Hydrologic balance, net primary productivity and water use efficiency of the introduced exotic Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in south-western China

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtz033

J Plant Ecol ›› 2019, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (6): 982-992 .DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtz033

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Hydrologic balance, net primary productivity and water use efficiency of the introduced exotic Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in south-western China

Yanting Hu¹, Ping Zhao^1,2,*, Yuqing Huang³, Liwei Zhu¹, Guangyan Ni¹, Xiuhua Zhao¹ and Zhihong Huang⁴

¹Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 723 Xingke Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510650, China
²Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 723 Xingke Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510650, China
³Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Environment Change and Resource Use, Ministry of Education and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Intelligent Simulation, Nanning Normal University, 175 Mingxiu East Road, Nanning, Guangxi 530001, China
⁴Department of Forest Ecology, College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, 498 Shaoshan South Road, Changsha, Hunan 410004, China
^*Correspondence address. South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 723 Xingke Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510650, China. Tel: +86 20 37252881; Fax: +86 20 37252831; E-mail: zhaoping@scib.ac.cn

Received:2019-04-23 Revised:2019-05-19 Accepted:2019-07-20 Published:2019-12-01

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims

Land cover changes can disrupt water balance and alter the partitioning of precipitation into surface runoff, evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. The widely planted Eucalyptustrees in south-western China have the potential to bring about hydrologic impacts. Our research aims to elucidate the hydrologic balance characteristics of the introduced exotic Eucalyptus grandis× Eucalyptus urophylla plantation and to assess whether its high productivity results from high water use efficiency (WUE) or large water consumption.

Methods

A 400-m2 experimental plot was established in an E. grandis × E. urophylla plantation in south-western China. Water balance components, including stand transpiration (T_r), evapotranspiration (E_t) and runoff (R) were obtained as follows: T_r was estimated based on sap flow measurements, E_t was estimated as the average of surface transpiration and evaporation weighted by the fractional green vegetation cover using a modeling approach, and R was collected using the installed metal frame. Net primary productivity (NPP) was obtained from allometric equation and annual diameter at breast height (DBH) increment determination.

Important Findings

Annual E_t and T_r were 430 ± 31 and 239 ± 17 mm, respectively. Annual T_raccounts for 56 ± 8% of total evapotranspiration on average. WUE (NPP/T_r) of the E. grandis × E. urophylla was estimated to be 3.3–3.9 mmol·mol−1. Based on the comparative analysis of T_r and WUE, E. grandis × E. urophylla had a high productivity due to its high WUE without exhibiting prodigal water use. Meteorological factors including vapor pressure deficit and global solar radiation (R_s) were key factors regulating E_t and T_r in our research site. Annual surface runoff, E_tand canopy interception occupied 7%, 27–30% and 16% of total precipitation, while the remaining 46–50% of precipitation was used for sustaining groundwater recharge and altering soil water storage. The higher runoff coefficient (7.1%) indicated the weaker capability of E. grandis × E. urophylla to reserve water resource than natural forests and less disturbed plantations. The planting and protection of understory vegetation may decrease the surface runoff and exert beneficial effects on water conservation capacity of Eucalyptus plantation.

Key words: water balance, evapotranspiration, water use efficiency, sap flow, runoff

Yanting Hu, Ping Zhao, Yuqing Huang, Liwei Zhu, Guangyan Ni, Xiuhua Zhao and Zhihong Huang. Hydrologic balance, net primary productivity and water use efficiency of the introduced exotic Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in south-western China[J]. J Plant Ecol, 2019, 12(6): 982-992.

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Hydrologic balance, net primary productivity and water use efficiency of the introduced exotic Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in south-western China

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