Spatio-temporal co-evolution of vegetation and hydrological elements under a changing environment in the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin
In order to investigate the spatiotemporal evolution rule of vegetation and water in arid and semi-arid areas of China,this study obtained the information of precipitation,evapotranspiration,runoff,surface soil moisture and total land water storage variations in the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin by integrating multi-source satellite remote sensing observation,reanalysis datasets,and model simulation data.The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of vegetation and water resources in different land use types from 2003 to 2018 were analyzed,and the interaction patterns between vegetation and various hydrological elemcnts were explored.The results indicate that the increase of forest vegetation coverage in the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin leads to the increase of evapotranspiration.The sum of annual evapotranspiration and runoff is 16.5 mm higher than the precipitation,resulting in the decrease of soil moisture and groundwater storage.The annual irrigation water consumption in farmlands ranges from 101.3 to 108.9 mm,and increases with the annual increase of cropland vegetation cover.Although the sum of annual evapotranspiration and runoff in grassland areas is lower than the precipitation,the continuous increase of grassland vegetation coverage significantly reduces the water surplus,resulting that the water consumption of grassland is approaching its eco-hydrological threshold.Total land water storage equivalent water height decreases at a rate of(7.5±1.9)mm per year,indicating a trend of groundwater depletion in the region.The interannual fluctuation of precipitation shows a gradually diminishing impact on vegetation coverage and evapotranspiration,as well as a decreasing influence on the changes of surface soil moisture in forests.
vegetationhydrologic componentsecological restorationspatio-temporal evolutionInner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin