Spatial and temporal dynamic zoning of crop water consumption under past and future climate and socioeconomic changes in China

The impacts of multiple changes in climatic and socioeconomic conditions within countries and regions are spatially heterogeneous, thus complicating stringent agricultural water management. Here we developed a framework for the dynamic identification of zone types and provided targeted agricultural water management strategies for each zone in response to global change. Considering China as an example, eight zones of typical major grain crop production prefectures were identified based on an analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics at four levels (agricultural, natural, social, and economic) according to the water footprint of major grain crop production at the prefecture-level for the past 15 years (2004–2018). We then presented the response of China's future zoning landscape for 2030, 2050, and 2080 under three representative scenarios by combining shared socioeconomic paths (SSPs) and representative concentration paths (RCPs). Results show that, by 2080, the national water consumption of the major grain crop production will increase under all scenarios. Half of the prefectures facing function shifts are likely to change from low to high water-consuming zones. Different zonal prefectures react differently under global changes, especially those that are prone to functional transformation, and should pay attention to their instability. Consideration of the water footprint in agricultural zoning is of great importance for national sustainable water resources management. This study proposes a more explicit approach to coping with global change, that is, to propose regionalized and prior agricultural water management strategies and measures for China and beyond.