Response of vegetation dynamics to climatic variables across a precipitation gradient in the Northeast China Transect

This study investigated the influence of climatic variables on the spatio-temporal variation of vegetation growth using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and climate data from 2000 to 2013 in the Northeast China Transect. Partial correlation and linear regression methods were applied to quantify the response of the growing season NDVI to climatic variables. Gradient analysis was used to investigate how the response changes across the precipitation gradient over the transect. The results show that, at the spatial scale, NDVI increases with precipitation in grassland, and the spatial sensitivity is 0.001/mm. At the temporal scale, grassland NDVI is less correlated with precipitation in wet areas where precipitation exceeds a threshold of 250 mm. The temporal sensitivity of grassland NDVI to precipitation is 0.0003–0.0006/mm. Positive correlations between NDVI and temperature dominate in forest areas, and forest NDVI is sensitive to temperature by 0.06–0.12/°C.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation and extreme events on the Loess Plateau of China between 1957 and 2009

Spatiotemporal trends in precipitation may influence vegetation restoration, and extreme precipitation events profoundly affect soil erosion processes on the Loess Plateau. Daily data collected at 89 meteorological stations in the area between 1957 and 2009 were used to analyze the spatiotemporal trends of precipitation on the Loess Plateau and the return periods of different types of precipitation events classified in the study. Nonparametric methods were employed for temporal analysis, and the Kriging interpolation method was employed for spatial analysis. The results indicate a small decrease in precipitation over the Loess Plateau in last 53 years (although a Mann–Kendall test did not show this decrease to be significant), a southward shift in precipitation isohyets, a slightly delayed rainy season, and prolonged return periods, especially for rainstorm and heavy rainstorm events. Regional responses to global climate change have varied greatly. A slightly increasing trend in precipitation in annual and sub‐annual series, with no obvious shift of isohyets, and an evident decreasing trend in extreme precipitation events were detected in the northwest. In the southeast, correspondingly, a more seriously decreasing trend occurred, with clear shifts of isohyets and a slightly decreasing trend in extreme precipitation events. The result suggests that a negative trend in annual precipitation may have led to decreased soil erosion but an increase in sediment yield during several extreme events. These changes in the precipitation over the Loess Plateau should be noted, and countermeasures should be taken to reduce their adverse impacts on the sustainable development of the region. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Delineation of precipitation regions in two Canadian study areas: the role of the temporal resolution of the precipitation data

The identification of homogeneous precipitation regions has value in many water resources engineering applications (infrastructure planning, design, operations; climate forecasting, modelling). The objective of this paper is to assess the sensitivity of precipitation regions to the temporal resolution (monthly, seasonal, annual and the annual maximum series) of the data. The presented method uses the fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm to partition climate sites into statistically homogeneous precipitation regions. The regions are validated using an approach based on L-moment statistics. The method is conducted in two climatically different study areas in western and eastern Canada. There does not appear to be a relationship between the spatial distributions of the regions formed using different temporal resolutions of the precipitation data. It is recommended to delineate precipitation regions that are specific to the task at hand, and to select a temporal resolution that is consistent with the final application of the regional precipitation dataset.

EDITOR A. Castellarin; ASSOCIATE EDITOR T. Kjeldsen     

近50a三峡库区汛期极端降水事件的时空变化

利用三峡库区35个台站1961-2010年汛期(5-9月)的逐日降水量资料,首先定义不同台站的极端降水量阈值,统计各站近50 a逐年汛期极端降水事件的发生频次,进而分析其时空变化特征.结果表明:三峡库区汛期极端降水事件发生频次的最主要空间模态是主体一致性,同时存在东西和南北相反变化的差异.三峡库区汛期极端降水事件发生频次具有较大的空间差异,可分为具有不同变化特点的5个主要异常区.滑动t检验表明,三峡库区西南部区代表站巴南的极端降水事件在1974年后发生了一次由偏多转为偏少的突变,北部区代表站北碚在1981年后和1993年后分别发生了由偏少转为偏多和由偏多到偏少的突变,中部区代表站武隆在1984年后发生了一次由偏多转为偏少的突变.结合最大熵谱和功率谱分析表明,近50 a来各分区汛期极端降水事件发生频次的周期振荡不太一致,三峡库区东北部区代表站宜昌、北部区代表站北碚和中部区代表站武隆分别存在5、2.4和8.3 a的显著周期.     

Snow cover and runoff modelling in a high mountain catchment with scarce data: effects of temperature and precipitation parameters

Snowmelt is an important source of runoff in high mountain catchments. Snowmelt modelling for alpine regions remains challenging with scarce gauges. This study simulates the snowmelt in the Karuxung River catchment in the south Tibetan Plateau using an altitude zone based temperature‐index model, calibrates the snow cover area and runoff simulation during 2003–2005 and validates the model performance via snow cover area and runoff simulation in 2006. In the snowmelt and runoff modelling, temperature and precipitation are the two most important inputs. Relevant parameters, such as critical snow fall temperature, temperature lapse rate and precipitation gradient, determine the form and amount of precipitation and distribution of temperature and precipitation in hydrological modelling of the sparsely gauged catchment. Sensitivity analyses show that accurate estimation of these parameters would greatly help in improving the snowmelt simulation accuracy, better describing the snow‐hydrological behaviours and dealing with the data scarcity at higher elevations. Specifically, correlation between the critical snow fall temperature and relative humidity and seasonal patterns of both the temperature lapse rate and the precipitation gradient should be considered in the modelling studies when precipitation form is not logged and meteorological observations are only available at low elevation. More accurate simulation of runoff involving snowmelt, glacier melt and rainfall runoff will improve our understanding of hydrological processes and help assess runoff impacts from a changing climate in high mountain catchments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The spatio‐temporal variability of annual precipitation and its local impact factors during 1724–2010 in Beijing,China

Rapid population growth and increased economic activity impose an urgent challenge on the sustainability of water resources in Beijing. Understanding the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation is of the upmost importance in order to sustain the region's water resources. Two time series, one long term (1724–2010) from a single meteorological station and a shorter time series (1980–2010) from 20 different meteorological stations within the Beijing area, were analysed using Linear Regression, Moving Average, Mann–Kendall, Rescaled Range and Spatial Interpolation methods. Results from both the long‐ and short‐term meteorological data show a mean annual precipitation rate of 600 mm and 540 mm respectively. Annual precipitation rates have decreased during the 21st century by an estimated 100 mm or 16% in comparison to the 1990s. The 1980–2010 data show an increase in precipitation during the early 1990s followed by a sharp decrease during the subsequent years. The change of annual precipitation with time is more random and diverse in comparison to space. The main local impact factors (terrain, urbanization and elevation) and how they work on the local precipitation especially the spatial diversity are identified qualitatively. Generally speaking, (1) the annual precipitation of the plain area is more than that of the mountainous area (terrain effect), (2) the annual precipitation of the urban area in the plain area is obviously more than that of the surrounding suburb area (urbanization effect) and (3) the annual precipitation of the lower location is approximately more than that of the higher location (elevation effect). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling plant canopy effects on annual variability of evapotranspiration and heat fluxes for a semi‐arid grassland on the southern periphery of the Eurasian cryosphere in Mongolia

The ability to predict vegetation cover effects on thermal/water regimes can enhance our understanding of canopy controls on evapotranspiration. The Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) model is a detailed process model of heat and water movement in a snow–residue–soil system. This paper describes provisions added to the SHAW model for vegetation cover and simulation of heat and water transfer through the soil–plant–air continuum. The model was applied to four full years (May 2003–April 2007) of data collected on sparse grassland at Nalaikh in north‐eastern Mongolia. Simulated soil temperature and radiation components agreed reasonably well with measured values. The absolute differences between simulated and measured soil temperatures were larger at both the surface layer and deeper layer, but relatively smaller in the layer from 0·8 to 2·4 m. Radiation components were mimicked by the SHAW model with model efficiency (ME) reaching 0·93–0·72. Latent and sensible heat fluxes were simulated well with MEs of 0·93 and 0·87, respectively. The vegetation control on evapotranspiration was investigated by sensitivity experiments of model performance with changing leaf area index (LAI) values but constant of other variables. The results suggest that annual evapotranspiration ranged from 16 to ? 22% in response to extremes of doubled and zero LAI. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nitrogen isotope composition characteristics of modern plants and their variations along an altitudinal gradient in Dongling Mountain in Beijing

Through the systematic investigation of nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) in modern plants in Dongling Mountain in Beijing,the characteristics of δ15N in plants,the differences of δ15N among plants with different functional types,and the altitudinal trends of plant δ15N values revealed the environmental effects on δ15N.Our results are:(1) the values of δ15N of plants in Dongling Mountain range between -8.0‰ and 14.0‰,with an average value of -1.03‰;(2) δ15N values are variant among different plant functio...     

Stochastic modelling of soil moisture dynamics in a grassland of Qilian Mountain at point scale

Stochastic modeling of soil moisture dynamics is crucial to the quantitative understanding of plant responses to water stresses,hydrological control of nutrient cycling processes,water competition among plants,and some other ecological dynamics,and thus has become a hotspot in ecohydrology at present.In this paper,we based on the continuously monitored data of soil moisture during 2002―2005 and daily precipitation date of 1992―2006,and tried to make a probabilistic analysis of soil moisture dynamics at point scale in a grassland of Qilian Mountain by integrating the stochastic model improved by Laio and the Monte Carlo method.The results show that the inter-annual variations for the soil moisture patterns at different depths are very significant,and that the coefficient of variance(CV) of surface soil moisture(20 cm) is almost continually kept at about 0.23 whether in the rich or poor rainy years.Interestingly,it has been found that the maximal CV of soil moisture has not always appeared at the surface layer.Comparison of the analytically derived soil moisture probability density function(PDF) with the statistical distribution of the observed soil moisture data suggests that the stochastic model can reasonably describe and predict the soil moisture dynamics of the grassland in Qilian Mountain at point scale.By extracting the statistical information of the historical precipitation data in 1994―2006,and inputting them into the stochastic model,we analytically derived the long-term soil moisture PDF without considering the inter-annual climate fluctuations,and then numerically derived the one when considering the inter-annual fluctuation effects in combination with a Monte-Carlo procedure.It was found that,though the peak position of the probability density distribution significantly moved towards drought when considering the disturbance forces,and its width was narrowed,accordingly its peak value was increased,no significant bimodality was observed in the soil moisture dynamics under the given intensity of random fluctuation disturbance.     

Effects of temporal scales and space mismatches on the TRMM 3B42 v7 precipitation product in a remote mountainous area

The accurate measurement of precipitation is essential to understanding regional hydrological processes and hydrological cycling. Quantification of precipitation over remote regions such as the Tibetan Plateau is highly unreliable because of the scarcity of rain gauges. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the satellite precipitation product of tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) 3B42 v7 at daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal scales. Comparison between TRMM grid precipitation and point‐based rain gauge precipitation was conducted using nearest neighbour and bilinear weighted interpolation methods. The results showed that the TRMM product could not capture daily precipitation well due to some rainfall events being missed at short time scales but provided reasonably good precipitation data at weekly, monthly, and seasonal scales. TRMM tended to underestimate the precipitation of small rainfall events (less than 1 mm/day), while it overestimated the precipitation of large rainfall events (greater than 20 mm/day). Consequently, TRMM showed better performance in the summer monsoon season than in the winter season. Through comparison, it was also found that the bilinear weighted interpolation method performs better than the nearest neighbour method in TRMM precipitation extraction.     

Spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of soil water tension in a mature Norway spruce stand

In ecosystem research great effort is made in measuring soil water tension, because this is a critical calibration variable for modelling soil water fluxes. In this paper the spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of soil tensions and their consequences for the determination of water fluxes are investigated. Studies were carried out at a Norway spruce stand in the Fichtelgebirge (NE Bavaria). Standard tensiometers were installed at three soil depths (20 each) on the whole experimental plot, as well as 45 microtensiometers as a dense grid in a small soil pit. Microtensiometry at the centimetre scale showed that, depending on rain intensity and initial soil water tension, even a soil without discernible macrostructure may show preferential water infiltration. At the stand scale the variability of soil hydraulic properties and tree root distribution causes substantial heterogeneity of soil water tension, as observed by standard tensiometers. A functional relationship between increasing spatial heterogeneity of tensiometer readings and increasing soil water tension was found, which was particularly pronounced after longer dry periods. Also at low soil water tension, where spatial heterogeneity was low, the calculation of water fluxes from tensiometer values was critical, owing to the fact that small differences in measuring soil water tension resulted in big differences in calculated water fluxes. At high soil water tension in summer the spatial heterogeneity of tensiometer readings was extremely high. At our experimental site, since 30% of the total rain in summer falls in events having a precipitation rate greater than 5 mm h⁻¹, preferential water and solute flow was an important phenomenon. We conclude that the validation of calculated water fluxes using measured soil water tension at the stand scale is not an appropriate tool, because of measurement difficulties, considerable spatial heterogeneity, especially in dry periods, and the great variability of soil hydraulic properties. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatiotemporal variation of stable isotopic composition in precipitation: Post‐condensational effects in a humid area

In the present study, a 2‐year dataset on δ¹⁸O and δ²H in precipitation is used to investigate hydrometeorologic controls on the isotopic compositions in a temperate maritime climate. Data was collected in Denmark along a transect of Six sampling stations across a landscape with a small topographic gradient and predominant westerly winds. Data showed the local meteoric water line for this region is expressed by the equation δ²H = 7.4δ¹⁸O + 5.4‰. A significant trend correlating enriched isotopic values to humidities around 70% during dry season and more depleted isotopic values to humidities around 90% during wet season was derived from the dataset. Temperature was found to only influence the isotopic composition in a secondary way, whereas no significant relationship was obtained for precipitation amount and evapotranspiration. It is suggested that subcloud post‐condensation exchange strongly influences the isotopic composition at the study site. A simple model of evaporation on falling rain was applied with the aim to reproduce observational data and show the potential influence of changing humidity conditions on precipitation compositions. The rather simple model approach did not fully explain the observational data, but it highlights the drastic isotopic changes from a falling raindrop that potentially can occur due to its release into a dryer atmosphere. This study shows that regional conditions and especially humidity can alter the isotopic composition in precipitation substantially even in regions without major topographic and hydrometeorologic gradients.     

Modeling gross primary production of a temperate grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia,China, using MODIS imagery and climate data

Carbon fluxes in temperate grassland ecosystems are characterized by large inter-annual variations due to fluctuations in precipitation and land water availability. Since an eddy flux tower has been in operation in the Xilin Gol grassland, which belongs to typical temperate grassland in North China, in this study, observed eddy covariance flux data were used to critically evaluate the biophysical per- formance of different remote sensing vegetation indices in relation to carbon fluxes. Furthermore, vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM) was introduced to estimate gross primary production (GPP) of the grassland ecosystem for assessing its dependability. As defined by the input variables of VPM, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradimeter (MODIS) and standard data product MOD09A1 were downloaded for calculating enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index (LSWI). Measured air temperature (Ta) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data were also included for model simulating. Field CO2 flux data, during the period from May, 2003 to September, 2005, were used to estimate the "observed" GPP (GPPobs) for validation. The seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted from VPM (GPPVPM) was compared quite well (R2=0.903, N=111, p<0.0001) with the observed GPP. The ag- gregate GPPVPM for the study period was 641.5 g C·m?2, representing a ~6% over-estimation, compared with GPPobs. Additionally, GPP predicted from other two typical production efficiency model (PEM) represents either higher overestimation or lower underestimation to GPPobs. Results of this study demonstrate that VPM has potential for estimating site-level or regional grassland GPP, and might be an effective tool for scaling-up carbon fluxes.     

贵州草海湿地不同水位梯度土壤碳、氮、磷含量及其生态化学计量比分布特征

对贵州草海湿地4种水位梯度下(农田区、过渡区、浅水区和深水区)表层土壤(0～10-cm)碳、氮、磷含量及其生态化学计量比进行研究,以期揭示草海湿地不同水位梯度下土壤碳、氮、磷生态化学计量比的分布特征及其影响因素.结果表明:土壤总有机碳(TOC)、总氮(TN)及总磷(TP)含量在不同水位梯度之间均差异显著,由过渡区至深水区,土壤TOC及TN含量均呈递增趋势,而TP含量呈先降低后增加的趋势;农田区土壤TN含量显著高于浅水区,但深水区土壤TP含量显著低于农田区.不同水位梯度土壤碳氮比(C/N)、碳磷比(C/P)和氮磷比(N/P)也存在显著差异,由过渡区至深水区,土壤C/P和N/P均呈递增趋势,而C/N呈先增加后降低的趋势;与过渡区相比,农田区土壤C/N、C/P和N/P总体偏低.相关性分析表明:土壤C/N、C/P和N/P的空间分布与土壤TOC、TN、含水量等理化性质有关.可见,草海湿地水位变化对土壤TOC、TN和TP含量以及C/N、C/P及N/P的空间分布具有显著影响,且水位升高有利于增强土壤碳、氮、磷的固存潜力.     

Factors controlling spatial and seasonal distributions of precipitation δ18O in China

Utilising datasets from the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and previous isotopic studies, we investigated δ¹⁸O spatial and temporal patterns in Chinese precipitation. Significantly positive relationships existed between precipitation δ¹⁸O and air temperature above the north of 35°N and in high altitude regions above 32°N. Significantly negative relationships between precipitation δ¹⁸O and the precipitation amount existed below south of 35°N. These temperature and precipitation effects became stronger with increasing altitude except in high altitude regions between 32°N and 35°N. The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1980 to 2004 showed that variations in spatial and seasonal wind fields at 700 hpa and total precipitable water from the ground to the top of the atmosphere were correlated with the monthly spatial distribution of precipitation δ¹⁸O. Basing on this relationship, we established quantitative correlations between the mean monthly precipitation δ¹⁸O and both latitude and temperature in different seasons. We found that spatial variations in precipitation δ¹⁸O could be described well using the Bowen–Wilkinson model and second‐order equations developed during the present study only in winter (from December to February). During the rest of the year, patterns were too complex to predict using simple models. The results suggest that it is difficult to demonstrate variations of precipitation δ¹⁸O throughout the year and for all regions of China using a single model. Moreover, the new models for the relationships among precipitation, latitude, and temperature were better able to depict the variations in precipitation δ¹⁸O than the Bowen–Wilkinson model. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.