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TobiasBiermann.jpg

Tobias Biermann

Forskningsingenjör

TobiasBiermann.jpg

Evapotranspiration and water balance of high-elevation grassland on the Tibetan Plateau

Författare

  • Heinz Coners
  • Wolfgang Babel
  • Sandra Willinghöfer
  • Tobias Biermann
  • Lars Köhler
  • Elke Seeber
  • Foken Thomas
  • Yaoming Ma
  • Yongping Yang
  • Georg Miehe
  • Christoph Leuschner
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Summary, in English

High-elevation grasslands of the Cyperaceae Kobresia pygmaea cover nearly half a million km2 on the Tibetan Plateau. As a consequence of climate change, precipitation patterns in this monsooninfluenced region may change with possible consequences for grassland productivity. Yet, not much is known about the water cycle in this second largest alpine ecosystem of the world. We measured the evapotranspiration of a high-elevation Kobresia pasture system at 4400 m a.s.l. in the south-eastern part of the plateau in two summers using three different approaches, weighable micro-lysimeters, eddy covariance measurements, and water balance modeling with the soil–plant–atmosphere transfer model SEWAB. In good agreement among the three approaches, we found ET rates of 4–6 mm d-1 in moist summer periods (June–August) and 2mmd-1 in dry periods, despite the high elevation and a leaf area index of only 1. Measured ET rates were comparable to rates reported from alpine grasslands at 1500–2500 m a.s.l. in temperate mountains, and also matched ET rates of managed lowland grasslands in the temperate zone. At the study site with 430 mm annual precipitation, low summer rainfall reduced ET significantly and infiltration into the subsoil occurred only in moist periods. Our results show that the evapotranspiration of high-elevation grasslands at 4400 m can be as high as in lowland grasslands despite large elevational changes in abiotic and biotic drivers of ET, and periodic water shortage is likely to influence large parts of the Tibetan Kobresia pastures.

Avdelning/ar

  • Centrum för miljö- och klimatvetenskap (CEC)
  • Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap

Publiceringsår

2016

Språk

Engelska

Sidor

557-566

Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie

Journal of Hydrology

Volym

533

Dokumenttyp

Artikel i tidskrift

Förlag

Elsevier

Ämne

  • Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Nyckelord

  • Evapotranspiration
  • eddy covariance
  • Tibet
  • grassland

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt

  • ISSN: 0022-1694