Impacts of land use change and climate variability on hydrology in an agricultural catchment on the Loess Plateau of China

Li, Bingbing; Liu, Wenzhao; Zhang, X. C.; Zheng, Fenli

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.08.007

Cited by 638 publications

(337 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Previous empirical and theoretical studies also conclude that the differences in water yield sensitivity to precipitation change increase dramatically when PET / P ratio exceed 1.0 (i.e., dry regions) (Ma et al, 2008). Using a process based hydrological model (SWAT), Li et al (2009) quantified the combined and individual influences of land use change and climate variability in the Heihe catchment located in our study region. Their studies concluded that land use change and climate variability reduced runoff by 9.6 % and 95.8 %, respectively.…”

Section: Spatial and Temporal Variability Across A Precipitation Gradmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…To our knowledge, no attempts have been made to quantify the land cover change and climate variability on regional water yield for the Loess Plateau as a whole, largely due to the lack of reliable and practical hydrological models. The commonly-used process based hydrological model such as SWAT (Li et al, 2009) was not feasible because hydrological responses to vegetation restoration vary across the Loess Plateau, a region that has a strong north-south gradient in precipitation and terrain.…”

Section: M Feng Et Al: Regional Effects Of Vegetation Restoratiomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the long history of human settlement, natural vegetation cover is generally low, and land uses are predominantly cultivated croplands. The Loess Plateau is one of the most severely eroded areas in the world due to the loose loess soils, steep slopes, high rainfall intensity, and poor vegetation conditions (Li et al, 2009). The soil erosion and sedimentation issues have long been recognised as a security threat to the livelihoods of local communities in the Yellow River Basin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau, China

Feng

Sun

et al. 2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

180

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Abstract. The general relationships between vegetation and water yield under different climatic regimes are well established at a small watershed scale in the past century. However, applications of these basic theories to evaluate the regional effects of land cover change on water resources remain challenging due to the complex interactions of vegetation and climatic variability and hydrologic processes at the large scale. The objective of this study was to explore ways to examine the spatial and temporal effects of a large ecological restoration project on water yield across the Loess Plateau region in northern China. We estimated annual water yield as the difference between precipitation input and modelled actual evapotranspiration (ET) output. We constructed a monthly ET model using published ET data derived from eddy flux measurements and watershed streamflow data. We validated the ET models at a watershed and regional levels. The model was then applied to examine regional water yield under land cover change and climatic variability during the implementation of the Grain-for-Green (GFG) project during 1999-2007. We found that water yield in 38 % of the Loess Plateau area might have decreased (1-48 mm per year) as a result of land cover change alone. However, combined with climatic variability, 37 % of the study area might have seen a decrease in water yield with a range of 1-54 mm per year, and 35 % of the study area might have seen an increase with a range of 1-10 mm per year. Across the study region, climate variability masked or strengthened the water yield response to vegetation restoration. The absolute annual water yield change due to vegetation restoration varied with precipitation regimes with the highest in wet years, but the relative water yield changes were most pronounced in dry years. We concluded that the effects of land cover change associated with ecological restoration varied greatly over time and space and were strongly influenced by climatic variability in the arid region. The current regional vegetation restoration projects have variable effects on local water resources across the region. Land management planning must consider the influences of spatial climate variability and long-term climate change on water yield to be more effective for achieving environmental sustainability.

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Section: Spatial and Temporal Variability Across A Precipitation Gradmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: M Feng Et Al: Regional Effects Of Vegetation Restoratiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau, China

Feng

Sun

et al. 2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

180

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“…Many studies have considered the impact of climate change and land-use change on hydrology (Li et al 2009, Ma et al 2009, Mango et al 2011, Zhang et al 2011. However, few studies have investigated changes in hydrological processes and water quality as well as sediment yield under the impact of climate and land-use changes on a basin scale (Ward et al 2009, Tong et al 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of climate and land-use changes on hydrological processes and sediment yield—a case study of the Be River catchment, Vietnam

Khôi

Suetsugi

2014

Hydrological Sciences Journal

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The impact of climate and land-use changes on hydrological processes and sediment yield is investigated in the Be River catchment, Vietnam, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model. The sensitivity analysis, model calibration and validation indicated that the SWAT model could reasonably simulate the hydrology and sediment yield in the catchment. From this, the responses of the hydrology and sediment to climate change and land-use changes were considered. The results indicate that deforestation had increased the annual flow (by 1.2%) and sediment load (by 11.3%), and that climate change had also significantly increased the annual streamflow (by 26.3%) and sediment load (by 31.7%). Under the impact of coupled climate and land-use changes, the annual streamflow and sediment load increased by 28.0% and 46.4%, respectively. In general, during the 1978-2000 period, climate change influenced the hydrological processes in the Be River catchment more strongly than the land-use change.Key words climate change; hydrology; land-use change; sediment yield; SWAT model; Be River catchment, Vietnam Impact des changements climatiques et de l'utilisation des terres sur les processus hydrologiques et la production de sédiments-étude de cas du bassin versant de la rivière Be, Vietnam Résumé L'impact des changements du climat et de l'utilisation des terres sur les processus hydrologiques et l'apport de sédiments dans le bassin versant de la rivière Be (Vietnam) a été étudié en utilisant le modèle hydrologique SWAT. L'analyse de sensibilité, l'étalonnage et la validation des modèles indique que le modèle SWAT peut raisonnablement simuler l'hydrologie et la charge sédimentaire dans le bassin versant. C'est donc avec cet outil que les réponses de l'hydrologie et des sédiments au changement climatique et au changement d'utilisation des terres ont été étudiées. Les résultats indiquent que la déforestation a augmenté l'écoulement annuel (1,2%) et la charge sédimentaire (11,3%), et que le changement climatique a également augmenté de manière significative le débit annuel (26,3%) et la charge sédimentaire (31,7%). Sous l'impact couplé du changement climatique et du changement d'utilisation des terres, l'écoulement annuel et la charge de sédiments ont respectivement augmenté de 28% et 46,4%. En général, le changement climatique a eu une influence plus importante sur les processus hydrologiques que le changement d'utilisation des terres dans le bassin versant de la rivière Be durant la période 1978-2000.Mots clefs changement climatique ; hydrologie ; changement d'utilisation des terres ; production de sédiments ; modèle SWAT ; bassin versant de la rivière Be, Vietnam

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“…HRB is the second largest endorheic river basin in China and is agriculturally intensive. In the late 1990s, the growing irrigation in the Middle HRB (MHRB) significantly decreased the streamflow available for the Lower HRB (LHRB) and therefore deteriorated the ecological conditions [15][16][17][18]. To protect the fragile ecosystems in the Lower HRB, the central government restricted the surface water diversion since 2000 in the Middle HRB [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Joint Operation of Surface Water and Groundwater Reservoirs to Address Water Conflicts in Arid Regions: An Integrated Modeling Study

Tian

Xiong

et al. 2018

Water

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At the basin scale, the operation of surface water reservoirs rarely takes groundwater aquifers into consideration, which can also be regarded as reservoirs underground. This study investigates the impact of reservoir operation on the water cycle and evaluates the effect of the joint operation of surface water and groundwater reservoirs on the water conflict in arid regions through an integrated modeling approach. The Heihe River Basin (HRB) in northwestern China is selected as the study area. Our results show that the ecological operational strategies of a reservoir under construction in the upper HRB have a direct impact on the agricultural water uses and consequently affect other hydrological processes. The ecological operation strategy with a smaller water release and a longer duration is beneficial to securing the environmental flow towards the downstream area and to replenishing aquifers. With the joint operation of surface water and groundwater reservoirs, a balance among the agriculture water need, the groundwater sustainability in the Middle HRB and the ecological water need in the Lower HRB can be flexibly achieved. However, the joint operation can hardly improve the three aspects simultaneously. To resolve the water conflict in HRB, additional engineering and/or policy measures are desired.

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Impacts of land use change and climate variability on hydrology in an agricultural catchment on the Loess Plateau of China

Cited by 638 publications

References 32 publications

Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau, China

Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau, China

Impact of climate and land-use changes on hydrological processes and sediment yield—a case study of the Be River catchment, Vietnam

Joint Operation of Surface Water and Groundwater Reservoirs to Address Water Conflicts in Arid Regions: An Integrated Modeling Study

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