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A Species-Specific and spatially-Explicit Model for Estimating Vegetation Water Requirements in Desert Riparian Forest Zones

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Abstract

Balancing human demands for water with environmental requirements to maintain functioning ecosystems requires the quantification of ecological water requirements. In arid regions, high spatial variability of vegetation cover and different water consumption of plant species make it different to estimate reasonable ecological water requirements. We developed a simple and practical approach that estimates the vegetation water requirements (VWRs) of desert riparian ecosystems. This model is species-specific and spatially-explicit; it considers the water consumption characteristics required by different species and highlights the impacts that high vegetation cover spatial variability has in arid regions on evapotranspiration. The model was parameterized based on the observation of the water consumption of two typical desert riparian species, Populus euphratica and Tamarix spp., in the lower basin of the Tarim River in northwestern China. Comparisons between the modeling results and measured data for two mature Populus and Tamarix stands indicate that the model is reasonable predictive. A case study in the lower basin of the Tarim River demonstrated the model’s practicality and transferability. This model could run based on near real-time or forest weather data and spatial vegetation patterns, and provides a continuous estimation of the temporal and spatial variations of the VWR. Particularly, this model forecasts VWRs under different vegetation spatial distribution and coverage scenarios, and evaluates the impacts and consequences of different management actions. This model can serve as a useful tool for management agencies interested in improving their decisions to allocate river water between human activities and natural ecosystems in arid regions.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41271050 and Grant No. 41390463). The authors thank Prof. Yi Luo and Dr. Ping Wang for their valuable discussions over the course of this study. We also thank Dr. Pei Zhang for her help in data processing and field observations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Guofu Yuan, Xuchao Zhu, Xinzhai Tang & Tao Du

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xuchao Zhu & Tao Du

  3. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Xiaobo Yi

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  1. Guofu Yuan
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  2. Xuchao Zhu
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  3. Xinzhai Tang
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  4. Tao Du
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  5. Xiaobo Yi
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Correspondence to Guofu Yuan.

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Yuan, G., Zhu, X., Tang, X. et al. A Species-Specific and spatially-Explicit Model for Estimating Vegetation Water Requirements in Desert Riparian Forest Zones. Water Resour Manage 30, 3915–3933 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1398-3

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