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Spatiotemporal variations of water use efficiency and its driving factors in Inner Mongolia from 2001 to 2020

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Abstract

Water use efficiency (WUE) is an important variable to explore coupled relationships in carbon and water cycles. In this study, we first compared the spatial variations of annual gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) using four GPP and ET products. Second, we selected the products closest to the flux towers data to estimate WUE. Finally, we quantitatively analyzed the impact of climate change and soil water content on WUE. The results showed that: (1) Four GPP and ET products provided good performance, with GOSIF-GPP and FLDAS-ET exhibiting a higher correlation and the smallest errors with the flux tower data. (2) The spatial pattern of WUE is consistent with that of GPP and ET, gradually decreasing from the northeast to the southwest. Higher WUE values appeared in the northeast forest ecosystem, and lower WUE values occurred in the western Gobi Desert, with a value of 0.28 gC m−2 mm−1. The GPP and ET products showed an increasing trend, while WUE showed a decreasing trend (55.15%) from 2001 to 2020. (3) The spatial relationship between WUE and driving factors reveal the variations in WUE of Inner Mongolia are mainly affected by soil moisture between 0 and 10 cm (SM0–10cm), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and precipitation, respectively. (4) In arid regions, VPD and precipitation exhibit a major influence on WUE. An increase in VPD and precipitation has a negative and positive effect on WUE, with threshold values of approximately 0.36 kPa and 426 mm, respectively. (5) In humid regions, SM0–10cm, VPD, SM10–40cm, and SM40–100cm exert a significant impact on WUE, especially SM0–10cm, and weakens with increasing soil depths, these differences may be related to physiological structure and living characteristics of vegetation types in different climate regimes. Our results emphasize the importance of VPD and soil moisture in regional variability in WUE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, 010022, China

    Li Mei, Siqin Tong, Shan Yin, Yuhai Bao, Xiaojun Huang, Tuya Alateng, Yongfang Wang, Enliang Guo, Zhihui Yuan, Dalai Nashun, Suriguga Gao, Xinyi Liu & Zhigang Ye

  2. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, 010022, China

    Shan Yin, Yuhai Bao & Xiaojun Huang

  3. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Disaster and Ecological Security on the Mongolian Plateau, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, 010022, China

    Siqin Tong

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  1. Li Mei
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  2. Siqin Tong
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  3. Shan Yin
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  5. Xiaojun Huang
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  9. Zhihui Yuan
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Correspondence to Siqin Tong.

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Foundation

National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.42061070, No.61631011; Science and Technology Fundamental Resources Survey Special Sub-project, No.2017FY101301-4; Fundamental Research Funds for the Inner Mongolia Normal University, No.2022JBBJ013

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Mei Li (1992–), PhD Candidate, E-mail: meili0125@163.com

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Mei, L., Tong, S., Yin, S. et al. Spatiotemporal variations of water use efficiency and its driving factors in Inner Mongolia from 2001 to 2020. J. Geogr. Sci. 33, 169–194 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2078-x

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