Landslides are one of the most common geologic hazards in the Loess Plateau of northwest China, especially with some of the highest landslide densities found in Shaanxi and adjacent provinces. Prior to assessing the landslide hazard, a detailed landslide inventory map is fundamental. This study documents the landslides on the northwest Loess Plateau with high accuracy using high-resolution Quic...

The Loess Plateau region in northwestern China has experienced severe water resource shortages due to the combined impacts of climate and land use changes and water resource exploitation during the past decades. This study was designed to examine the impacts of climatic variability on streamflow characteristics of a 12-km watershed near Tianshui City, Gansu Province in northwestern China. Stati...

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the surface energy balance and hydrological cycle. In this study, the eddy covariance technique was used to measure ET of the semi-arid farmland ecosystem in the Loess Plateau during 2010 growing season (April to September). The characteristics and environmental regulations of ET and crop coefficient (Kc) were investigated. The results showed...

A large-scale re-vegetation supported by the Grain for Green Project (GGP) has greatly changed local eco-hydrological systems, with an impact on soil moisture conditions for the Chinese Loess Plateau. It is important to know how, exactly, re-vegetation influences soil moisture conditions, which not only crucially constrain growth and distribution of vegetation, and hence, further re-vegetation,...

A risk assessment of vegetation zone responses to climate change was conducted using the classical Holdridge life zone model on the Loess Plateau of Northwest China. The results show that there are currently ten vegetation zones occurring on the Loess Plateau (1950–2000), including alvar desert, alpine wet tundra, alpine rain tundra, boreal moist forest, boreal wet forest, cool temperate desert...

Land-use change is widely considered to be a major factor affecting soil carbon (C) sequestration (ΔCs). This paper studied changes to soil C stocks (Cs) following the conversion of farmland to forest, shrub and grassland across the key area for implementing China's "Grain for Green"--the Loess Plateau. The results are based on a synthesis of 44 recent publications (including 424 observations a...

The sustainable development of efficient water-saving agricultural irrigation in Loess Plateau requires reasonable and quantitative planning, design, management, and strategies based on crop-water-salt response relationship. In the present paper, data were measured by using the soil-water-salt sensor CS655 to modify the simulation of root uptake in the original Soil Water Atmosphere Plant (SWAP...

Growth of herbaceous plants responds sensitively and rapidly to climate variability. Yet, little is known regarding how climate warming influences the growth of herbaceous plants, particularly in semi-arid sites. This contrasts with widely reported tree growth decline and even mortality in response to severe water deficits due to climate warming around the world. Here, we use the relatively nov...

The Chinese Loess Plateau is located in the north of China and has a significant impact on the climate and ecosystem evolvement over the East Asian continent. Estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) at a regional scale are in crucial need for climate studies, weather forecasts, hydrological surveys, ecological monitoring and water resource management. In this research, the ET of the Chinese Loess ...

Caragana korshinskii is commonly employed to improve drought ecosystems on the Loess Plateau, although the molecular mechanism at work is poorly understood, particularly in terms of the plant's ability to tolerate drought stress. Water is the most severe limiting factor for plant growth on the Loess Plateau. The trichome is known to play an efficient role in reducing water loss through decreasi...