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Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Ronny Berndtsson

Professor, Dep Director, MECW Dep Scientific Coordinator

Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Greening of China and possible vegetation effects on soil moisture

Author

  • Yubo Miao
  • Jianzhi Niu
  • Di Wang
  • Ronny Berndtsson
  • Linus Zhang
  • Shujian Yang
  • Tingting Dou
  • Miao Wang
  • Tao Yang

Summary, in English

Wetting and drying climate sequences and anthropogenic vegetation changes can have profound effects on the hydrological cycle and sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems. China contains many different climates, from humid to extremely arid and it contributes to the global mitigation strategies of climate change. China is also an important contributor to global greening and carbon sequestration. In view of this, we estimated the spatial and temporal variation of leaf area index (LAI), dryness/wetness index (DWI), and soil moisture (SM) in arid (A), semi-arid (SA), semi-humid (SH), and humid (H) climate zones during 1981–2018 in China and analyzed the patterns of DWI and LAI effects on SM under different vegetation greenness. The results showed a significantly increasing trend of LAI in all climatic zones, and the contribution was from highest to lowest: SH (8.17 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1), SA (7 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1), H (4.71 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1), and A (3.98 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1). The SA and A zones are becoming wetter, while the soil of SH and H zones are drying. The dry/wet climate variation plays a decisive role in soil moisture, while the role of vegetation is limited. Additionally, the LAI3 (mean LAI from 2016 to 2018) thresholds were 0.25–0.41 and 0.84–0.86 for A and SA as a whole, respectively, as well as 0.47–0.54 and 0.93–1.18 for grassland, respectively. When vegetation exceeded this threshold, the effect of vegetation on soil moisture showed a shift from increasing to decreasing change. Overall, the results of the study provide improved understanding of the atmosphere-soil-vegetation interactions under climate change, as well as effects of vegetation restoration and water conservation efforts.

Department/s

  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World
  • Division of Water Resources Engineering
  • LTH Profile Area: Water

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Publication/Series

Ecological Indicators

Volume

158

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Soil Science

Keywords

  • Greening
  • Dry/wet climate
  • Leaf area index
  • Soil moisture
  • Vegetation threshold
  • Water conservation

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1470-160X