Estimation of the Virtual Water Content of Main Crops on the Korean Peninsula Using Multiple Regional Climate Models and Evapotranspiration Methods

Lim, Chul-Hee; Kim, Seung Hee; Choi, Yuyoung; Kafatos, Menas; Lee, Woo‐Kyun

doi:10.3390/su9071172

Cited by 17 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As climates change, some species are expected to maintain their original distribution, adapting quickly to environmental change by utilizing suitable habitats near or within their historical distributions, or through increasing genetic diversity within their gene pools [5][6][7][8][9][10]. However, many habitats, particularly those dependent on cool and humid climates, are expected to shrink and in some cases completely disappear, which could lead to a decrease in biodiversity [11][12][13]. In response, there has been an increasing effort to halt, and eventually reverse, the loss of biodiversity through international cooperation [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Index for bioclimatic zone-based biodiversity conservation strategies under climate change in Northeast Asia

Choi

Lim

Chung

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biodiversity is rapidly declining globally and targeted efforts are needed to mitigate the loss of species. Conventional conservation efforts have focused on establishing protected areas and restoring degraded lands in order to maintain current conditions or restore ecosystems to a pre-damaged state. However, as the climate changes, the current bioclimatic zones will be re-distributed globally. Historical distribution patterns may no longer serve as an effective guide for supporting biodiversity under climate change. In response to these challenges, this study proposes a spatially explicit strategy for biodiversity conservation that takes climate change into account using bioclimatic classification. The bioclimatic classification maps of Northeast Asia (NEA) were constructed for three historical time periods (the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s) and two future time periods (the 2050s and 2070s) using five general circulation models (GCMs) in representative concentration pathway (RCP 8.5) scenarios. It was predicted that, in general, zones are shifting north, and some zones are expanding or shrinking rapidly. Based on an analysis of latitudinal and areal change for each zone, the bioclimate vulnerability index (BVI) and naturality index (NI) were developed to quantify the impact of environmental change. As a result of the BVI analysis, the distribution of vulnerable zones is expected to shift northward and expand. As is evident with the increased vulnerability of the subarctic region caused by the expansion of the temperate climate, the extent of vulnerable zones will increase. Also, the southern regions of NEA are becoming vulnerable due to the transformation of the temperate zone to a more subtropical zone. Quadrant graphs based on the BVI and NI were created to present appropriate strategies for each zone. Our proposed framework shows that conservation strategies should be modified based on the changes in the relative position of each zone over time.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Index for bioclimatic zone-based biodiversity conservation strategies under climate change in Northeast Asia

Choi

Lim

Chung

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The average annual temperature is approximately 10-16 • C with about 1200 mm of annual rainfall [49].…”

Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The topographic profile of Korean Peninsula is high mountains to the north and east, and lower plains towards the south and west. The average annual temperature is approximately 10-16 °C with about 1200 mm of annual rainfall [49]. …”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Spatially Explicit Assessment of Agricultural Water Equilibrium in the Korean Peninsula

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:In agriculture, balancing water use and retention is an issue dealt with in most regions and for many crops. In this study, we suggest agricultural water equilibrium (AWE) as a new concept that can facilitate a spatially explicit management of agricultural water. This concept is based on the principle of supply and demand of agricultural water, where the virtual water content of crops (VWC) can be defined as the demand, and cropland water budget (CWB) as the supply. For assessing the AWE of the Korean Peninsula, we quantified the CWB based on the hydrological cycle and the VWC of rice, a key crop in the Peninsula. Five factors, namely crop yield, growing season evapotranspiration, annual evapotranspiration, runoff, and annual precipitation, were used to assess the AWE, of which the first four were estimated using the spatially explicit large-scale crop model, Geographical Information System (GIS)-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (GEPIC). The CWB and VWC were calculated for a period of three decades, and the AWE was computed by deducting the VWC from the CWB. Our results show a latitudinal difference across the Korean Peninsula. On analyzing the AWE of the major river basins, we found most basins in North Korea showed very low values inferring unsustainable overconsumption of water. The latitudinal difference in AWE is a reflectance of the latitudinal changes in the VWC and CWB. This can be explained by decoupling the demand and supply of agricultural water. Although the AWE values presented in this study were not absolute, the values were sufficient to explain the latitudinal change, and the demand and supply of agricultural water, and establish the usefulness of the indicator.

show abstract

“…North Korea is a country with high food self-sufficiency rates but has received long-term food aid owing to supply shortage [69,70]. In recent years especially, the food security issue has worsened because of the political isolation that led to limited accessibility of imported goods and aid [9,69].…”

Section: Implications For Crop Growth Cropland Stability and Food Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Deforestation on Agro-Environmental Variables in Cropland, North Korea

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Deforestation in North Korea is becoming the epitome of the environmental change occurring in the Korean Peninsula. This study estimates the agro-environmental variables of North Korea's croplands and analyzes the impact of deforestation using the GEPIC (GIS-based EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate)) model and time-series land cover maps. To identify the changes in agricultural quality under deforestation, wind erosion, water erosion, organic carbon loss, and runoff were selected as the agro-environmental variables having an impact on cropland stability and productivity. Land cover maps spanning the past three decades showed that 75% of the forests were converted to croplands and that 69% of all converted croplands were originally forests, confirming the significant correlation between deforestation and cropland expansion in North Korea. Despite limitations in the verification data, we conducted qualitative and quantitative validation of the estimated variables and confirmed that our results were reasonable. Over the past 30 years, agro-environmental variables showed no clear time-series changes resulting from climate change, but changes due to spatial differences were seen. Negative changes in organic carbon loss, water erosion, and runoff were observed, regardless of the crop type. On newly-converted agricultural lands, runoff is 1.5 times higher and water-driven erosion and soil organic loss are more than twice as high compared to older croplands. The results showed that the agro-environment affected by deforestation had an impact on cropland stability and productivity.

show abstract

Estimation of the Virtual Water Content of Main Crops on the Korean Peninsula Using Multiple Regional Climate Models and Evapotranspiration Methods

Cited by 17 publications

References 45 publications

Novel Index for bioclimatic zone-based biodiversity conservation strategies under climate change in Northeast Asia

Novel Index for bioclimatic zone-based biodiversity conservation strategies under climate change in Northeast Asia

Spatially Explicit Assessment of Agricultural Water Equilibrium in the Korean Peninsula

Impact of Deforestation on Agro-Environmental Variables in Cropland, North Korea

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About