title: Comparison of evapotranspiration components and water-use efficiency among different land use patterns of temperate steppe in the Northern China pastoral-farming ecotone.
abstract: Water-use efficiency (WUE), which links carbon and water cycles, is an important indicator of assessing the interactions between ecosystems and regional climate. Using chamber methods with and without plant removal treatments, we investigated WUE and evapotranspiration (ET) components in three ecosystems with different land-use types in Northern China pastoral-farming ecotone. In comparison, ET of the ecosystems with grazing exclusion and cultivating was 6.7 and 13.4 % higher than that of the ecosystem with free grazing. The difference in ET was primarily due to the different magnitudes of soil water evaporation (E) rather than canopy transpiration (T). Canopy WUE (WUEc, i.e., the ratio of gross primary productivity to T) at the grazing excluded and cultivated sites was 17 and 36 % higher than that at the grazing site. Ecosystem WUE (WUEnep, i.e., the ratio of net ecosystem productivity to ET) at the cultivated site was 34 and 28 % lower in comparison with grazed and grazing excluded stepped, respectively. The varied leaf area index (LAI) of different land uses was correlated with microclimate and ecosystem vapor/carbon exchange. The LAI changing with land uses should be the primary regulation of grassland WUE. These findings facilitate the mechanistic understanding of carbon-water relationships at canopy and ecosystem levels and projection of the effects of land-use change on regional climate and productivity.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. liyz.12b@igsnrr.ac.cn.|Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. liyz.12b@igsnrr.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yuzhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. fanjw@igsnrr.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jiangwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Synthesis Research Center of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zhongmin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Quanqin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Landcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Warwick
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D018533:Biomass; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018526:Plant Transpiration; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D014835:Volatilization; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D014867:Water; D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: Evapotranspiration composition; Grassland cultivation; Grassland use change; Grazing exclusion; Pastoral-farming ecotone; Temperate steppe; Water-use efficiency