The influence of environmental factors on the actual evapotranspiration of Artemisia ordosica

Artemisia ordosica can prevent desertification and increase carbon sequestration, and it has been extensively planted in the Mu Us Desert, China. Evapotranspiration (ET) plays an important role in the survival of Artemisia ordosica. However, the controlling factors of ET remain unknown. To investigate the influencing factors on the actual evapotranspiration, we set up a weighing lysimeter with Artemisia ordosica in the Mu Us Desert. We collected data of air temperature (Ta), net radiation (Rn), wind speed (WS), soil moisture (θ), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and heat flux (HF). The multiple linear regression model was used to quantify the influence of the six environmental factors on the ET. In addition, we applied the boosted regression tree (BRT) method to quantify the relative contribution of these environmental factors to ET. Our results show that annual ET was 444.46 mm, which was mainly influenced by the VPD during the dry season and Rn during the rainy season. This is different from the previous results which emphasized the importance of θ and Ta. The BRT results show that VPD and Rn are the most contributors to ET in the research area. In addition, ET significantly decreased when the soil moisture was less than 0.063 cm³/cm³. ET can increase by an average of 90% after a rainfall event. Our results have significance for the hydrological cycle and ecological environment protection.