Evapotranspiration (ET) has undergone profound changes as a result of global climate change and anthropogenic activities. The construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has led to changes in its land use/land cover (LUCC) and local climate, which in turn has changed ET processes in the TGR region. In this paper, the CLM4.5 land surface model is used to simulate and analyze the spatiotemporal variability of ET between 1993 and 2013. Four experiments were conducted to quantify the contribution rate of climate change and LUCC to changes in ET processes. The results show that the climate showed a warming and drying trend from 1993 to 2013, and the LUCC indicates decreasing cropland with increasing forest, grassland, water bodies and urban areas. These changes increased the mean annual ET by 13.76 mm after impoundment. Spatially, the vegetation transpiration accounts for the largest proportion in ET. The decreasing relative humidity and increasing wind speeds led to an increase in vegetation transpiration and ground evaporation, respectively, in the center of the TGR region, while the LUCC drove changes in ET in water bodies, urban areas and high-altitude regions in the TGR region.
Effects of climate, land use and land cover changes on soil loss in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, China