Streamflow responses to climate change and LUCC in a semi-arid watershed of Chinese Loess Plateau

Climate change and Land Use/Cover Change（LUCC） have been identified as two primary factors affecting watershed hydrological regime. This study analyzed the trends of streamflow, precipitation, air temperature and potential evapotranspiration（PET） from 1962 to 2008 in the Jihe watershed in northwestern Loess Plateau of China using the Mann-Kendall test. The streamflow responses to climate change and LUCC were quantified independently by the elasticity method. The results show that the streamflow presented a dramatic decline with a turning point occurred in 1971, while the precipitation and PET did not change significantly. The results also show that the temperature rose markedly especially since 1990 s with an approximate increase of 1.74°C over the entire research period（1962–2008）. Using land use transition matrix, we found that slope cropland was significantly converted to terrace between 1970 s and 1990 s and that forest cover increased relatively significantly because of the Grain for Green Project after 2000. The streamflow reduction was predominantly caused by LUCC and its contribution reached up to 90.2%, while the contribution of climate change to streamflow decline was only 9.8%. Although the analytical results between the elasticity method and linear regression model were not satisfactorily consistent, they both indicated that LUCC（human activity） was the major factor causing streamflow decline in the Jihe watershed from 1962 to 2008.

Inter-annual variation of streamflow,precipitation and evaporation in a small humid watershed(Chengcun Basin,China)

For sustainable water resource management,it is important to determine the relationship between streamfl ow and other variables that infl uence availability of water resources.However,many catchments do not have suffi cient data to allow for a more detailed study of these relationships.We faced a similar challenge in the Chengcun Basin(limited historical data: from 1986–1999); and therefore we used a new approach to overcome this.We found that,using nonparametric trend methods in conjunction with the climate elasticity analyses and the 2D visualization of hydrologic data,it is possible to assess the relationships between streamfl ow and other hydro-climatic variables.In the past,streamfl ow trends in the basin were more correlated with precipitation than with potential evapotranspiration(PET).In addition,there is a gradual shift in the hydrological regime of the catchment,which may affect the occurrence of available water resources and activities that depend on them.In addition,based on our climate sensitivity analyses,the streamfl ow is dependent and more sensitive to variations in precipitation than to PET(δQ=0.79δP+0.42δE; precipitation elasticity,ε P=1.32; PET elasticity,ε E=-2.10).Therefore pending more detailed studies,the use of our approach will provide a rapid means to assess the variation of water resources(streamfl ow)in a watershed.In the future,we hope to carry out related research in other watersheds and also perform a more detailed studies to improve upon the results of this study.

Assessing the impacts of climate variability and human activities on streamflow in the water＇ source area of Baiyangdian Lake

As the largest wetland in the North China Plain （NCP）, the Baiyangdian Lake plays an important role in maintaining water balance and ecological health of NCP. Ir the past few decades, the decreasing streamflow in the Baiyangdian Basin associated with climate vari- ability and human activities has caused a series of water and eco-environmer,tal issues. In this study, we quantified the impacts of climate variability and human activities on streamflow in the water source area of the Baiyangdian Lake, based on analyses of hydrologic changes of the upper Tanghe river catchment （a sub-basin of the Baiyangdian Basin） from 1960 to 2008. Climate elasticity method and hydrological modeling method were used to distinguish the effects of climate variability and human activities. The results showed that the annual streamflow decreased significantly （P〉0.05） by 1.7 mm/a and an abrupt change was identi- fied around the year 1980. The quantification results indicated that climate variations ac- counted for 38%-40% of decreased streamflow, while human activities accounted for 60%--62%. Therefore, the effect of human activities played a dominant role on the decline of the streamflow in the water source area of the Baiyangdian Lake. To keep the ecosystem health of the Baiyangdian Lake, we suggest that minimum ecological water demand and in- tegrated watershed management should be guaranteed in the future.