TY - JOUR

T1 - Influences of Shifted Vegetation Phenology on Runoff Across a Hydroclimatic Gradient

AU - Chen, Shouzhi

AU - Fu, Yongshuo H.

AU - Geng, Xiaojun

AU - Hao, Zengchao

AU - Tang, Jing

AU - Zhang, Xuan

AU - Xu, Zongxue

AU - Hao, Fanghua

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Chen, Fu, Geng, Hao, Tang, Zhang, Xu and Hao.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Climate warming has changed vegetation phenology, and the phenology-associated impacts on terrestrial water fluxes remain largely unquantified. The impacts are linked to plant adjustments and responses to climate change and can be different in different hydroclimatic regions. Based on remote sensing data and observed river runoff of hydrological station from six river basins across a hydroclimatic gradient from northeast to southwest in China, the relative contributions of the vegetation (including spring and autumn phenology, growing season length (GSL), and gross primary productivity) and climatic factors affecting the river runoffs over 1982–2015 were investigated by applying gray relational analysis (GRA). We found that the average GSLs in humid regions (190–241 days) were longer than that in semi-humid regions (186–192 days), and the average GSLs were consistently extended by 4.8–13.9 days in 1982–2015 period in six river basins. The extensions were mainly linked to the delayed autumn phenology in the humid regions and to advanced spring phenology in the semi-humid regions. Across all river basins, the GRA results showed that precipitation (r = 0.74) and soil moisture (r = 0.73) determine the river runoffs, and the vegetation factors (VFs) especially the vegetation phenology also affected the river runoffs (spring phenology: r = 0.66; GSL: r = 0.61; autumn phenology: r = 0.59), even larger than the contribution from temperature (r = 0.57), but its relative importance is climatic region-dependent. Interestingly, the spring phenology is the main VF in the humid region for runoffs reduction, while both spring and autumn growth phenology are the main VFs in the semi-humid region, because large autumn phenology delay and less water supply capacity in spring amplify the effect of advanced spring phenology. This article reveals diverse linkages between climatic and VFs, and runoff in different hydroclimatic regions, and provides insights that vegetation phenology influences the ecohydrology process largely depending on the local hydroclimatic conditions, which improve our understanding of terrestrial hydrological responses to climate change.

AB - Climate warming has changed vegetation phenology, and the phenology-associated impacts on terrestrial water fluxes remain largely unquantified. The impacts are linked to plant adjustments and responses to climate change and can be different in different hydroclimatic regions. Based on remote sensing data and observed river runoff of hydrological station from six river basins across a hydroclimatic gradient from northeast to southwest in China, the relative contributions of the vegetation (including spring and autumn phenology, growing season length (GSL), and gross primary productivity) and climatic factors affecting the river runoffs over 1982–2015 were investigated by applying gray relational analysis (GRA). We found that the average GSLs in humid regions (190–241 days) were longer than that in semi-humid regions (186–192 days), and the average GSLs were consistently extended by 4.8–13.9 days in 1982–2015 period in six river basins. The extensions were mainly linked to the delayed autumn phenology in the humid regions and to advanced spring phenology in the semi-humid regions. Across all river basins, the GRA results showed that precipitation (r = 0.74) and soil moisture (r = 0.73) determine the river runoffs, and the vegetation factors (VFs) especially the vegetation phenology also affected the river runoffs (spring phenology: r = 0.66; GSL: r = 0.61; autumn phenology: r = 0.59), even larger than the contribution from temperature (r = 0.57), but its relative importance is climatic region-dependent. Interestingly, the spring phenology is the main VF in the humid region for runoffs reduction, while both spring and autumn growth phenology are the main VFs in the semi-humid region, because large autumn phenology delay and less water supply capacity in spring amplify the effect of advanced spring phenology. This article reveals diverse linkages between climatic and VFs, and runoff in different hydroclimatic regions, and provides insights that vegetation phenology influences the ecohydrology process largely depending on the local hydroclimatic conditions, which improve our understanding of terrestrial hydrological responses to climate change.

KW - climate change

KW - river basins

KW - runoff

KW - semi-humid and humid regions

KW - vegetation phenology

U2 - 10.3389/fpls.2021.802664

DO - 10.3389/fpls.2021.802664

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35058961

AN - SCOPUS:85123200710

VL - 12

JO - Frontiers in Plant Science

JF - Frontiers in Plant Science

SN - 1664-462X

M1 - 802664

ER -