IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v430y2020ics0304380020302003.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sensitivity of Vegetation Growth to Precipitation in a Typical Afforestation Area in the Loess Plateau: Plant-Water Coupled Modelling

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Dandan
  • Xie, Xianhong
  • Tong, Juxiu
  • Meng, Shanshan
  • Wang, Yibing

Abstract

Vegetation dynamics are generally restricted by climate and the related soil-water state; however, the responses of vegetation growth to precipitation conditions following afforestation at a watershed scale remain unclear. In this study, we selected a typical small watershed in a semi-humid-arid transition climate zone, the Loess Plateau in China, where several afforestation programs have been implemented. We employed a plant-water coupled model to investigate the sensitivity of vegetation growth to precipitation input and to identify the effect of drought on vegetation growth during juvenile and mature stages. The model presents a favourable performance in simulating the water balance and vegetation dynamics during 2000‒2015. The model and remote sensing retrieved leaf area index (LAI) produce consistent trends regarding vegetation growth. Vegetation growth is not considerably restricted by the current precipitation conditions (semi-humid); however, the growth rate may be quite sensitive to low precipitation input (semi-arid conditions), particularly in the juvenile stage following afforestation. Moreover, vegetation growth is limited by the occurrence of drought in this area. Drought events impose a lag effect on the LAI, and there may be a longer lag effect in the juvenile stage than in the mature sage. The findings from this study provide comprehensive insights into analysing vegetation responses to precipitation, with considerable implications for the implementation of ecological restoration programs in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Dandan & Xie, Xianhong & Tong, Juxiu & Meng, Shanshan & Wang, Yibing, 2020. "Sensitivity of Vegetation Growth to Precipitation in a Typical Afforestation Area in the Loess Plateau: Plant-Water Coupled Modelling," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 430(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:430:y:2020:i:c:s0304380020302003
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380020302003
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109128?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mingkui Cao & F. Ian Woodward, 1998. "Dynamic responses of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling to global climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 393(6682), pages 249-252, May.
    2. Gassman, Philip W. & Reyes, Manuel R. & Green, Colleen H. & Arnold, Jeffrey G., 2007. "The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions," ISU General Staff Papers 200701010800001027, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Egbendewe-Mondzozo, Aklesso & Swinton, Scott M. & Bals, Bryan D. & Dale, Bruce E., 2011. "Can Dispersed Biomass Processing Protect the Environment and Cover the Bottom Line for Biofuel?," Staff Paper Series 119348, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Andersson, Jafet C.M. & Zehnder, Alexander J.B. & Rockström, Johan & Yang, Hong, 2011. "Potential impacts of water harvesting and ecological sanitation on crop yield, evaporation and river flow regimes in the Thukela River basin, South Africa," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(7), pages 1113-1124, May.
    3. Hongxing Liu & Wendong Zhang & Elena Irwin & Jeffrey Kast & Noel Aloysius & Jay Martin & Margaret Kalcic, 2020. "Best Management Practices and Nutrient Reduction: An Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Model of the Western Lake Erie Basin," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 96(4), pages 510-530.
    4. Medwid, Laura J. & Lambert, Dayton M. & Clark, Christopher D. & Hawkins, Shawn A. & McClellan, Hannah A., 2016. "Estimating Soil Loss Abatement Curves with Primary Survey Data and Hydrologic Models: An Empirical Example for Livestock Production in an East Tennessee Watershed," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230052, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    5. Catherine L. Kling & Raymond W. Arritt & Gray Calhoun & David A. Keiser, 2016. "Research Needs and Challenges in the FEW System: Coupling Economic Models with Agronomic, Hydrologic, and Bioenergy Models for Sustainable Food, Energy, and Water Systems," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 16-wp563, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    6. Alan F. Hamlet & Nima Ehsani & Jennifer L. Tank & Zachariah Silver & Kyuhyun Byun & Ursula H. Mahl & Shannon L. Speir & Matt T. Trentman & Todd V. Royer, 2024. "Effects of climate and winter cover crops on nutrient loss in agricultural watersheds in the midwestern U.S," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(1), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Negar Tayebzadeh Moghadam & Karim C. Abbaspour & Bahram Malekmohammadi & Mario Schirmer & Ahmad Reza Yavari, 2021. "Spatiotemporal Modelling of Water Balance Components in Response to Climate and Landuse Changes in a Heterogeneous Mountainous Catchment," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 35(3), pages 793-810, February.
    8. Yates, Andrew J. & Doyle, Martin W. & Rigby, J.R. & Schnier, Kurt E., 2013. "Market power, private information, and the optimal scale of pollution permit markets with application to North Carolina's Neuse River," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 256-276.
    9. Eini, Mohammad Reza & Salmani, Haniyeh & Piniewski, Mikołaj, 2023. "Comparison of process-based and statistical approaches for simulation and projections of rainfed crop yields," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    10. Jeong, Hanseok & Kim, Hakkwan & Jang, Taeil & Park, Seungwoo, 2016. "Assessing the effects of indirect wastewater reuse on paddy irrigation in the Osan River watershed in Korea using the SWAT model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 393-402.
    11. S. K. Aryal & S. Ashbolt & B. S. McIntosh & K. P. Petrone & S. Maheepala & R. K. Chowdhury & T. Gardener & R. Gardiner, 2016. "Assessing and Mitigating the Hydrological Impacts of Urbanisation in Semi-Urban Catchments Using the Storm Water Management Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(14), pages 5437-5454, November.
    12. Lingcheng Li & Liping Zhang & Jun Xia & Christopher Gippel & Renchao Wang & Sidong Zeng, 2015. "Implications of Modelled Climate and Land Cover Changes on Runoff in the Middle Route of the South to North Water Transfer Project in China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(8), pages 2563-2579, June.
    13. Kotchakarn Nantasaksiri & Patcharawat Charoen-Amornkitt & Takashi Machimura, 2021. "Land Potential Assessment of Napier Grass Plantation for Power Generation in Thailand Using SWAT Model. Model Validation and Parameter Calibration," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, March.
    14. Howard, Gregory E. & Zhang, Wendong & Valcu-Lisman, Adriana M., 2021. "Evaluating the Efficiency-Participation Tradeoff in Agricultural Conservation Programs: The Effect of Reverse Auctions, Spatial Targeting, and Higher Offered Payments," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313926, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Sanjeet Kumar & Ashok Mishra, 2015. "Critical Erosion Area Identification Based on Hydrological Response Unit Level for Effective Sedimentation Control in a River Basin," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(6), pages 1749-1765, April.
    16. Savé, R. & de Herralde, F. & Aranda, X. & Pla, E. & Pascual, D. & Funes, I. & Biel, C., 2012. "Potential changes in irrigation requirements and phenology of maize, apple trees and alfalfa under global change conditions in Fluvià watershed during XXIst century: Results from a modeling approximat," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 78-87.
    17. Darren Ficklin & Iris Stewart & Edwin Maurer, 2013. "Effects of projected climate change on the hydrology in the Mono Lake Basin, California," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 111-131, January.
    18. Roy Brouwer & Rute Pinto & Jorge Garcia‐Hernandez & Xingtong Li & Merrin Macrae & Predrag Rajsic & Wanhong Yang & Yongbo Liu & Mark Anderson & Louise Heyming, 2023. "Spatial optimization of nutrient reduction measures on agricultural land to improve water quality: A coupled modeling approach," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(3-4), pages 329-353, September.
    19. Ramesh P. Rudra & Balew A. Mekonnen & Rituraj Shukla & Narayan Kumar Shrestha & Pradeep K. Goel & Prasad Daggupati & Asim Biswas, 2020. "Currents Status, Challenges, and Future Directions in Identifying Critical Source Areas for Non-Point Source Pollution in Canadian Conditions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, October.
    20. Zhang, Jiarui & Jørgensen, Sven E. & Lu, Jianjian & Nielsen, Søren N. & Wang, Qiang, 2014. "A model for the contribution of macrophyte-derived organic carbon in harvested tidal freshwater marshes to surrounding estuarine and oceanic ecosystems and its response to global warming," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 294(C), pages 105-116.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:430:y:2020:i:c:s0304380020302003. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.