Li et al. (2026) Predominant vegetation control on baseflow index variations across China’s climatic basins

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-06
• Authors: Yanzhong Li, Kaiwen Wang, Xiaomang Liu, Huan Wu, Xiaojun Guo
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136126

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Climate System Prediction and Risk Management/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
• Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• School of Hydrology and Water Resources, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
• Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Surface Process/Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Short Summary

This study investigates the spatiotemporal dynamics of baseflow index (BFI) across China's climatic basins and identifies vegetation greening as a dominant driver of BFI variability.

Objective

• Investigate the long-term spatiotemporal dynamics and driving mechanisms of BFI across China's climatic basins

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 17 typical watersheds across diverse climatic regions in China
• Temporal Scale: 1982 to 2020

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Two-parameter digital filter methods (Boughton, Furey, Eckhardt, and Willems)
• Data sources: Satellite data, observation data, reanalysis data

Main Results

• The multi-year mean BFI across all watersheds is 0.55 ± 0.10
• Higher values of BFI are observed in arid watersheds (0.60 ± 0.10) than in humid watersheds (0.52 ± 0.08)
• A significant increasing trend (p < 0.05) in BFI is detected in 8 of the 17 watersheds
• Vegetation greening (Leaf Area Index, LAI) explains 54.4% of BFI variations

Contributions

• This study provides robust evidence that large-scale vegetation restoration has profoundly altered baseflow generation processes and streamflow partitioning across China's climatic gradient.

Funding

• This research was funded by the State Key Laboratory of Climate System Prediction and Risk Management/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology.

Citation

@article{Li2026Predominant,
  author = {Li, Yanzhong and Wang, Kaiwen and Liu, Xiaomang and Wu, Huan and Guo, Xiaojun},
  title = {Predominant vegetation control on baseflow index variations across China’s climatic basins},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136126},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136126}
}