Abstract
Abstract. This paper investigates the impact of various vegetation types on water balance variability in semi-arid Mediterranean landscapes, and the different strategies they may have developed to succeed in such water-limited environments. The existence of preferential associations between soil water holding capacity and vegetation species is assessed through an extensive soil geo-database focused on a study region in Southern Italy. Water balance constraints that dominate the organization of landscapes are investigated by a conceptual bucket approach. The temporal water balance dynamics are modelled, with vegetation water use efficiency being parameterized through the use of empirically obtained crop coefficients as surrogates of vegetation behavior in various developmental stages. Sensitivity analyses with respect to the root zone depth and soil water holding capacity are carried out with the aim of explaining the existence of preferential soil-vegetation associations and, hence, the spatial distribution of vegetation types within the study region. Based on these sensitivity analyses the degrees of suitability and adaptability of each vegetation type to parts of the study region are explored with respect of the soil water holding capacity, and the model results were found consistent with the observed affinity patterns.
Highlights
A primary motivation for this study is the development and implementation of a simple water balance model for regional applications in semi-arid Mediterranean landscapes, suitable to investigate the impact of climate change on regional wa-ter budget, and the assessment of critical climatic and landscape controls over large spatial domains (Entekhabi and Eagleson, 1989; Scholes and Walker, 1993), in absence of extensive soil database
At the same time in the emerging field of eco-hydrology the role of vegetation in hydrology has been investigated in considerable detail. Motivated by these considerations we explore the use of simple models for water balance evaluation and prediction, provided that they are able to correctly represent the role of climate-soil-vegetation (CSV) interactions and the dynamic adaptive behavior of vegetation in controlling the space-time patterns of water balance variability (Scanlon and Albertson, 2003)
The model was run for a 50-year data set (1951–2000) of monthly climate records in order to capture specific water balance responses to the intraannual and inter-annual climate variabilities that can be related to landscape attributes in the study region
Summary
A primary motivation for this study is the development and implementation of a simple water balance model for regional applications in semi-arid Mediterranean landscapes, suitable to investigate the impact of climate change on regional wa- In this field, several experimental studies have shown that water balance estimates are sensitive to land cover types, vegetation cover, and land use, as well as the rooting depth Dr , and available specific water content θf c−θwp The habitats for plant domestication, selected along the years by farmers on the basis of yield performance (Zobel, 1992), should provide reduced competition, improved fertility, and reduced disease incidence, allowing increased productivity In such a case, vegetation response, and its evolutionary adaptation to the multi-scale climate variability and landscape properties (soils, topography etc.) prevalent in the study region, could be considered as keys to understanding the underlying water balance regimes, with particular reference to agricultural landscapes. The results section is focused on the water balance response under different soil and vegetation conditions, followed by the sensitivity analysis carried out to investigate vegetation adaptability
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