A dataset of actual evapotranspiration and water use efficiency of typical terrestrial ecosystems in China (2000–2010)

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the central process and major component within terrestrial hydrological cycle and energy balance, and water use efficiency (WUE) represents the coupling between carbon and water cycles. Both ET and WUE have been widely used in the researches of ecology, agriculture, hydrologyand climatology. Eddy covariance (EC) method is regarded as the only standard method directly measuring the material and energy exchanges between biosphere and atmosphere, which is the most important method for GPP and ET observations at the ecosystem scale. By synthesizing eddy-covariance carbon and water flux observations in China from both ChinaFLUX sites and published literature, we constructed the actual evapotranspiration and water use efficiency dataset of typical terrestrial ecosystems in China. The dataset contains 143 records of annual actual ET and 96 records of annual mean water use efficiency from 45 ecosystems across china during 2000 - 2010. This dataset could provide data support for analyses on terrestrial carbon and water cycles, ecosystem management and evaluation, global change and other related researches.