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Key Hydrological Processes and Its Controlling Factors in Terrestrial Ecosystems:...
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Key Hydrological Processes and Its Controlling Factors in Terrestrial Ecosystems: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Systems and Global Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1246

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Licong Dai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Ecology, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Interests: ecological hydrological processes; soil water conservation functions; plant water use strategies; global changes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiaowei Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology for Cold Region, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China
Interests: grassland degradation; hydrologic process; water cycle; water conservation function
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Charles Bourque

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada
Interests: hydrological processes in landscapes; vegetation and land interaction with the atmosphere; biospheric fluxes in deserts, shrub land, and forests
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Terrestrial ecosystems are among the most complex and critical ecosystems on Earth, harboring abundant biodiversity and providing essential ecosystem services. Hydrological processes play an important role in terrestrial ecosystems, affecting water cycling, nutrient cycling, and energy flow; therefore, understanding and studying the hydrological processes inherent to terrestrial ecosystems is crucial for the conservation and management of these ecosystems, improving water resource utilization, and maintaining ecological balance.

This Special Issue aims to explore the key hydrological processes occurring in terrestrial ecosystems and how they influence ecosystem dynamics, water availability, and ecosystem services. We seek to cover various aspects of hydrology, including water infiltration, runoff, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, and their interactions with ecological processes and land management. The specific research content can include, but is not limited to:

  • Land-use or land-cover change impacts on hydrological processes: Investigating the effects of land-use or land-cover change on hydrological processes in terrestrial ecosystems, such as precipitation, evapotranspiration, infiltration, and runoff, to enhance understanding of terrestrial water cycling.
  • Soil–sediment–hydro-ecological processes at multiple scale: Studying the interaction between soils and sediments and hydro-ecological processes at multiple scales in terrestrial ecosystems.
  • Forest disturbance impacts on hydrological processes: Investigating the effects of forest disturbance, such land degradation or forest fires, on hydrological processes related to ecosystem services, providing scientific evidence for land management and conservation.
  • Hydrological processes and climate change adaptation: Exploring the impact of climate change on hydrological processes in terrestrial ecosystems, studying the response and potential of hydrological processes in adapting to and mitigating climate change.

Dr. Licong Dai
Dr. Xiaowei Guo
Prof. Dr. Charles Bourque
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hydrological processes 
  • water infiltration 
  • runoff 
  • evapotranspiration 
  • groundwater recharge 
  • soil water retention 
  • terrestrial ecosystems 
  • land cover change

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5489 KB  
Article
Quantifying the Impacts of Land Use/Cover and Climate Change on Water Conservation in the Source Region of the Yellow River
by Yiming Su, Guoxin Chen, Yiming Li, Haiyue Peng and Qiong Li
Land 2026, 15(5), 876; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050876 (registering DOI) - 19 May 2026
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Abstract
The Source Region of the Yellow River (YRSR) is a key ecological barrier and a major water supply area, where water conservation is highly sensitive to ongoing climate change (CC) and land use/cover change (LUCC). However, the relative roles of CC and LUCC [...] Read more.
The Source Region of the Yellow River (YRSR) is a key ecological barrier and a major water supply area, where water conservation is highly sensitive to ongoing climate change (CC) and land use/cover change (LUCC). However, the relative roles of CC and LUCC in regulating water conservation remain insufficiently quantified. In this study, we applied the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of water conservation in the YRSR and to disentangle the respective contributions of CC and LUCC using a fixing–changing approach, in which one driver is fixed and the other is varied across paired scenarios, followed by projections driven by CMIP6 forcing under SSP2–4.5 and SSP5–8.5. Water conservation showed a pronounced southeast–northwest contrast and increased over 2000–2019 (+4.56 mm/year). Attribution analysis revealed that CC dominated changes in water conservation, whereas LUCC exerted a weak net negative influence. Most increasing regions were precipitation-driven, whereas declining regions were concentrated where evapotranspiration and surface runoff increased concurrently. Under SSP2–4.5, water conservation is projected to continue increasing (+1.16 mm/year). In contrast, under SSP5–8.5, water conservation is projected to slightly decline (−0.26 mm/year). These findings highlight the primary role of climate in regulating water conservation in the YRSR and provide scientific support for adaptive watershed management under a changing climate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Key Hydrological Processes and Its Controlling Factors in Terrestrial Ecosystems: 2nd Edition)
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19 pages, 4316 KB  
Article
Responses of Vegetation to Atmospheric and Soil Water Constraints Under Increasing Water Stress in China’s Three-North Shelter Forest Program Region
by Limin Yuan, Rui Wang, Ercha Hu and Haidong Zhang
Land 2026, 15(1), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010122 - 8 Jan 2026
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 615
Abstract
The Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TNSFP) region in northern China, a critical ecological zone, has experienced significant changes in vegetation coverage and water availability under climate change. However, a comprehensive understanding of how vegetation growth responds to both water deficit and surplus remains [...] Read more.
The Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TNSFP) region in northern China, a critical ecological zone, has experienced significant changes in vegetation coverage and water availability under climate change. However, a comprehensive understanding of how vegetation growth responds to both water deficit and surplus remains limited. This study systematically assessed the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation responses to atmospheric water constraints (represented by the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)) and soil moisture constraints (represented by the Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSMI)) across the TNSFP region from 2001 to 2022. Our results revealed a compound water constraint pattern: soil moisture deficit dominated vegetation limitation across 46.41–67.88% of the region, particularly in the middle (28–100 cm) and deep (100–289 cm) layers, while atmospheric water surplus also substantially affected 37.35% of the area. From 2001 to 2022, vegetation has shown weakening correlations with atmospheric and shallow-soil moisture, but strengthening coupling with middle- and deep-soil moisture, indicating a growing dependence on deep water resources. Furthermore, the response times of vegetation to water deficit and water surplus have been reduced, indicating that vegetation growth was increasingly restricted by water deficit while being less constrained by water surplus during the period. Attribution analysis identified that air temperature exerted a stronger influence than precipitation on vegetation–water relationships over the study period. This study improved the understanding of vegetation–water interactions under combined climate and land use change, providing critical scientific support for land use-targeted adaptive management in arid and semi-arid regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Key Hydrological Processes and Its Controlling Factors in Terrestrial Ecosystems: 2nd Edition)
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