Reversal of soil moisture constraint on vegetation growth in North China

Ruohua Du; Jianjun Wu; Feng Tian; Jianhua Yang; Xinyi Han; Meng Chen; Bingyu Zhao; Jingyu Lin

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161246

Reversal of soil moisture constraint on vegetation growth in North China

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Mar 20:865:161246. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161246. Epub 2022 Dec 29.

Authors

Ruohua Du¹, Jianjun Wu², Feng Tian¹, Jianhua Yang¹, Xinyi Han¹, Meng Chen¹, Bingyu Zhao¹, Jingyu Lin¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: jjwu@bnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36587686
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161246

Abstract

The response of vegetation growth to soil moisture varies greatly from space and time under climate change and anthropogenic activities. As an important grain producer in China, the vegetation growth and grain production of North China are constrained by the region's water resources. With the significant increase in vegetation greenness in North China over the last 40 years, it is essential to explore the changes in soil moisture constraints on vegetation growth to water management. However, to what degree vegetation growth responds to soil moisture and how the response varies spatiotemporally in North China remain unclear. In this study, the response patterns of vegetation growth to soil moisture at different depths and the spatiotemporal trend patterns of their relationships were explored thoroughly based on long time series remote sensing data in North China over the past 40 years. The results showed that compared to forests, the growth of grasslands and crops with one maturity per year and two maturity per year in North China was more constrained by soil moisture. Due to the combined effects of climatic conditions and human activities, vegetation growth in North China has been significantly less constrained by soil moisture over the last 40 years. This was especially seen in one maturity per year crop and natural vegetation in Shanxi and central Shandong. However, with the significant increase in temperature, potential evapotranspiration and water demand of the crop, the moisture constraints on vegetation growth in North China have begun to show an increasing trend since the early 2000s, especially for irrigated crop in central and southern North China. These findings highlight a comprehensive understanding of the vegetation response to soil moisture from the time-varying perspective and provide a theoretical basis for water management and appropriate planning of agricultural water use in North China.

Keywords: Decreasing trend; NDVI; North China; Soil moisture; Turning point; Vegetation response.

MeSH terms

Agriculture*
China
Climate Change
Crops, Agricultural
Ecosystem
Humans
Soil*
Water

Substances

Soil
Water