Liu et al. (2026) Spatiotemporal variations and environmental controls of carbon-water dynamics and coupling on the Tibetan Plateau

Identification

• Journal: Global and Planetary Change
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-17
• Authors: Ruoyu Liu, Donghai Zheng, Haishen Lü, Yonghua Zhu, Jianbin Su
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105726

Research Groups

• The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
• National Tibetan Plateau Data Center, State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
• State Key Laboratory of Climate System Prediction and Risk Management, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China

Short Summary

This study integrates 29 eddy covariance site observations on the Tibetan Plateau to examine spatiotemporal variations of gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), and water use efficiency (WUE) and their environmental drivers across diverse climates and landscapes.

Objective

• Investigate the spatiotemporal variations and environmental controls of GPP, ET, and WUE dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau.
• Characterize the relationships between GPP, ET, WUE variations and multiple environmental variables across different climate regions and landscapes.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: The study area is the Tibetan Plateau within China, with an average elevation exceeding 4000 m and a total area of approximately 2.5 × 106 km2.
• Temporal Scale: The growing season is defined as May–October, with May–June, July–August, and September–October defined as the early, middle, and late growing seasons, respectively.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Eddy covariance (EC) technique and relative weight analysis (RWA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR).
• Data sources: 29 EC sites on the Tibetan Plateau, covering carbon-water variables (GPP, ET, and WUE) and hydrometeorological variables.

Main Results

• Humid sites exhibit larger GPP, ET, WUE, while arid sites show weaker GPP dynamics and opposite seasonal WUE variation.
• Site-level spatial variations of GPP, ET, WUE exhibit significant climatic gradients, mainly associated with water and vegetation distribution rather than temperature.
• GPP is governed by LAI and air temperature (Tair), although their associations weaken during middle growing season.
• ET is consistently dominated by net radiation (Rn).
• WUE is negatively influenced by Rn during early and middle growing season, and positively driven by LAI and Tair during late growing season.

Contributions

• This study advances understanding of carbon–water processes on the Tibetan Plateau.
• Provides insights for ecosystem management and improving process-based modeling on the TP.

Funding

• National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
• National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41922003)
• Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Strategic Priority Research Program (Grant No. XDA20060404)

Citation

@article{Liu2026Spatiotemporal,
  author = {Liu, Ruoyu and Zheng, Donghai and Lü, Haishen and Zhu, Yonghua and Su, Jianbin},
  title = {Spatiotemporal variations and environmental controls of carbon-water dynamics and coupling on the Tibetan Plateau},
  journal = {Global and Planetary Change},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105726},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105726}
}