Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors
Water-use efficiency (WUE) is an important indicator for understanding the coupling of carbon and water cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. It provides a comprehensive reflection of ecosystems’ responses to various environmental factors, making it essential for understanding how ecosystems adapt to co...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| author | Jia He Yuxuan Zhou Xueying Liu Wenjing Duan Naiqing Pan |
| author_facet | Jia He Yuxuan Zhou Xueying Liu Wenjing Duan Naiqing Pan |
| author_sort | Jia He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Water-use efficiency (WUE) is an important indicator for understanding the coupling of carbon and water cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. It provides a comprehensive reflection of ecosystems’ responses to various environmental factors, making it essential for understanding how ecosystems adapt to complex environmental changes. Using satellite-based estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET), our study investigated the spatiotemporal variations in WUE across China’s terrestrial ecosystems from 2001 to 2020. We employed the geographic detector method, partial correlation analysis, and ridge regression to assess the contributions of different factors (temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, vapor pressure deficit, leaf area index, and soil moisture) to GPP, ET, and WUE. The results show significant increases in GPP, ET, and WUE during the study period, with increase rates of 6.70 g C m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, 2.68 kg H<sub>2</sub>O m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, and 0.007 g C H<sub>2</sub>O m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. More than three-quarters of the regions with significant trends in WUE (<i>p</i> < 0.05) displayed notable increases in WUE (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Among all driving factors, leaf area index (LAI) made the largest contribution to WUE, particularly in warm temperate semi-humid regions. Precipitation and solar radiation were the primary climatic influences in arid regions of northern China and humid regions of southwestern China, respectively. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1f565d5f10fb4149b70c7abdd125efc4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-1f565d5f10fb4149b70c7abdd125efc42025-01-10T13:20:21ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-01-0117113610.3390/rs17010136Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving FactorsJia He0Yuxuan Zhou1Xueying Liu2Wenjing Duan3Naiqing Pan4College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, ChinaCollege of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, ChinaCollege of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, ChinaCollege of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USAWater-use efficiency (WUE) is an important indicator for understanding the coupling of carbon and water cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. It provides a comprehensive reflection of ecosystems’ responses to various environmental factors, making it essential for understanding how ecosystems adapt to complex environmental changes. Using satellite-based estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET), our study investigated the spatiotemporal variations in WUE across China’s terrestrial ecosystems from 2001 to 2020. We employed the geographic detector method, partial correlation analysis, and ridge regression to assess the contributions of different factors (temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, vapor pressure deficit, leaf area index, and soil moisture) to GPP, ET, and WUE. The results show significant increases in GPP, ET, and WUE during the study period, with increase rates of 6.70 g C m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, 2.68 kg H<sub>2</sub>O m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, and 0.007 g C H<sub>2</sub>O m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. More than three-quarters of the regions with significant trends in WUE (<i>p</i> < 0.05) displayed notable increases in WUE (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Among all driving factors, leaf area index (LAI) made the largest contribution to WUE, particularly in warm temperate semi-humid regions. Precipitation and solar radiation were the primary climatic influences in arid regions of northern China and humid regions of southwestern China, respectively.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/1/136water-use efficiencygross primary productivityevapotranspirationclimate changeChina |
| spellingShingle | Jia He Yuxuan Zhou Xueying Liu Wenjing Duan Naiqing Pan Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors Remote Sensing water-use efficiency gross primary productivity evapotranspiration climate change China |
| title | Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal Changes in Water-Use Efficiency of China’s Terrestrial Ecosystems During 2001–2020 and the Driving Factors |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal changes in water use efficiency of china s terrestrial ecosystems during 2001 2020 and the driving factors |
| topic | water-use efficiency gross primary productivity evapotranspiration climate change China |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/1/136 |
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