Ecohydrological decoupling of water storage and vegetation attributed to China’s large-scale ecological restoration programs

Cao, Yanjie; Xie, Zunyi; Woodgate, William; Ma, Xuanlong; Cleverly, Jamie; Pang, Yingjun; Qin, Fen; Huete, Alfredo

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128651

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…The deficit of TWS is most pronounced in the downstream of YRB where the flooding mainly occurred (Cao et al, 2022). Therefore, our results indicate that the long-term consumption and manipulation of water resources have dramatically altered the spatial distribution and state of water resources, causing LSMs outputs to diverge from realistic conditions (i.e., simulated mass increases of ~50 Gt compared to observed mass increases of only ~39 Gt).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Then, a more likely explanation is that the LSMs overestimate the soil moisture. The CC composes of several large populated cities and is undergoing intense manipulation of water resources, including dam construction, groundwater extraction and several ecological restoration (ER) programs (Cao et al, 2022), possibly converting environments in CC from nature-dominated to human-dominated.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrasting behavior of July 2021 floods in Western Europe and Central China revealed by GRACE Follow-On ranging data

Luo

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The conventional monthly resolution of global gravity products from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its successor GRACE Follow-On (GFO) greatly impedes their application to transient extreme climate events like floods. Nevertheless, this study utilizes the line-of-sight gravity difference between the twin GFO satellites, reflecting the instantaneous surface mass changes below, to obtain water mass changes at a resolution of days. This study investigates two floods in July 2021 in Western Europe and Central China (CC), respectively, and the high-resolution results present the temporal progression of the floods up to a maximum of about 40 Gt. However, the GFO-derived water gain in CC is much lower than expected. We speculate that intense human manipulation of water resources mitigated the repercussions of the flood in CC. This study presents the feasibility of GFO application in fast-evolving climate events and highlights the effectiveness of countermeasures by humans to flood hazards.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting behavior of July 2021 floods in Western Europe and Central China revealed by GRACE Follow-On ranging data

Luo

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…However, there are some differentiated results, particularly in water‐limited areas, where large‐scale afforestation activities may exacerbate local water pressure (Chiang et al, 2014). Furthermore, the changing regional hydrological processes resulting from the implementation of the ER project have led to excessive water consumption (Cao et al, 2016; Cao et al, 2022). Highlighting the complex influencing mechanism of the ‘soil‐vegetation‐water’ complex system, the implementation of the ER project increases the uncertainty of water retention (Li et al, 2018; Teo et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The CR and GR modes show significant water retention efficiency compared to non‐ecological restoration project areas (Qiu et al, 2011), likely due to their shorter restoration period than other modes. Relevant studies also pointed out that forest land requires a longer restoration cycle for water retention compared to grassland (Cao et al, 2022). In the future, semi‐arid regions may face more severe water shortage and consumption problems due to global warming (Jia et al, 2022), and further implementation of the ER project could have a significant impact on water retention in the Taihang Mountain area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the changing regional hydrological processes resulting from the implementation of the ER project have led to excessive water consumption (Cao et al, 2016;Cao et al, 2022). Highlighting the complex influencing mechanism of the 'soil-vegetation-water' complex system, the implementation of the ER project increases the uncertainty of water retention (Li et al, 2018;Teo et al, 2022).…”

Section: Influence Mechanism Of Water Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing impacts of ecological restoration project on water retention function in the Taihang Mountain area, China

Wang,

Liu,

Deng

et al. 2024

Ecohydrology

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The ecological restoration (ER) project significantly affects the water retention function in the Taihang Mountain area. However, a comprehensive understanding of the water retention effects in different ER project areas still needs to be improved. In this study, we employed the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade‐offs (InVEST) model to evaluate the differences in water retention among different ER project areas. Additionally, we used the structural equation model to explore the influence of various factors on water retention. The results showed the following: (1) The total amount of water retention in the Taihang Mountain area increased yearly from 2000 to 2020, with an 85.25% increase in 21 years. The water retention function showed a trend of transferring to a higher level. (2) The forest land restoration project showed the highest average water retention capacity, followed by the grassland restoration project, which together provided 61.12% of the water retention capacity in the ER areas. Forest land restoration project was found to have the most potential in improving water retention, while grassland restoration was more efficient. The water retention capacity of a 21‐year‐old artificial forest could only reach 70.92% of the natural forest. Cropland restoration mode increased the water retention by 22.85% compared with non‐ecological engineering areas. (3) The enhancement of water retention function in the study area resulted from multiple factors, among which precipitation and root depth were the most critical variables. (4) According to the structural equation model, the impact of natural factors on water retention accounted for 74.33%, and ecological engineering had a greater impact on water retention in the hilly zone. The ER project significantly increased water retention capacity. The results provide scientific support for improving water retention function and optimizing ER projects in semi‐arid areas of China.

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Time-series satellite images reveal abrupt changes in vegetation dynamics and possible determinants in the Yellow River Basin

Jiang,

Fang,

Zhu

et al. 2024

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

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Ecohydrological decoupling of water storage and vegetation attributed to China’s large-scale ecological restoration programs

Cited by 17 publications

References 88 publications

Contrasting behavior of July 2021 floods in Western Europe and Central China revealed by GRACE Follow-On ranging data

Contrasting behavior of July 2021 floods in Western Europe and Central China revealed by GRACE Follow-On ranging data

Assessing impacts of ecological restoration project on water retention function in the Taihang Mountain area, China

Time-series satellite images reveal abrupt changes in vegetation dynamics and possible determinants in the Yellow River Basin

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