Bao et al. (2025) Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency and the Impacts of Drought Legacy on the Loess Plateau, China, Since the Onset of the Grain for Green Project

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Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-09
• Authors: Xuewei Bao, Wen Wang, Xiaodong Li, Zhen Li, Chenlong Bian, Hongzhou Wang, Sinan Wang
• DOI: 10.3390/rs17243980

Research Groups

Information not available in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics and critical legacy effects of moisture stress on ecosystem water use efficiency (eWUE) on China's Loess Plateau from 2001–2020. It found an increasing eWUE despite persistent drying, with eWUE exhibiting spatially divergent sensitivity and a pronounced multi-year drought legacy effect, highlighting the need for optimized water management in reforestation efforts.

Objective

• To systematically characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics and the critical legacy effects of moisture stress on ecosystem water use efficiency (eWUE) to evaluate ecosystem sustainability under accelerated climate change on China's Loess Plateau.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: China’s Loess Plateau (LP)
• Temporal Scale: 2001–2020

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Temperature–Vegetation–Precipitation Drought Index (TVPDI)
• Data sources: MODIS Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Evapotranspiration (ET) data

Main Results

• The mean eWUE on the Loess Plateau was 1.302 g C kg⁻¹ H₂O.
• eWUE exhibited a robust increasing trend of 0.001 g C kg⁻¹ H₂O a⁻¹ (p < 0.05), primarily driven by a faster increase in GPP than ET.
• Areas with significant increases in eWUE were concentrated in the afforested south and central Loess Plateau.
• The region experienced a mild drought state (mean TVPDI: 0.557) with a concerning drying trend of 0.003 yeyr⁻¹.
• eWUE showed high and spatially divergent sensitivity to drought, with 69.64% of the region showing a positive correlation between eWUE and TVPDI.
• This correlation varied by vegetation type: grasslands showed the highest positive correlation (0.415), while woody vegetation types largely showed a negative correlation.
• A pronounced drought legacy effect was observed: the correlation between eWUE and drought in the previous two years was stronger than in the current year, indicating multi-year cumulative moisture deficit.

Contributions

• Provides a critical scientific foundation for optimizing water resource management and developing resilient "right tree, right place" ecological restoration strategies on the Loess Plateau.
• Mitigates ecological risks posed by prolonged drought legacy by characterizing the spatio-temporal dynamics and critical legacy effects of moisture stress on eWUE.

Funding

Information not available in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Bao2025SpatioTemporal,
  author = {Bao, Xuewei and Wang, Wen and Li, Xiaodong and Li, Zhen and Bian, Chenlong and Wang, Hongzhou and Wang, Sinan},
  title = {Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency and the Impacts of Drought Legacy on the Loess Plateau, China, Since the Onset of the Grain for Green Project},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/rs17243980},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243980}
}