteorol 153:14–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bremer DJ, Auen LM, Ham JM, Owensby CE (2001) Evapotranspiration in a Prairie Ecosystem. Agronomy Journal 93(2):338–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen S, Chen J, Lin G, Zhang W, Miao H, Wei L, Huang J, Han X (2009a) Energy balance and partition in Inner Mongolia steppe ecosystems with different land use types. Agric For Meteorol 149(11):1800–1809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen S, Lin G, Huang J, Jenerette GD (2009b) Dependence of carbon sequestration on the differential responses of ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration to rain pulses in a semiarid steppe. Glob Chang Biol 15(10):2450–2461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dang Q, Lieffers V, Rothwell R, Macdonald S (1991) Diurnal variation and interrelations of ecophysiological parameters in three peatland woody species under different weather and soil moisture conditions. Oecologia 88(3):317–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enoch H, Hurd R (1979) The effect of elevated CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere on plant transpiration and water use efficiency. A study with potted carnation plants. Int J Biometeorol 23(4):343–351

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, Zhong H, Harris W, Yu G, Wang S, Hu Z, Yue Y (2008) Carbon storage in the grasslands of China based on field measurements of above-and below-ground biomass. Climatic Change 86(3):375–396

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher JB, Tu KP, Baldocchi DD (2008) Global estimates of the land–atmosphere water flux based on monthly AVHRR and ISLSCP-II data, validated at 16 FLUXNET sites. Remote Sensing of Environment 112(3):901–919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall DO, Scurlock J (1991) Climate change and productivity of natural grasslands. Annals of Botany 67(supp1):49–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu Z, Yu G, Fan J, Zhong H, Wang S, Li S (2010) Precipitation-use efficiency along a 4500-km grassland transect. Global Ecology and Biogeography 19(6):842–851

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu Z, Yu G, Fu Y, Sun X, Li Y, Shi P, Wang Y, Zheng Z (2008) Effects of vegetation control on ecosystem water use efficiency within and among four grassland ecosystems in China. Glob Chang Biol 14(7):1609–1619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu Z, Yu G, Zhou Y, Sun X, Li Y, Shi P, Wang Y, Song X, Zheng Z, Zhang L (2009) Partitioning of evapotranspiration and its controls in four grassland ecosystems: application of a two-source model. Agric For Meteorol 149(9):1410–1420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huxman TE, Smith MD, Fay PA, Knapp AK, Shaw MR, Loik ME, Smith SD, Tissue DT, Zak JC, Weltzin JF (2004) Convergence across biomes to a common rain-use efficiency. Nature 429(6992):651–654

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keenan TF, Hollinger DY, Bohrer G, Dragoni D, Munger JW, Schmid HP, Richardson AD (2013) Increase in forest water-use efficiency as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations rise. Nature 499(7458):324–327

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp AK, Smith MD (2001) Variation among biomes in temporal dynamics of aboveground primary production. Science 291(5503):481–484

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kool D, Agam N, Lazarovitch N, Heitman J, Sauer T, Ben-Gal A (2014) A review of approaches for evapotranspiration partitioning. Agric For Meteorol 184:56–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurbatova J, Li C, Varlagin A, Xiao X, Vygodskaya N (2008) Modeling carbon dynamics in two adjacent spruce forests with different soil conditions in Russia. Biogeosciences 5(4):969–980

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lauenroth W, Bradford J (2006) Ecohydrology and the partitioning AET between transpiration and evaporation in a semiarid steppe. Ecosystems 9(5):756–767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauenroth WK, Burke IC, Paruelo JM (2000) Patterns of production and precipitation-use efficiency of winter wheat and native grasslands in the central Great Plains of the United States. Ecosystems 3(4):344–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li SG, Eugster W, Asanuma J, Kotani A, Davaa G, Oyunbaatar D, Sugita M (2008) Response of gross ecosystem productivity, light use efficiency, and water use efficiency of Mongolian steppe to seasonal variations in soil moisture. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (2005–2012) 113 (G1). doi:G0101910.1029/2006jg000349

  • Liu J, Liu M, Zhuang D, Zhang Z, Deng X (2003) Study on spatial pattern of land-use change in China during 1995–2000. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences 46(4):373–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu YY, van Dijk AI, de Jeu RA, Canadell JG, McCabe MF, Evans JP, Wang G (2015) Recent reversal in loss of global terrestrial biomass. Nature Climate Change 5:470–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y, Gerten D, Le Maire G, Parton WJ, Weng E, Zhou X, Keough C, Beier C, Ciais P, Cramer W (2008) Modeled interactive effects of precipitation, temperature, and [CO2] on ecosystem carbon and water dynamics in different climatic zones. Glob Chang Biol 14(9):1986–1999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miao H, Chen S, Chen J, Zhang W, Zhang P, Wei L, Han X, Lin G (2009) Cultivation and grazing altered evapotranspiration and dynamics in Inner Mongolia steppes. Agric For Meteorol 149(11):1810–1819

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mu Z-X, Zhang S-Q, Hao W-F, Liang A-H, Liang Z-S (2005) The effect of root morphological traits and spatial distribution on WUE in maize. Acta Ecologica Sinica 25(11):2895–2900

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niu S, Sherry RA, Zhou X, Luo Y (2013) Ecosystem carbon fluxes in response to warming and clipping in a tallgrass prairie. Ecosystems 16(6):948–961

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niu S, Wu M, Han Y, Xia J, Li L, Wan S (2008) Water‐mediated responses of ecosystem carbon fluxes to climatic change in a temperate steppe. New Phytologist 177(1):209–219

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niu S, Xing X, Zhang Z, Xia J, Zhou X, Song B, Li L, Wan S (2011) Water‐use efficiency in response to climate change: from leaf to ecosystem in a temperate steppe. Glob Chang Biol 17(2):1073–1082

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niu S, Yang H, Zhang Z, Wu M, Lu Q, Li L, Han X, Wan S (2009) Non-additive effects of water and nitrogen addition on ecosystem carbon exchange in a temperate steppe. Ecosystems 12(6):915–926

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raeini-Sarjaz M, Chalavi V (2008) Pulvinus activity, leaf movement and leaf water-use efficiency of bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in a hot environment. Int J Biometeorol 52(8):815–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scurlock J, Hall D (1998) The global carbon sink: a grassland perspective. Glob Chang Biol 4(2):229–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tu K, Knohl A, Mambelli S, Ma S, Baldocchi D, Dawson T (2008) Observations and scaling of water use efficiency from leaf to globe. Geophysical Research Abstracts 10:07012

    Google Scholar 

  • Wraith J, Johnson D, Hanks R, Sisson D (1987) Soil and plant water relations in a crested wheatgrass pasture: response to spring grazing by cattle. Oecologia 73(4):573–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu F, Zhan J, Yan H, Shi C, Huang J (2013) Land cover mapping based on multisource spatial data mining approach for climate simulation: a case study in the farming-pastoral ecotone of North China. Advances in Meteorology 2013:12

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao X, Zhang Q, Braswell B, Urbanski S, Boles S, Wofsy S, Moore B III, Ojima D (2004) Modeling gross primary production of temperate deciduous broadleaf forest using satellite images and climate data. Remote Sensing of Environment 91(2):256–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao X, Zhang Q, Hollinger D, Aber J, Moore B III (2005) Modeling gross primary production of an evergreen needleleaf forest using MODIS and climate data. Ecological Applications 15(3):954–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu X, Sherry RA, Niu S, Li D, Luo Y (2013) Net primary productivity and rain‐use efficiency as affected by warming, altered precipitation, and clipping in a mixed‐grass prairie. Glob Chang Biol 19(9):2753–2764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yepez EA, Scott RL, Cable WL, Williams DG (2007) Intraseasonal variation in water and carbon dioxide flux components in a semiarid riparian woodland. Ecosystems 10(7):1100–1115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L, Fan J, Zhang W, Tang F (2014) Impact of the Being and Tianjin Sand Source Control Project on the grassland soil organic carbon storage. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology 25(2):374–380

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zur B, Jones J (1984) Diurnal changes in the instantaneous water use efficiency of a soybean crop. Agric For Meteorol 33(1):41–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Jiyuan Liu for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript and Yao Bo, Zhang Liangxia, and Yu Hailing for their help in laboratory measurements. This research was jointly funded by the State Key Technologies R&D Program (grant no. 2013BAC03B04), Natural Sciences Foundation of China (41371409 and 41301043), Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (2015037), and the Funding for talented young scientists of IGSNRR (2013RC203). In addition, the authors thank Dr. Qi Wei for his help in improving their figures, as well as the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped them to improve the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Yuzhe Li, Jiangwen Fan & Quanqin Shao

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yuzhe Li

  3. Key laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Synthesis Research Center of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Zhongmin Hu

  4. Landcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand

    Warwick Harris

Authors
  1. Yuzhe Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiangwen Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhongmin Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Quanqin Shao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Warwick Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yuzhe Li or Jiangwen Fan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, Y., Fan, J., Hu, Z. et al. Comparison of evapotranspiration components and water-use efficiency among different land use patterns of temperate steppe in the Northern China pastoral-farming ecotone. Int J Biometeorol 60, 827–841 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1076-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1076-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation