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Arid Land Geography ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6): 993-1003.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2023.388

• Biology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatial and temporal variation of water use efficiency and its influencing factors in desert steppe of Inner Mongolia from 2001 to 2021

LI Hui1(), LIU Tiejun2,3(), WANG Shaohui1, LIU Dongwei1   

  1. 1. School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, China
    2. Institute of Water Resources in Pastoral Areas, Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot 010020, Inner Mongolia, China
    3. Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Grassland Ecology and Hydrology at the North Foot of Yinshan Mountain, Inner Mongolia, Hohhot 010020, Inner Mongolia, China
  • Received:2023-07-27 Revised:2023-10-11 Online:2024-06-25 Published:2024-07-09
  • Contact: LIU Tiejun E-mail:32115062@mail.imu.edu.cn;mksltj@126.com

Abstract:

Water use efficiency (WUE) is an important indicator for characterizing water-carbon processes, and it has significant implications for studying the laws of water-carbon coupling and their response factors in ecologically fragile areas. Based on total primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture, the spatial and temporal change characteristics of WUE in Inner Mongolia desert steppe from 2001 to 2021 were systematically analyzed, and the factors affecting WUE changes were discussed. The results show that: (1) The average value of WUE in Inner Mongolia desert steppe from 2001 to 2021 was 0.877 g C·mm-1·m-2, with a spatial variation range of 0.35-2.42 g C·mm-1·m-2. (2) The area where the future trend of WUE is expected to change accounted for a relatively large proportion (about 69.00%), and these regions are more likely to reverse the trend of WUE in the future. (3) More than 60.00% of the study areas showed a positive correlation between WUE and precipitation, ET, and soil moisture, of which the correlation between precipitation and WUE was the most obvious (the positive correlation area accounted for about 91.00%, and the area through the significant test P<0.05 accounted for about 30.00%). (4) WUE was generally negatively correlated with temperature, with the negative correlation area accounting for more than 60.00%. (5) Climate change plays a major role in the change of WUE in Inner Mongolia desert steppe. WUE in Inner Mongolia desert steppe is affected by multiple factors, and the research results can provide reference for the study of WUE in desert grassland areas under climate change.

Key words: desert grassland, water use efficiency, human activities, climate change, Inner Mongolia