Response of evaporation and transpiration of typical afforestation tree species to climate changes in gully region of Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau is the main rain-fed agricultural area in western China, and water shortage is a critical factor restricting vegetation establishment and growth in this region. Under the influence of global climate change in recent years, significant changes have taken place in climate characteristics of the Loess Plateau, which will have a far-reaching impact on evaporation and transpiration under different vegetation conditions. Therefore, there is needed to make a in-depth research on the response of evaporation and transpiration to climate change for typical afforestation tree species, which has remarkable theoretical and practical significance in providing useful indications for tree species selection, water use efficiency improvement and ecosystem restoration. In order to evaluate the effects and mechanism of climate change on evaporation and transpiration of typical artificial afforestation tree species, a field experiment was carried out in the growing season of 2015-2016 (April 15th-October15th) at Nanxiaohegou basin (35°41′-35°44′N,107°30′-107°37′E), a typical small basin in gully region of the Loess Plateau selected by the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission of China. In three sample plots of Robinia pseudoacacia, Platycladus orientalis and Pinus tabulaeformis, soil physical parameters of three soil depth (0-40 cm, >40-100 and >100-200 cm) and the distribution of root density were measured, and soil moisture content, leaf area index, evaporation, precipitation and meteorology data were observed during the study period, from which simulation models of transpiration and evaporation in three experimental plots were established using Hydrus-1D software. The uncertainty of models parameters were analyzed through the Morris method, and the results showed that parameters of pore size distribution (40–100 cm) (n2), saturated water content (40-100cm) (θs2), field water capacity (θf), optimum threshold for root water absorption (h1), lower threshold for root water absorption (h2), soil water potential for permanent wilting (h3), extinction coefficient (μ), and parameter of vegetation interception model (a) had a great influence on transpiration, and the parameters related to the physiological characteristics of vegetation (h1, h2, h3, μ, and a) were the important reasons for the differences in transpiration of three tree species. The measured soil moisture content and evaporation data from 2015 were used to calibrate the model, and the data from 2016 were used to validate the model. Nash-suttcliffe efficiency coefficients were all above 0.700. The calibrated models were used to simulate evaporation and transpiration process under different presupposition scenarios derived from related research on climate characteristics of the study area, and the results showed that: 1) The effects of climate change in the future and different hydrological years on Robinia pseudopodia transpiration were greater than that in evaporation, while the opposite was true for Platycladus orientalis and Pinus tabuliformis. 2) Under all climate scenarios, the amount of transpiration for above tree species were distributed in 128.8-282.6, 99.3-200.3 and 140.5-220.5 mm, respectively, while the amount of evaporation were distributed in 94.6-135.4, 116.5-187.3 and 123.8-212.5 mm, respectively, and the transpiration and evaporation were both shown in the following aspect: the wet year > the normal year > the dry year. 3) As for transpiration, the response degree of three tree species to the climate characteristics of the future and different hydrological years was: Robinia pseudoacacia > Platycladus orientalis > Pinus tabuliformis, when it came to the evaporation, it was just the opposite. 4) In the same period of the future climate scenarios, the amount of transpiration in Robinia pseudoacacia plot was the largest among all tree species in wet and normal year, while in the dry year, the tree species with largest amount of transpiration was Pinus tabulaeformis. 5) The influence of precipitation on the transpiration and evaporation in growing season was stronger than that of temperature, and regression analysis indicated that the precipitation in growing season had a very significant linear function (P<0.01) with transpiration and evaporation for all 3 tree species. This study may provide valuable information for rational management of artificial afforestation tree species and restoration of the local ecological environment.