Sha Zhou

The effect of vapor pressure deficit on water use efficiency at the subdaily time scale

Water use efficiency is a critical index for describing carbon-water coupling in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the nonlinear effect of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on carbon-water coupling has not been fully considered. To improve the relationship between gross primary production (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) at the subdaily time scale, we propose a new underlying water use efficiency (uWUE = GPP · VPD0.5/ET) and a hysteresis model to minimize time lags among GPP, ET, and VPD. Half-hourly data were used to validate uWUE for seven vegetation types from 42 AmeriFlux sites. Correlation analysis shows that the GPP · VPD0.5 and ET relationship (r = 0.844) is better than that between GPP · VPD and ET (r = 0.802). The hysteresis model supports the GPP · VPD0.5 and ET relationship. As uWUE is related to CO2 concentration, its use can improve estimates of GPP and ET and help understand the effect of CO2 fertilization on carbon storage and water loss.

Partitioning evapotranspiration based on the concept of underlying water use efficiency

Evapotranspiration (ET) is dominated by transpiration (T) in the terrestrial water cycle. However, continuous measurement of transpiration is still difficult, and the effect of vegetation on ET partitioning is unclear. The concept of underlying water use efficiency (uWUE) was used to develop a new method for ET partitioning by assuming that the maximum, or the potential uWUE is related to T while the averaged or apparent uWUE is related to ET. T/ET was thus estimated as the ratio of the apparent over the potential uWUE using half-hourly flux data from 17 AmeriFlux sites. The estimated potential uWUE was shown to be essentially constant for 14 of the 17 sites, and was broadly consistent with the uWUE evaluated at the leaf scale. The annual T/ET was the highest for croplands, i.e., 0.69 for corn and 0.62 for soybean, followed by grasslands (0.60) and evergreen needle leaf forests (0.56), and was the lowest for deciduous broadleaf forests (0.52). The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) was shown to be significantly correlated with T/ET and could explain about 75% of the variation in T/ET among the 71 site-years. The coefficients of determination between EVI and T/ET were 0.84 and 0.82 for corn and soybean, respectively, and 0.77 for deciduous broadleaf forests and grasslands, but only 0.37 for evergreen needle leaf forests. This ET partitioning method is sound in principle and simple to apply in practice, and would enhance the value and role of global FLUXNET in estimating T/ET variations and monitoring ecosystem dynamics.

Daily underlying water use efficiency for AmeriFlux sites

Water use efficiency (WUE) is a crucial parameter to describe the interrelationship between gross primary production (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET). Incorporating the nonlinear effect of vapor pressure deficit (VPD), underlying WUE (uWUE = GPP · VPD0.5/ET) is better than inherent WUE (IWUE = GPP · VPD/ET) at the half-hourly time scale. However, appropriateness of uWUE has not yet been evaluated at the daily time scale. To determine whether uWUE is better than IWUE, daily data for seven vegetation types from 34 AmeriFlux sites were used to validate uWUE at the daily time scale. First, daily mean VPD was shown to be a good substitute for the effective VPD that was required to preserve daily GPP totals. Second, an optimal exponent, k*, corresponding to the best linear relationship between GPP · VPDk* and ET, was about 0.55 both at half-hourly and daily time scales. Third, correlation coefficient between GPP · VPDk and ET showed that uWUE (k = 0.5 and r = 0.85) was a better approximation of the optimal WUE (k = k* and r = 0.86) than IWUE (k = 1 and r = 0.81) at the daily scale. Finally, when yearly uWUE was used to predict daily GPP from daily ET and mean VPD, uWUE worked considerably better than IWUE. Comparing observed and predicted daily GPP, the average correlation coefficient and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency were 0.81 and 0.59, respectively, using yearly uWUE, and only 0.59 and −0.83 using yearly IWUE. As a nearly optimal WUE, uWUE consistently outperformed IWUE and could be used to evaluate the effects of global warming and elevated atmosphere CO2 on carbon assimilation and evapotranspiration.

A global moderate resolution dataset of gross primary production of vegetation for 2000–2016

Accurate estimation of the gross primary production (GPP) of terrestrial vegetation is vital for understanding the global carbon cycle and predicting future climate change. Multiple GPP products are currently available based on different methods, but their performances vary substantially when validated against GPP estimates from eddy covariance data. This paper provides a new GPP dataset at moderate spatial (500 m) and temporal (8-day) resolutions over the entire globe for 2000–2016. This GPP dataset is based on an improved light use efficiency theory and is driven by satellite data from MODIS and climate data from NCEP Reanalysis II. It also employs a state-of-the-art vegetation index (VI) gap-filling and smoothing algorithm and a separate treatment for C3/C4 photosynthesis pathways. All these improvements aim to solve several critical problems existing in current GPP products. With a satisfactory performance when validated against in situ GPP estimates, this dataset offers an alternative GPP estimate for regional to global carbon cycle studies.

Dominant role of plant physiology in trend and variability of gross primary productivity in North America

Annual gross primary productivity (GPP) varies considerably due to climate-induced changes in plant phenology and physiology. However, the relative importance of plant phenology and physiology on annual GPP variation is not clear. In this study, a Statistical Model of Integrated Phenology and Physiology (SMIPP) was used to evaluate the relative contributions of maximum daily GPP (GPPmax) and the start and end of growing season (GSstart and GSend) to annual GPP variability, using a regional GPP product in North America during 2000–2014 and GPP data from 24 AmeriFlux sites. Climatic sensitivity of the three indicators was assessed to investigate the climate impacts on plant phenology and physiology. The SMIPP can explain 98% of inter-annual variability of GPP over mid- and high latitudes in North America. The long-term trend and inter-annual variability of GPP are dominated by GPPmax both at the ecosystem and regional scales. During warmer spring and autumn, GSstart is advanced and GSend delayed, respectively. GPPmax responds positively to summer temperature over high latitudes (40–80°N), but negatively in mid-latitudes (25–40°N). This study demonstrates that plant physiology, rather than phenology, plays a dominant role in annual GPP variability, indicating more attention should be paid to physiological change under futher climate change.

Response of Water Use Efficiency to Global Environmental Change Based on Output From Terrestrial Biosphere Models

Author(s): Zhou, S; Yu, B; Schwalm, CR; Ciais, P; Zhang, Y; Fisher, JB; Michalak, AM; Wang, W; Poulter, B; Huntzinger, DN; Niu, S; Mao, J; Jain, A; Ricciuto, DM; Shi, X; Ito, A; Wei, Y; Huang, Y; Wang, G | Abstract: ©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Water use efficiency (WUE), defined as the ratio of gross primary productivity and evapotranspiration at the ecosystem scale, is a critical variable linking the carbon and water cycles. Incorporating a dependency on vapor pressure deficit, apparent underlying WUE (uWUE) provides a better indicator of how terrestrial ecosystems respond to environmental changes than other WUE formulations. Here we used 20th century simulations from four terrestrial biosphere models to develop a novel variance decomposition method. With this method, we attributed variations in apparent uWUE to both the trend and interannual variation of environmental drivers. The secular increase in atmospheric CO2 explained a clear majority of total variation (66 ± 32%: mean ± one standard deviation), followed by positive trends in nitrogen deposition and climate, as well as a negative trend in land use change. In contrast, interannual variation was mostly driven by interannual climate variability. To analyze the mechanism of the CO2 effect, we partitioned the apparent uWUE into the transpiration ratio (transpiration over evapotranspiration) and potential uWUE. The relative increase in potential uWUE parallels that of CO2, but this direct CO2 effect was offset by 20 ± 4% by changes in ecosystem structure, that is, leaf area index for different vegetation types. However, the decrease in transpiration due to stomatal closure with rising CO2 was reduced by 84% by an increase in leaf area index, resulting in small changes in the transpiration ratio. CO2 concentration thus plays a dominant role in driving apparent uWUE variations over time, but its role differs for the two constituent components: potential uWUE and transpiration.