Water use by perennial plants in the transition zone between river oasis and desert in NW China

Thomas, Frank M.; Foetzki, Andrea; Arndt, Stefan K.; Bruelheide, Helge; Gries, Dirk; Li, Xiangyi; Zeng, Fanjiang; Zhang, Ximing; Runge, Michael C.

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2005.07.008

Cited by 65 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The region is within an extremely arid warm temperate zone, with an annual precipitation from 17 to 42 mm and a potential evaporation of approximately 2500-3000 mm [4,11,17], rendering this area one of the most hyper arid places in the world [10,27,29]. The average groundwater depth beside the riverbank is low, thus can only support vegetation types with a higher drought resistance [29,30]. Therefore, desert riparian vegetation has a relatively simple structure along the river.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating Water Use to Tree Vitality of Populus euphratica Oliv. in the Lower Tarim River, NW China

Keyimu

Halik

Rouzi

2017

Water

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Abstract:This study aimed to compare the hydraulic characteristics of different vitalities of Populus euphratica to reveal the differences in their water use strategies and water consumption to provide useful data to scale water use of riparian poplar forests in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, Northwestern China. Our results showed that the sapwood area of P. euphratica could be estimated based on its correlation with tree biometric parameters. The sapwood area of vital poplars tended to be larger than the senesced poplar despite both having the same diameter at breast height. This indicates that poplar vitality should be taken into account when estimating its sapwood area. Therefore, we established two different sapwood area estimation models for vital and senesced poplar (sapwood area = 1.452 × DBH 1.553 , R 2 = 0.891; sapwood area = 0.915 × DBH 1.618 , R 2 = 0.718; DBH: diameter at breast height). The sap flow process of vital and senesced poplar had certain differences and similarities; the average diurnal sap flow velocity and water consumption of vital poplar were 15.85 cm/h and 45.95 L, respectively; for the senesced poplar, it was 9.64 cm/h and 18.17 L, respectively, which were smaller than that of vital poplars. The influence of environmental factors on the sap flow velocity of two different P. euphratica was similar; the sap flow of both vital and senesced poplar had positive correlation with air temperature (R 2 = 0.800 and 0.851), solar radiation (R 2 = 0.732 and 0.778), vapor pressure deficit (R 2 = 0.508 and 0.643) and groundwater depth (R 2 = 0.301 and 0.171), while negative correlation with air humidity (R 2 = −0.313 and −0.478).

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating Water Use to Tree Vitality of Populus euphratica Oliv. in the Lower Tarim River, NW China

Keyimu

Halik

Rouzi

2017

Water

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“…The Tugai forests are dominated by Populus euphratica with Phragmites australis, Tamarix spp., Glycyrrhiza glabra, Alhagi sparsifolia, and Apocynum pictum as the main undergrowth species (Wang et al, 1996). The groundwater table, and thus finally the river runoff, which feeds the groundwater, plays a crucial role for the productivity, vitality, and actual evapotranspiration (ET a ) of those forests (Wang et al, 1996;Thomas et al, 2006;Thevs et al, 2008a).…”

Section: Riparian Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable management of river oases along the Tarim River (SuMaRiO) in Northwest China under conditions of climate change

Rumbaur¹,

Thevs

Disse³

et al. 2015

Earth Syst. Dynam.

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Abstract. The Tarim River basin, located in Xinjiang, NW China, is the largest endorheic river basin in China and one of the largest in all of Central Asia. Due to the extremely arid climate, with an annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, the water supply along the Aksu and Tarim rivers solely depends on river water. This is linked to anthropogenic activities (e.g., agriculture) and natural and semi-natural ecosystems as both compete for water. The ongoing increase in water consumption by agriculture and other human activities in this region has been enhancing the competition for water between human needs and nature. Against this background, 11 German and 6 Chinese universities and research institutes have formed the consortium SuMaRiO (Sustainable Management of River Oases along the Tarim River; http://www.sumario.de), which aims to create a holistic picture of the availability of water resources in the Tarim River basin and the impacts on anthropogenic activities and natural ecosystems caused by the water distribution within the Tarim River basin. On the basis of the results from field studies and modeling approaches as well as from suggestions by the relevant regional stakeholders, a decision support tool (DST) will be implemented that will then assist stakeholders in balancing the competition for water, Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 84 C. Rumbaur et al.: Sustainable management of river oases along the Tarim River acknowledging the major external effects of water allocation to agriculture and to natural ecosystems. This consortium was formed in 2011 and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. As the data collection phase was finished this year, the paper presented here brings together the results from the fields from the disciplines of climate modeling, cryology, hydrology, agricultural sciences, ecology, geoinformatics, and social sciences in order to present a comprehensive picture of the effects of different water availability schemes on anthropogenic activities and natural ecosystems along the Tarim River. The second objective is to present the project structure of the whole consortium, the current status of work (i.e., major new results and findings), explain the foundation of the decision support tool as a key product of this project, and conclude with application recommendations for the region. The discharge of the Aksu River, which is the major tributary of the Tarim, has been increasing over the past 6 decades. From 1989 to 2011, agricultural area more than doubled: cotton became the major crop and there was a shift from small-scale to large-scale intensive farming. The ongoing increase in irrigated agricultural land leads to the increased threat of salinization and soil degradation caused by increased evapotranspiration. Aside from agricultural land, the major natural and semi-natural ecosystems are riparian (Tugai) forests, shrub vegetation, reed beds, and other grassland, as well as urban and peri-urban vegetation. ...

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“…A land-use map was generated using information from the World View 1 optical satellite and field observations. The characteristic parameters (leaf area index (LAI), root depth, and crop factor) of the natural and agricultural vegetation were obtained from available literature [22][23][24][25][26] and remote sensing data. To generate a time series for LAI, data from the MODIS FPAR/LAI sensors on the Aqua and Terra satellites were used [27].…”

Section: Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Land Use and Climate Change on Groundwater and Ecosystems at the Middle Reaches of the Tarim River Using the MIKE SHE Integrated Hydrological Model

Keilholz

Disse

Halik

2015

Water

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Abstract:The Tarim basin is a unique ecosystem. The water from the Tarim River supports both wildlife and humans. To analyze the effects of both land use and climate changes on groundwater, a research site was established at Yingibazar, which is a river oasis along the middle section of the Tarim River. A hydrological survey was performed to assess the general water cycle in this area with special emphasis on groundwater replenishment as well as the impact of agricultural irrigation on the riparian natural vegetation with respect to salt transport and depth of groundwater. Although high-resolution input data is scarce for this region, simulation of water cycle processes was performed using the hydrological model MIKE SHE (DHI). The results of the calibrated model show that natural flooding is the major contributor to groundwater recharge. There is also a close interaction between irrigated agricultural areas and the adjacent natural vegetation for groundwater levels and salinity up to 300 m away from the fields. Furthermore, the source of water used for irrigation (i.e., river and/or groundwater) has a high impact on groundwater levels and salt transportation efficiency. The ongoing expansion of agricultural areas is rapidly destroying natural vegetation, floodplains, and their natural flow paths. Our results show that more unstable OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 3041annual Tarim floods will occur in the future under the background of climate change. Therefore, integrated hydrological simulations were also performed for 2050 and 2100 using MIKE SHE. The results confirm that after the glaciers melt in the Tian Shan Mountains, serious aquifer depletion and environmental degradation will occur in the area, causing great difficulties for the local people.

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Water use by perennial plants in the transition zone between river oasis and desert in NW China

Cited by 65 publications

References 20 publications

Relating Water Use to Tree Vitality of Populus euphratica Oliv. in the Lower Tarim River, NW China

Relating Water Use to Tree Vitality of Populus euphratica Oliv. in the Lower Tarim River, NW China

Sustainable management of river oases along the Tarim River (SuMaRiO) in Northwest China under conditions of climate change

Effects of Land Use and Climate Change on Groundwater and Ecosystems at the Middle Reaches of the Tarim River Using the MIKE SHE Integrated Hydrological Model

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