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Journal of Environmental Hydrology
ISSN 1058-3912 |
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Electronic Journal of the International Association for
Environmental Hydrology
JEH Volume 17 (2009), Paper 23 Posted September 22, 2009 ESTIMATION OF EVAPOTRANSPIRATION AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF THREE VEGETATION COMMUNITIES USING DRAINAGE LYSIMETERS IN THE TAIHANG MOUNTAINS, CHINA
Fan Yang1,2 2Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China 3Dynamic Solutions, LLC, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to measure the evapotranspiration (ET) and water use efficiency (WUE) of three native vegetation communities to provide scientific information for vegetation recovery in the Taihang Mountains, China. They are a local grass, a local shrub and a mixture of the two. The ET and WUE were measured using level and slope lysimeters. The results show that the drainage lysimeter is an effective tool for estimating plant ET in mountainous areas. Generally, the measured ET was higher in the level lysimeters than the slope lysimeters because of loss of surface runoff from the slope lysimeter. The monthly ET peaked in August and had a close linear relationship with leaf area index. For all three communities, the dry weight and water use efficiency were higher in the level lysimeters than the slope lysimeters. For both level and slope lysimeters, the mixed vegetation community has a higher water use efficiency than grass or shrub alone. It is recommended that the mixed vegetation community be used for the vegetation recovery in the Taihang Mountains due to its higher WUE. Reference: Yang, F., Z. Liu, W. Zhang, and Y. Yang. 2009. Estimation of evapotranspiration and water use efficiency of three vegetation communities using drainage lysimeters in the Taihang Mountains, China. Journal of Environmental Hydrology, Vol. 17, Paper 23. CONTACT: Fan Yang Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology Chinese Academy of Sciences 3195 Weishan Road Changchun 130012, Jilin Province China E-mail: yangfan@neigae.ac.cn |
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