A global synthesis of transpiration rate and evapotranspiration partitioning in the shrub ecosystems

Abstract

Transpiration (T) is a fundamental process in understanding the ecophysiology of plants, and it is the dominant component of evapotranspiration (ET) in the terrestrial water cycle. Although previous studies have examined T characteristics of shrub ecosystems in some regions, global-scale synthesis that integrates the spatial variations of T, ET and ratio of T to ET (T/ET) and the associated influences of bio-/abiotic factors in the shrub ecosystems is currently lacking. In this study, we synthesized and analyzed T rate, ET rate and T/ET of the shrub ecosystems from the peer-reviewed articles using field observations around the world. These studies were mainly distributed in drylands with aridity index (ratio of precipitation to potential ET) < 0.65, which accounted for 86.4% of the study locations. Globally, the mean daily T and ET rates of shrubs were 1.5 ± 1.0 mm d−1 and 2.4 ± 0.8 mm d−1, with coefficient of variation of 63.2% and 36.2% among the study locations, respectively. Mean T/ET of the shrubs over the growing season was 0.54 ± 0.14, which was generally lower compared with forest, grassland and cropland ecosystems. The T rate of shrubs was positively related to shrub age, shrub height, leaf area index, and vegetation coverage (p < 0.05), and the effects of biotic factors on T rate were stronger compared with abiotic factors. The ET rate of shrubs was positively related to aridity index, long-term annual mean precipitation, mean soil water content, as well as shrub height and vegetation coverage (p < 0.05). By contrast, the effects of biotic factors on variations of shrub T/ET were weaker than those of abiotic factors, and the T/ET of shrubs was negatively related to aridity index, long-term annual mean precipitation and mean soil water content, but positively related to latitude (p < 0.05). This study is an important supplement of our knowledge gap in terrestrial water cycle, and the findings suggest that T accounted for about half of the water into atmosphere from shrub ecosystems, and the variations of T rate of shrubs were mainly controlled by biotic factors, whereas ET rate and T/ET was mainly affected by abiotic factors.