Revegetation in China’s Loess Plateau is approaching sustainable water resource limits

Feng, Xiaoming; Fu, Bojie; Piao, Shilong; Wang, Shuai; Ciais, Philippe; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Lü, Yihe; Zeng, Yuan; Li, Yue; Jiang, Xiaohui; Wu, Bingfang

doi:10.1038/nclimate3092

Cited by 1,310 publications

(642 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The response of WY change to NDVI change was negative (Figure 7a) (R 2 = 0.012, R = −0.111, p < 0.01), which showed a negative relationship between WY and vegetation restoration. Vegetation restoration may have increased evapotranspiration (ET) and reduced regional WY, as has been found by other researchers [12,69,70]. The response of NPP change to NDVI change was positive (Figure 7b), which showed a positive relationship between NPP and vegetation restoration and that was consistent with previous research [2,59,68].…”

Section: Response Of Es Change To Vegetation Changesupporting

confidence: 81%

“…This improvement in vegetation cover has realized huge ecological effects, including the potential in sequestrating greenhouse gases [9,10] or regulating climate, which is a hot issue in the background of climate change. However, because some regions of GFG (e.g., NSLP) belong to the semi-arid area, some research has raised concerns about the problems of food security and water scarcity caused by GFG [11,12]. Climate regulation, water supply (yield) and food provision are all ecosystem services (ES), which are defined as the benefits people derive from ecosystems [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecosystem Services and Ecological Restoration in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau, China, in Relation to Climate Fluctuation and Investments in Natural Capital

et al. 2017

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Accurately identifying the spatiotemporal variations and driving factors of ecosystem services (ES) in ecological restoration is important for ecosystem management and the sustainability of nature conservation strategies. As the Green for Grain project proceeds, food provision, water regulation and climate regulation services in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau (NSLP) are changing and have caused broad attention. In this study, the dynamic pattern of the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) and the main drivers of grain production (GP), water yield (WY) and net primary production (NPP) in the NSLP from 2000-2013 are identified by incorporating multiple data and methods, in order to provide a better understanding of how and why ES change during ecological restoration. WY was simulated by hydrological modeling, and NPP was estimated with the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model. The results show that vegetation restoration continued from 2000-2013, but fluctuated because of the comprehensive influence of climate and human activity. GP and NPP both exhibited significantly increasing trends, while changes in WY occurred in two stages: decline (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) and growth (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). Spatially, significantly increasing trends in NPP and WY were detected in 52.73% and 24.76% of the region, respectively, in areas that correspond with the Green for Grain project and high precipitation growth. Correlation and partial correlation analyses show that there were different dominant factors (i.e., natural vs. anthropogenic) driving ES change in the NSLP from 2000-2013. The change in WY was mainly driven by precipitation, while the improvements in GP and NPP can be attributed to investments in natural capital (i.e., chemical fertilizer, agricultural machinery power and afforestation). We also found that vegetation restoration can produce positive effects on NPP, but negative effects on WY by using response analyses of WY or NPP change to NDVI change, demonstrating that additional research on the role of water in vegetation restoration is needed. Our results provide support for ES management and the sustainable development of ecological restoration in the NSLP.

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Section: Response Of Es Change To Vegetation Changesupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Services and Ecological Restoration in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau, China, in Relation to Climate Fluctuation and Investments in Natural Capital

et al. 2017

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“…Major regulators of forest evapotranspiration include forest biomass (Feng et al, 2016), leaf stomatal conductance (Lin et al, 2015), canopy leaf area index (LAI) (Mu et al, 2013), tree hydraulic traits (Gao et al, 2014) and stand surface roughness (Donohue et al, 2007). In the context of temperate and boreal Sweden, changes in forest attributes are likely to play an important role because of the higher proportion of available energy partitioned into latent heat than in other ecosystems in these regions, such as grassland, wetlands and tundra (Baldocchi et al, 2000;Kasurinen et al, 2014;van der Velde et al, 2013).…”

Section: F Jaramillo Et Al: Dominant Effect Of Increasing Forest Bimentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant effect of increasing forest biomass on evapotranspiration: interpretations of movement in Budyko space

Jaramillo

Cory

Arheimer

et al. 2018

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. During the last 6 decades, forest biomass has increased in Sweden mainly due to forest management, with a possible increasing effect on evapotranspiration. However, increasing global CO 2 concentrations may also trigger physiological water-saving responses in broadleaf tree species, and to a lesser degree in some needleleaf conifer species, inducing an opposite effect. Additionally, changes in other forest attributes may also affect evapotranspiration. In this study, we aimed to detect the dominating effect(s) of forest change on evapotranspiration by studying changes in the ratio of actual evapotranspiration to precipitation, known as the evaporative ratio, during the period 1961-2012. We first used the Budyko framework of water and energy availability at the basin scale to study the hydroclimatic movements in Budyko space of 65 temperate and boreal basins during this period. We found that movements in Budyko space could not be explained by climatic changes in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in 60 % of these basins, suggesting the existence of other dominant drivers of hydroclimatic change. In both the temperate and boreal basin groups studied, a negative climatic effect on the evaporative ratio was counteracted by a positive residual effect. The positive residual effect occurred along with increasing standing forest biomass in the temperate and boreal basin groups, increasing forest cover in the temperate basin group and no apparent changes in forest species composition in any group. From the three forest attributes, standing forest biomass was the one that could explain most of the variance of the residual effect in both basin groups. These results further suggest that the water-saving response to increasing CO 2 in these forests is either negligible or overridden by the opposite effect of the increasing forest biomass. Thus, we conclude that increasing standing forest biomass is the dominant driver of long-term and large-scale evapotranspiration changes in Swedish forests.

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“…Wei et al (2015) found a strong inverse relationship between runoff and conversion to forests, shrubs, and grasses during the period 2005-2010 in a typical watershed on the Loess Plateau. Feng et al (2016) reported that revegetation increased ET and resulted in a significant (P < 0.001) decrease in the ratio of streamflow to precipitation on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Zuo et al (2016) combined statistical tests and hydrological modeling to assess the effects of land use on runoff and found that the water resources in the upstream region decreased more than did those in the downstream region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1999, the "Grain for Green" project (GFGP) was launched by the Chinese government in the Loess Plateau region with the primary goal of retiring and converting steep cropland (slope ≥ 15 • ) to green lands Liu et al, 2008a). It was reported that the vegetation coverage on the Loess Plateau increased from 6.5 % in the 1970s to 51 % in 2010 (Wang et al, 2012), and approximately 16 000 km 2 of rain-fed cropland was converted to planted vegetation during the past decade (Feng et al, 2016). Consequently, the hydrological processes on the sloping land and in the river systems have changed, but the extent of these changes and their relationships to LULC change remain unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal response of the water cycle to land use conversions in a typical hilly–gully basin on the Loess Plateau, China

Qiu

Wang

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The hydrological effects of the "Grain for Green" project (GFGP) on the Loess Plateau have been extensively debated due to the complexity of the water system and its multiple driving factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the response of the hydrological cycle to the GFGP measures based in a case study of the Yanhe Basin, a typical hilly-gully area on the Loess Plateau of China. First, we analyzed the land use and land cover (LULC) changes from 1990 to 2010. Then, we evaluated the effects of LULC changes and sloping land conversion on the main hydrological components in the basin using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The results indicated that cropland exhibited a decreasing trend, declining from 40.2 % of the basin area in 1990 to 17.6 % in 2010, and that the woodland and grassland areas correspondingly increased. With the land use changes from 1990 to 2010, the water yield showed a decreasing trend which was mainly due to decrease in surface runoff. In contrast, evapotranspiration (ET) showed an increasing trend over the same period, resulting in a persistent decrease in soil water. The conversion of sloping cropland to grassland or woodland exerted negative effects on water yield and soil water. Compared with the land use condition in 2010, the negative effects were most evident where cropland with a slope ≥ 15 • was converted to woodland, with decreases in surface runoff and soil water of 17.1 and 6.4 %, respectively. These results suggest that the expansive reforestation on sloping land in the loess hilly-gully region decreased water yield and increased ET, resulting in reduced soil water. The results of this study can be used to support sustainable land use planning and water resource management on the Loess Plateau in China.

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Revegetation in China’s Loess Plateau is approaching sustainable water resource limits

Cited by 1,310 publications

References 42 publications

Ecosystem Services and Ecological Restoration in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau, China, in Relation to Climate Fluctuation and Investments in Natural Capital

Ecosystem Services and Ecological Restoration in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau, China, in Relation to Climate Fluctuation and Investments in Natural Capital

Dominant effect of increasing forest biomass on evapotranspiration: interpretations of movement in Budyko space

Spatiotemporal response of the water cycle to land use conversions in a typical hilly–gully basin on the Loess Plateau, China

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