Comparison of the water budget for the typical cropland and pear orchard ecosystems in the North China Plain

The North China Plain (NCP) has a severe water shortage. About 70% groundwater has been exploited for irrigation. Winter wheat – summer maize and pears are typical representative cereal crops and commercial fruit trees in this area, respectively. Water budget for the typical cropland and orchard ecosystems has a significant importance for agricultural production, especially in the NCP. Therefore, evapotranspiration (ET) and water balance were studied in the annual winter wheat – summer maize rotation (cropland) and pear orchard. Latent and sensible heat fluxes were measured by eddy covariance. Annual ET for pear trees was 764 mm and for both crops was 690 mm. The difference of ET between these two ecosystems was about equal to one irrigation. Transpiration was the main loss with the mean proportion of 63% for crops and 76% for pear trees. Wheat growth period is in the dry season and requires much more irrigation than maize. Mainly transpiration (80%) occurred from April through September in the both ecosystems which was also the growing period for pear trees. The annual precipitation was 469 mm and 444 mm in the pear orchard and cropland, respectively, although 80% of it occurred from June to September. Compared with the precipitation, annual mean water deficit was 294 mm for the pear trees and 244 mm for crops. The water shortage was severe in May while surplus water presented in July and August. Energy and ET fluxes were determined by atmospheric demand and the response of plants as controlled by plant phenology and crop selection. As the water shortage situation becomes more serious in the NCP, sustainability of the agricultural ecosystems could be improved by changing crop planting patterns, specifically, increasing the area ratio of maize to pear trees.