Spatiotemporal Change of Heat Stress and Its Impacts on Rice Growth in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Manuscript agriculture-1801029 “Variation of High Temperature Stress and its Impacts on Rice Growth in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River”
Manuscript analyzed the spatiotemporal variations of high temperature stress and its impacts on rice growth in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (1990 to 2009). This study is based on temperature based stress indices from 16 meteorological stations from six provinces of eastern & central China. Moreover, authors also simulated frequency of high temperature stress.
Although manuscript is focused on a very important aspect of rice production, critical for regional and global food security, however, current version of manuscript needs significant improvements
Comments
1. Authors need to use suitable technical terms
2. Clearly describe objective/s of the study
3. Thorough English revision required, several confusing statements.
4. Methodology and data processing is poorly described in the manuscript. How prediction was done for different temporal scale & scenarios?
5. Authors can add a table containing a description of meteorological stations e.g., name, lattitute, altitude
6. Meteorological stations are unevenly distributed, and data from more meteorological stations (from these provinces) are available, if incorporated in the study, it will significantly influence the results. No meteorological station was mentioned from Hubei province (See Fig. 1) How prediction was done for Hubei province?
7. In Figures 2 & 4, the results for Jiangsu & Hubei are very strange, temperature stress in both provinces (during last 20-40 years) is well documented in the literature (See Rehmani et al., 2021; Shi et al., 2015 etc)
8. Authors have neglected role of relative humidity in the occurrence of high temperature stress
9. In each figure, authors need to add mention geographical units, i.e., cities (meteorological stations, provinces)
10. Duration of meteorological data is confusing, year 2000 is included in both parts i.e., 1991-2000 & 2000-2009, it must be 1991-2000 & 2001-2009, or if data for the year 2010 is available, include it and revise second group as 2001-2010.
11. How occurrence of temperature stress in meteorological stations located in the coastal areas differ from other stations? There must be pronounced differences.
L-39—40: “China's rice sown area…important food crops in China” add suitable reference/s.
L-43-44: carefully check the statement from the cited reference (Reference 10).
Warming-induced yield reduction is dependent on various factors, including relative humidity. Discuss interaction of relative humidity and high temperature stress impact on plants (See Yan et al., 2010).
L-56-57: High temperature stress at the grain filling stage resulted in faster translocation of photosynthates leading to shorter grain filling duration, reduced grain weight and imperfect grains (chalky). Warming stress during the reproductive stage (heading to flowering) will cause spikelet sterility (reduced seed setting rate) (See Rehmani et al., 2014 & Rehmani et al., 2021).
L-66: correct reference number, Reference No. 319 is written
L-66-76: Revise the text, confusing statements
Figure 1 & L-82-84: revise the figure 1 title, Why stations are disaster stations? Revise the text.
L-85-87: revise the text
L-87: The RIEMS model was used to simulate climate data.
L-94-97: Confusing definitions of Short-term & Long-term high temperature event.
“A daily average temperature ≥30℃ for three consecutive days or more is called long-term high temperature event.” Is consecutive “Three-day temperature higher than 35 degrees”, is a long-term high temperature event?
See Rehmani et al., (2021), authors have defined heatwave (consecutive high temperature days/nights) based on similar thresholds.
L-103-107: How prediction was done? Adequate description (of software, data used, other information), is required. Temperature / heat stress trend during 1980s in the studied region was quite different (see Rehmani et al., 2021, they have analyzed temperature extreme based stress indices for Jiangsu province 1960s-2009 during the reproductive growth phase of rice).
L-158-160: There are several Meteorological stations available in the studied region, which are not included in this study
L-210: add suitable reference/s
L-212: No meteorological station was selected from Hubei, then how it can be concluded?
L-220-221: revise the text
Conclusion: It is generalized, authors need to incorporate main findings
Suggested Readings
Rehmani M.I.A., Ding C., Li G., Ata-Ul-Karim S.T., Hadifa A., Bashir M.A., Hashem M., Alamri S., Al-Zubair F., Ding Y. (2021) Vulnerability of rice production to temperature extremes during rice reproductive stage in Yangtze River Valley, China. Journal of King Saud University - Science 33:101599. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2021.101599.
Rehmani M.I.A., Wei G., Hussain N., Ding C., Li G., Liu Z., Wang S., Ding Y. (2014) Yield and quality responses of two indica rice hybrids to post-anthesis asymmetric day and night open-field warming in lower reaches of Yangtze River delta. Field Crops Research 156:231-241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.09.019.
Shi, P., L. Tang, L. Wang, T. Sun, L. Liu et al., 2015 Post-Heading Heat Stress in Rice of South China during 1981-2010. PLOS ONE 10: e0130642.
Yan, C., Y. Ding, Q. Wang, Z. Liu, G. Li et al., 2010 The impact of relative humidity, genotypes and fertilizer application rates on panicle, leaf temperature, fertility and seed setting of rice. The Journal of Agricultural Science 148: 329-339.
Zhang, Z., Y. Chen, C. Wang, P. Wang and F. Tao, 2017 Future extreme temperature and its impact on rice yield in China. International Journal of Climatology 37: 4814-4827.
Zhang, L., B. Yang, A. Guo, D. Huang and Z. Huo, 2018 Multivariate probabilistic estimates of heat stress for rice across China. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment 32: 3137-3150.
Author Response
Manuscript agriculture-1801029 “Variation of High Temperature Stress and its Impacts on Rice Growth in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River”
Manuscript analyzed the spatiotemporal variations of high temperature stress and its impacts on rice growth in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (1990 to 2009). This study is based on temperature based stress indices from 16 meteorological stations from six provinces of eastern & central China. Moreover, authors also simulated frequency of high temperature stress.
Although manuscript is focused on a very important aspect of rice production, critical for regional and global food security, however, current version of manuscript is not suitable for publication, it needs significant improvements
Comments
- Authors need to use suitable technical terms
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We have improved our paper according to reviewer’s suggestion.
- Clearly describe objective/s of the study
Response: Thanks a lot for the insightful comments. We have improved this according to reviewer’s suggestion in line 78-81.
- Thorough English revision required, several confusing statements.
Response: As suggested by the reviewer, English of the revised manuscript has been improved by an English speaker.
- Methodology and data processing is poorly described in the manuscript. How prediction was done for different temporal scale & scenarios?
Response: As suggested by the reviewer, we have improve section 2.2.
- Authors can add a table containing a description of meteorological stations e.g., name, lattitute, altitude
Response: Following the reviewer’s suggestion, we have added Table 1.
- Meteorological stations are unevenly distributed, and data from more meteorological stations (from these provinces) are available, if incorporated in the study, it will significantly influence the results. No meteorological station was mentioned from Hubei province (See Fig. 1) How prediction was done for Hubei province?
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. The stations mentioned in Fig.1, Fig.2 and Fig.4 were National Agrometeorological Stations. They are different from meteorological stations. Each National Agrometeorological Station has detailed records of crop phenology, yield and disasters. And the stations showed in Fig.7 were meteorological station.
- In Figures 2 & 4, the results for Jiangsu & Hubei are very strange, temperature stress in both provinces (during last 20-40 years) is well documented in the literature (See Rehmani et al., 2021; Shi et al., 2015 etc)
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. As explained in the response to comment 6, the results showed in Figures 2 & 4 were statistic of observation of National Agrometeorological Stations, the number of National Agrometeorological Stations is very limited.
- Authors have neglected role of relative humidity in the occurrence of high temperature stress
Response: Thanks a lot for the insightful comments. We have considered this in discussion.
- In each figure, authors need to add mention geographical units, i.e., cities (meteorological stations, provinces)
Response: Following the reviewer’s suggestion, we have updated Fig.2, Fig.4, Fig.6 and Fig.7.
- Duration of meteorological data is confusing, year 2000 is included in both parts i.e., 1991-2000 & 2000-2009, it must be 1991-2000 & 2001-2009, or if data for the year 2010 is available, include it and revise second group as 2001-2010.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. Because the data for 2010 is not available, we made year 2000 included in both parts to make length of duration the same.
- How occurrence of temperature stress in meteorological stations located in the coastal areas differ from other stations? There must be pronounced differences.
Response: Thanks a lot for the insightful comments. We have discussed this in discussion.
L-39—40: “China's rice sown area…important food crops in China” add suitable reference/s.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We have updated the references according to reviewer’s suggestion.
L-43-44: carefully check the statement from the cited reference (Reference 10).
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We carefully checked this reference and revised in line 331.
Warming-induced yield reduction is dependent on various factors, including relative humidity. Discuss interaction of relative humidity and high temperature stress impact on plants (See Yan et al., 2010).
Response: Thanks a lot for the insightful comments. We have revised discussion.
L-56-57: High temperature stress at the grain filling stage resulted in faster translocation of photosynthates leading to shorter grain filling duration, reduced grain weight and imperfect grains (chalky). Warming stress during the reproductive stage (heading to flowering) will cause spikelet sterility (reduced seed setting rate) (See Rehmani et al., 2014 & Rehmani et al., 2021).
Response: Thanks a lot for the insightful comments. We have revised in line 56-58.
L-66: correct reference number, Reference No. 319 is written
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This reference has been revised.
L-66-76: Revise the text, confusing statements
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This sentence has been revised.
Figure 1 & L-82-84: revise the figure 1 title, Why stations are disaster stations? Revise the text.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This sentence has been revised in line 91-94.
L-85-87: revise the text
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This sentence has been revised.
L-87: The RIEMS model was used to simulate climate data.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This sentence has been revised.
L-94-97: Confusing definitions of Short-term & Long-term high temperature event.
Response: According to the suggestion of reviewer, we have revised this.
“A daily average temperature ≥30℃ for three consecutive days or more is called long-term high temperature event.” Is consecutive “Three-day temperature higher than 35 degrees”, is a long-term high temperature event?
See Rehmani et al., (2021), authors have defined heatwave (consecutive high temperature days/nights) based on similar thresholds.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We have added this reference.
L-103-107: How prediction was done? Adequate description (of software, data used, other information), is required. Temperature / heat stress trend during 1980s in the studied region was quite different (see Rehmani et al., 2021, they have analyzed temperature extreme based stress indices for Jiangsu province 1960s-2009 during the reproductive growth phase of rice).
Response: Thanks so much for the comments, we have improved section 2.2.
L-158-160: There are several Meteorological stations available in the studied region, which are not included in this study
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. There are several Meteorological stations available in the studied region, and they were show in Fig.6 and Fig.7. But the stations showed in Fig.2 and Fig.4 are National Agrometeorological Stations.
L-210: add suitable reference/s
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We have updated the reference according to reviewer’s suggestion.
L-212: No meteorological station was selected from Hubei, then how it can be concluded?
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. Meteorological stations were selected from Hubei as mentioned in Fig.6 and Fig.7.
L-220-221: revise the text
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This sentence has been updated.
Conclusion: It is generalized, authors need to incorporate main findings
Response: In the revised version, following the suggestions, we have revised conclusion.
Suggested Readings
Rehmani M.I.A., Ding C., Li G., Ata-Ul-Karim S.T., Hadifa A., Bashir M.A., Hashem M., Alamri S., Al-Zubair F., Ding Y. (2021) Vulnerability of rice production to temperature extremes during rice reproductive stage in Yangtze River Valley, China. Journal of King Saud University - Science 33:101599. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2021.101599.
Rehmani M.I.A., Wei G., Hussain N., Ding C., Li G., Liu Z., Wang S., Ding Y. (2014) Yield and quality responses of two indica rice hybrids to post-anthesis asymmetric day and night open-field warming in lower reaches of Yangtze River delta. Field Crops Research 156:231-241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.09.019.
Shi, P., L. Tang, L. Wang, T. Sun, L. Liu et al., 2015 Post-Heading Heat Stress in Rice of South China during 1981-2010. PLOS ONE 10: e0130642.
Yan, C., Y. Ding, Q. Wang, Z. Liu, G. Li et al., 2010 The impact of relative humidity, genotypes and fertilizer application rates on panicle, leaf temperature, fertility and seed setting of rice. The Journal of Agricultural Science 148: 329-339.
Zhang, Z., Y. Chen, C. Wang, P. Wang and F. Tao, 2017 Future extreme temperature and its impact on rice yield in China. International Journal of Climatology 37: 4814-4827.
Zhang, L., B. Yang, A. Guo, D. Huang and Z. Huo, 2018 Multivariate probabilistic estimates of heat stress for rice across China. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment 32: 3137-3150.
Response: As suggested by reviewer, we have read these references and revised the manuscript carefully.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This study is focused on a selected rice cultivation area (Reaches of the Yangtze River) in China. The authors have used meteorological data and analysed the spatial and temporal variations of high-temperature stress events in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Simulation of extreme high-temperature events in the selected area in the future has also been done.
The manuscript fits well within the scope of the Journal.
However, the authors should include data regarding the production/yield of rice in the selected area to show how an increase in the frequency of high-temperature disasters had affected rice production in this study's selected area.
Show the river on the map in figure 1.
Proofread the manuscript and improve its grammar.
Here are some mistakes:
high temperature stress frequency of early rice
South Asia,.
nional agrometeorological stations
area. And its rice
Response of high temperature and high temperature stress of rice to climate change
Author Response
This study is focused on a selected rice cultivation area (Reaches of the Yangtze River) in China. The authors have used meteorological data and analysed the spatial and temporal variations of high-temperature stress events in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Simulation of extreme high-temperature events in the selected area in the future has also been done.
The manuscript fits well within the scope of the Journal.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments.
However, the authors should include data regarding the production/yield of rice in the selected area to show how an increase in the frequency of high-temperature disasters had affected rice production in this study's selected area.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We have considered the impacts of high temperature disaster on rice yield in another paper.
Shuai Zhang, Fulu Tao*, Zhao Zhang. Changes in extreme temperatures and their impacts on rice yields in southern China from 1981 to 2009. Field Crops Research, 2016, 189:43-50.
Show the river on the map in figure 1.
Response: Following the reviewer’s suggestion, we have updated Fig.1.
Proofread the manuscript and improve its grammar.
Response: As suggested by the reviewer, English of the revised manuscript has been improved by an English speaker.
Here are some mistakes:
high temperature stress frequency of early rice
South Asia,.
nional agrometeorological stations
area. And its rice
Response of high temperature and high temperature stress of rice to climate change
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. These sentence have been revised.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript entitled “Variation of High Temperature Stress and its Impacts on Rice Growth in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River” presents an interesting topic, is well organized and the results are clearly presented. The points that could be improved:
1) Figures 3 and 5 look rather meager – maybe they will look better after combining “a” and “b” figures with different bars for different period of times. It will be also better to compare the data from two periods when they are next to each other on the same chart.
2) The author said that “These results implicate that some positive and effective measures should be taken to adapt to climate change in rice production.’’ What may these measures be?
Author Response
The manuscript entitled “Variation of High Temperature Stress and its Impacts on Rice Growth in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River” presents an interesting topic, is well organized and the results are clearly presented.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments.
The points that could be improved:
- Figures 3 and 5 look rather meager – maybe they will look better after combining “a” and “b” figures with different bars for different period of times. It will be also better to compare the data from two periods when they are next to each other on the same chart.
Response: Following the reviewer’s suggestion, we have updated Fig.3 and Fig.5.
2) The author said that “These results implicate that some positive and effective measures should be taken to adapt to climate change in rice production.’’ What may these measures be?
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. These measures could be adjusting sowing date or cultivar shift.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Although authors have significantly improved the manuscript, however thorough English proofreading and minor corrections are required before formal publication.
e.g.,
L-40: And rice production of China....
L-54: "... which result in rice grain abortion ..." (abortion is used for humans, for rice plants technical term is spikelet sterility)
L-78: revise as "The study aims to explore spatiotemporal variations heat indices, during 1991 to 2009, as proxy of thermal damage to rice production in China...
Table 1: revise terms as
Agrometeorological Stations
Annual mean precipitation
Annual mean of daily average temperature
Conclusion can be written as a paragraph, without numbering
Author Response
Although authors have significantly improved the manuscript, however thorough English proofreading and minor corrections are required before formal publication.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments, English of the revised manuscript has been improved.
e.g.,
L-40: And rice production of China....
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We revised this sentence in line 40.
L-54: "... which result in rice grain abortion ..." (abortion is used for humans, for rice plants technical term is spikelet sterility)
Response: We are sorry for misuse of this word, it has been revised.
L-78: revise as "The study aims to explore spatiotemporal variations heat indices, during 1991 to 2009, as proxy of thermal damage to rice production in China...
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. This sentence has been revised in line 87.
Table 1: revise terms as
Agrometeorological Stations
Annual mean precipitation
Annual mean of daily average temperature
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. The terms have been revised in Table 1.
Conclusion can be written as a paragraph, without numbering
Response: Thanks so much for the comments. We have updated conclusion according to reviewer’s suggestion.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The updated manuscript can be accepted for publication.
Author Response
The updated manuscript can be accepted for publication.
Response: Thanks so much for the comments.
