Huo et al. (2026) Differential impacts of vegetation greening on evapotranspiration components across climate zones and vegetation types in China

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-06-17
• Authors: Zhiyuan Huo, Wen Wang A, Wei Wu
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111309

Research Groups

State Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
Anhui Survey & Design Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Co., Ltd., Hefei, China

Short Summary

This study resolves the greening–ET paradox in China by showing that leaf area index-driven canopy expansion redistributes water fluxes among evapotranspiration components rather than uniformly amplifying total ET.

Objective

• Investigate the differential impacts of vegetation greening on evapotranspiration components across climate zones and vegetation types in China

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: National scale, focusing on China's land surface
• Temporal Scale: 1982–2022 period, with a focus on recent decades

Methodology and Data

• Models used: PML_V2 water–carbon coupled model
• Data sources: Satellite observations of leaf area index (LAI) changes, reanalysis datasets for climate variables

Main Results

• LAI-driven canopy expansion redistributes water fluxes among ET components rather than uniformly amplifying total ET
• Canopy transpiration gains (+14.6 mm yr⁻¹) were offset by soil evaporation suppression (−0.15 mm yr⁻¹, compensating 9.4% of vegetation-driven increases) and CO₂-induced stomatal closure (−23.3% of ET trend)

Contributions

• This study reconciles divergent greening impacts across hydroclimatic regimes and informs sustainable ecosystem restoration under global change

Funding

• State Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University
• Anhui Survey & Design Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Co., Ltd.

Citation

@article{Huo2026Differential,
  author = {Huo, Zhiyuan and A, Wen Wang and Wu, Wei},
  title = {Differential impacts of vegetation greening on evapotranspiration components across climate zones and vegetation types in China},
  journal = {Agricultural and Forest Meteorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111309},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111309}
}