The response of net primary productivity to climate change and its impact on hydrology in a water-limited agricultural basin

Climate change has remarkably altered growing-season vegetation growth, but the impacts of vegetation variability on the regional hydrological cycle remain poorly understood. Exploring the relationships between climate change, vegetation dynamics, and hydrologic factors would contribute to the sustainable management of ecosystems. Here, we investigated the response of vegetation dynamics to climate change and its impact on hydrologic factors in a traditional agricultural basin with limited water resources in China, Nansi Lake Basin (NLB). To this end, CASA (Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) model and the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model were applied to simulate the net primary productivity (NPP), evapotranspiration (ET), and soil water in the growing season (April–October) from 2000 to 2016. Results showed that the mean growing-season NPP (NPPGS) exhibited an ascending trend at a rate of 2.93 g C/m²/year during the 17-year period. The intra-annual variation of NPPGS displayed two peaks in May and July, respectively. The first peak in May was accompanied by relative deficits in soil water, which might inhibit vegetation productivity. Precipitation was the principal climatic factor controlling NPPGS dynamics in the water-limited NLB. The positive influence of temperature on NPPGS was relatively weak, and even future warming could negatively affect ecosystem productivity in the south-central regions of the NLB. Furthermore, a strongly positive relationship between NPPGS and ET was detected, suggesting that increasing NPP in the future might stimulate the rise in ET and then exacerbate drought at the watershed scale. This study provides an integrated model for a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between vegetation, climate, and hydrological cycle, and highlights the importance of water-saving agriculture for future food security.