Study Unveils Plant Water-Use Efficiency's Impact on Aboveground Biomass and Carbon Stocks in Central Asia's Drylands

A research team led by Prof. CHEN Xi from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has investigated the responses of plant water use efficiency to biomass density and CO₂ balance in Central Asia's drylands over the period from 2000 to 2023. Their work was published in the journal Ecological Indicators.

Plant water-use efficiency plays a vital role in interconnecting plant carbon (CO2) and water cycles, through various aspects of plant ecosystem functioning. This has prompted an urgent need to analyze the patterns and magnitude of plant water use efficiency and its effects on vegetation biomass, carbon stocks, and associated fluxes.

The researchers reported an annual increase of 0.04 ± 0.66 kg/m²/year in desert plant biomass density and 0.32 ± 0.85 kg C/m²/year in carbon stocks throughout Central Asia. The total biomass density and carbon stocks of desert ecosystems in the region amount to 5.52 ± 1.19 Gt and 3.12 ± 0.88 Pg C, respectively. The actual carbon sources and sinks were identified as 0.044 Pg C and 0.218 Pg C, respectively.

Furthermore, the study highlights that water use efficiency at the canopy conductance significantly influences carbon stocks (R² = 0.57), underscoring its importance compared to other plants' water fluxes.

The findings can provide valuable insights for regional strategies aimed at controlling CO₂ emissions and enhancing climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts within Central Asia and other global dryland ecosystems.

Article link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.113070

Contact:  

LONG Huaping

Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography 

E-mail: longhp@ms.xjb.ac.cn 

Web: http://english.egi.cas.cn