Abstract
Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key factor to further our understanding of climate change processes, especially on the Tibetan Plateau, which is sensitive to global change. Herein, the spatial patterns of ET are examined, and the effects of environmental factors on ET at different scales are explored from the years 2000 to 2012. The results indicated that a steady trend in ET was detected over the past decade. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution shows an increase of ET from the northwest to the southeast, and the rate of change in ET is lower in the middle part of the Tibetan Plateau. Besides, the positive effect of radiation on ET existed mainly in the southwest. Based on the environment gradient transects, the ET had positive correlations with temperature (R>0.85, p<0.0001), precipitation (R > 0.89, p < 0.0001), and NDVI (R > 0.75, p < 0.0001), but a negative correlation between ET and radiation (R = 0.76, p < 0.0001) was observed. We also found that the relationships between environmental factors and ET differed in the different grassland ecosystems, which indicated that vegetation type is one factor that can affect ET. Generally, the results indicate that ET can serve as a valuable ecological indicator.
Highlights
With a variable global climate, evapotranspiration, which has not escaped our concern, is seen as the crux to comprehending soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions [1]
The comparison of ET dynamics in different ecosystems indicated that the ET values in the forest had the least interannual variability and highly outperformed the others (Figure 2)
The spatial distribution of ET over Tibetan Plateau in our study shows a decrease from the southeast to the northwest
Summary
With a variable global climate, evapotranspiration, which has not escaped our concern, is seen as the crux to comprehending soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions [1]. The word evapotranspiration is composed of evaporation and transpiration. The former is the process by which water from the Earth’s surface waters changes from liquid to vapour and goes into the atmosphere, and the latter refers to the process by which the water in plants passes through the stomata and spreads to the exterior [2]. Evaporation is a component of the surface heat balance and of the hydrological cycle [3]; it has the functions of regulating temperature, increasing humidity, and affecting the ecological environment, and it affects the sustainable development of society and economy [4]. A close relationship between evapotranspiration and meteorological variables (temperature, precipitation, radiation, and wind speed and humidity) has been reported [7,8,9]. The variation in evapotranspiration is a vital indicator for the drivers of climate change [10, 11], and it can serve as a valuable tool in investigations of ecological environment change and the impacts that human activities have on it
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