IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v116y2023i2d10.1007_s11069-022-05778-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identify the relationship of meteorological drought and ecohydrological drought in Xilin Gol Grassland, China

Author

Listed:
  • Zilu Zhang

    (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)

  • Jingzhao Ma

    (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)

  • Tianhao Wang

    (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)

  • Wenbo Song

    (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)

  • Lu Hao

    (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)

Abstract

Understanding how drought affects ecosystems requires us to identify how drought affects ecohydrological processes, and thus take more effective measures to reduce ecosystem vulnerability and risk in the context of climate change and intensive human activities. This case study detected the relationship between meteorological drought (AI = P/PET, precipitation/potential evapotranspiration) and ecohydrological drought (ESI = ET/PET) during 2005–2017 in the Xilin Gol grassland in northwestern China. The relationships between the two drought indexes (AI or ESI) and four biophysical drivers, i.e., PET, P, ET, and leaf area index (LAI), were also examined using Causality Test Model, correlation analysis and MK trend test to explain their causal relationships. Results showed that during 2005–2017, although AI had no significant trends in the study region, ESI had significant increasing trends (i.e., getting wetter) in both relatively humid eastern area and arid western area. The reasons for the significant increase in ESI in eastern and western areas are different. In the eastern area, AI and ESI have insignificant two-way causal relationship, which indicated that AI was not the only factor for the increase in ESI. The improvement of LAI due to vegetation restoration policies amplified the influence of AI on the increase in ESI, that means ET affect ESI through LAI in the relatively humid southeast region with more vegetation. In the northwest, although LAI decreased due to urbanization, mining, and other factors, ET increased due to more precipitation and rising PET, and thus increased ESI. We conclude that although local climate condition did not getting wetter significantly, the improvement of vegetation has significantly alleviated local ecohydrological drought, especially in the southeast where the climate is relatively humid and the vegetation has great improvement owing to local ‘Returning Grazing Lands to Grasslands’ project. The differences in AI and ESI distribution pattern and dynamics and their correlations with biophysical factors found in this study indicated that the ecohydrological drought can be either mitigated or exacerbated by vegetation depending upon how grassland dynamics respond to meteorological drought or human activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Zilu Zhang & Jingzhao Ma & Tianhao Wang & Wenbo Song & Lu Hao, 2023. "Identify the relationship of meteorological drought and ecohydrological drought in Xilin Gol Grassland, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(2), pages 2549-2564, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:116:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11069-022-05778-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-022-05778-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-022-05778-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-022-05778-x?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. Lei Sun & Lizhe Yang & Lu Hao & Di Fang & Kailun Jin & Xiaolin Huang, 2017. "Hydrological Effects of Vegetation Cover Degradation and Environmental Implications in a Semiarid Temperate Steppe, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Wantong Li & Mirco Migliavacca & Matthias Forkel & Jasper M. C. Denissen & Markus Reichstein & Hui Yang & Gregory Duveiller & Ulrich Weber & Rene Orth, 2022. "Widespread increasing vegetation sensitivity to soil moisture," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. David Etkin & J. Medalye & K. Higuchi, 2012. "Climate warming and natural disaster management: An exploration of the issues," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 585-599, June.
    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. Wang, Jianjun & Wang, Chuantao & Li, Hongchen & Liu, Yanfang & Li, Huijie & Ren, Ruiqi & Si, Bingcheng, 2023. "Rock water use by apple trees affected by physical properties of the underlying weathered rock," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    2. Tailin Li & Massimiliano Schiavo & David Zumr, . "Seasonal variations of vegetative indices and their correlation with evapotranspiration and soil water storage in a small agricultural catchment," Soil and Water Research, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 0.
    3. Rong Tang & Xiugui Wang & Xudong Han & Yihui Yan & Shuang Huang & Jiesheng Huang & Tao Shen & Youzhen Wang & Jia Liu, 2022. "Effects of Combined Main Ditch and Field Ditch Control Measures on Crop Yield and Drainage Discharge in the Northern Huaihe River Plain, Anhui Province, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-25, August.
    4. Zefeng Chen & Weiguang Wang & Giovanni Forzieri & Alessandro Cescatti, 2024. "Transition from positive to negative indirect CO2 effects on the vegetation carbon uptake," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Yuwei Wang & Zhenyu Wang & Ruren Li & Xiaoliang Meng & Xingjun Ju & Yuguo Zhao & Zongyao Sha, 2018. "Comparison of Modeling Grassland Degradation with and without Considering Localized Spatial Associations in Vegetation Changing Patterns," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Xiuhua Cai & Wenqian Zhang & Cunjie Zhang & Qiang Zhang & Jingli Sun & Chen Cheng & Wenjie Fan & Ying Yu & Xiaoling Liu, 2022. "Identification and Spatial-Temporal Variation Characteristics of Regional Drought Processes in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Zheng Fu & Philippe Ciais & Jean-Pierre Wigneron & Pierre Gentine & Andrew F. Feldman & David Makowski & Nicolas Viovy & Armen R. Kemanian & Daniel S. Goll & Paul C. Stoy & Iain Colin Prentice & Dan Y, 2024. "Global critical soil moisture thresholds of plant water stress," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Lai, Chengguang & Sun, Haowei & Wu, Xushu & Li, Jun & Wang, Zhaoli & Tong, Hongfu & Feng, Jiajin, 2024. "Water availability may not constrain vegetation growth in Northern Hemisphere," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    9. Xiao-Chen Yuan & Bao-Jun Tang & Yi-Ming Wei & Xiao-Jie Liang & Hao Yu & Ju-Liang Jin, 2015. "China’s regional drought risk under climate change: a two-stage process assessment approach," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 76(1), pages 667-684, March.
    10. Tan Huizhi & Lu Xiaoning & Yang Shiqi & Wang Yongqian & Li Feng & Liu Jinbao & Chen Jun & Huang Yue, 2022. "Drought risk assessment in the coupled spatial–temporal dimension of the Sichuan Basin, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(3), pages 3205-3233, December.
    11. Tailin Li & Massimiliano Schiavo & David Zumr, 2023. "Seasonal variations of vegetative indices and their correlation with evapotranspiration and soil water storage in a small agricultural catchment," Soil and Water Research, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 18(4), pages 246-268.

    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:spr:nathaz:v:116:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11069-022-05778-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.