Assessing the large-scale plant–water relations in the humid, subtropical Pearl River basin of China

Abstract. Vegetation interacts closely with water resources. Conventional field studies of plant–water relations are fundamental for understanding the mechanisms how plants alter and adapt to environmental changes, while large-scale can be more practical regional land use management towards mitigating climate change impacts. In this study, we investigated changes in total storage (TWS), aridity index (AI) vegetation greenness, productivity, their interactions Pearl River basin since April 2002. Results show an overall increasing trend greenness especially middle reaches where TWS also increased. This region dominated by croplands was identified as hot spot between basin. strongly affected than precipitation (P) at both annual monthly scales. Further examination showed that influence on dry years stronger wet years, impact P years; moreover, productivity responded slower but atmospheric dryness years. The lag effects resulted nonlinearity dynamics. study implies uses rainwater prior until soil becomes dry, dynamics indicate development is subject availability, not dominant reducing availability.