Abstract
Afforestation activities in the Kubuqi Desert, Inner Mongolia, China, have substantially increased tree and shrub coverage in this region. In this study, the response of the surface temperature to afforestation is simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting model. The surface temperature changes are decomposed into contributions from the intrinsic surface biophysical effect and atmospheric feedback, using the theory of intrinsic biophysical mechanism. The effect of afforestation on the surface temperature is 1.34 K, −0.48 K, 2.09 K and 0.22 K for the summer daytime, the summer nighttime, the winter daytime and the winter nighttime, respectively, for the grid cells that have experienced conversion from bare soil to shrub. The corresponding domain mean values are 0.15 K, −0.2 K, 0.67 K, and 0.06 K. The seasonal variation of surface temperature change is mainly caused by changes in roughness and Bowen ratio. In the daytime, the surface temperature changes are dominated by the biophysical effect, with albedo change being the main biophysical factor. In the nighttime, the biophysical effect (mainly associated with roughness change) and the atmospheric feedback (mainly associated with change in the background air temperature) contribute similar amounts to the surface temperature changes. We conclude that the atmospheric feedback can amplify the influence of the surface biophysical effect, especially in the nighttime.
Highlights
Afforestation in semi-arid areas is an important method to protect soil, combat densification and improve the local environment
We evaluated the regional impact of afforestation on surface temperature in the Kubuqi desert
We found the effect of afforestation on the surface temperature is 1.34 K, −0.48 K, 2.09 K and 0.22 K for the summer daytime, the summer nighttime, the winter daytime, and the winter nighttime, respectively, for the grid cells that have experienced conversion from bare soil to shrubland
Summary
Afforestation in semi-arid areas is an important method to protect soil, combat densification and improve the local environment. United Nations, the area of planted forests was 264 Mha worldwide in 2010, and the rate of afforestation was 4.3 Mha/year during the decade beginning in 1990 and 4.9 Mha/year during the decade starting in. Of the global total afforested area, about 22% is in semi-arid climates [1]. Several countries in arid regions reported a net afforestation between 1990 and 2010, including Egypt, Tunisia, Cyprus, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The area of afforestation in North Africa and West Asia is 4 Mha from 1950 to 2000, representing 6% of the actual forest and woodland in these regions [4]. In China, multiple afforestation programs have taken place since 1978, resulting in the largest afforested area in the world (about 69 Mha in 2013, [5])
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