Headwater streams play a major role for provision of ecosystem services,e.g.drinking water.We investigated a high-altitude headwater catchment of the Kharaa River(including 411st-order rivers)to understand the impact ...Headwater streams play a major role for provision of ecosystem services,e.g.drinking water.We investigated a high-altitude headwater catchment of the Kharaa River(including 411st-order rivers)to understand the impact of land cover(especially forest cover),environment and human usage on runoff,chemical water quality and macroinvertebrate fauna in a river basin under discontinuous permafrost conditions in an arid,sparsely populated region of Mongolia.To verify our hypotheses that different landuses and environmental impacts in permafrost headwaters influence water quality,we investigated 105 sampling sites,37 of them at intermittent stream sections without water flow.Discharge was positively impacted by land cover types steppe,grassland and forest and negatively by shrubland,forest burnt by wild fires(indicating a reduction of permafrost)and slope.Water quality was affected by altitude,longitude and latitude,shrub growth and water temperature.Shannon diversity of macroinvertebrates was driven by water temperature,iron content of the water,flow velocity,and subbasin size(adjusted R^(2)=0.54).Sample plots clustered in three groups that differed in water chemistry,macroinvertebrate diversity,species composition and bio-indicators.Our study confirms that steppes and grasslands have a higher contribution to runoff than forests,forest cover has a positive impact on water quality,and diversity of macroinvertebrates is higher in sites with less nutrients and pollutants.The excellent ecological status of the upper reaches of the Kharaa is severely threatened by forest fires and human-induced climate change and urgently needs to be conserved.展开更多
基金This research was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development(grant number:BMZ 81212690)and a‘Forschung vor Ort’grant for G.K.of the Max Weber-Program of the State of Bavaria.Special thanks are due to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ)GmbH,especially Klaus Schmidt-Corsitto,at that time Programme Director for“Biodiversity and Adaptation of Key Forest Ecosystems to Climate Change II Program”of GIZ and many employees of GIZ Mongolia.
文摘Headwater streams play a major role for provision of ecosystem services,e.g.drinking water.We investigated a high-altitude headwater catchment of the Kharaa River(including 411st-order rivers)to understand the impact of land cover(especially forest cover),environment and human usage on runoff,chemical water quality and macroinvertebrate fauna in a river basin under discontinuous permafrost conditions in an arid,sparsely populated region of Mongolia.To verify our hypotheses that different landuses and environmental impacts in permafrost headwaters influence water quality,we investigated 105 sampling sites,37 of them at intermittent stream sections without water flow.Discharge was positively impacted by land cover types steppe,grassland and forest and negatively by shrubland,forest burnt by wild fires(indicating a reduction of permafrost)and slope.Water quality was affected by altitude,longitude and latitude,shrub growth and water temperature.Shannon diversity of macroinvertebrates was driven by water temperature,iron content of the water,flow velocity,and subbasin size(adjusted R^(2)=0.54).Sample plots clustered in three groups that differed in water chemistry,macroinvertebrate diversity,species composition and bio-indicators.Our study confirms that steppes and grasslands have a higher contribution to runoff than forests,forest cover has a positive impact on water quality,and diversity of macroinvertebrates is higher in sites with less nutrients and pollutants.The excellent ecological status of the upper reaches of the Kharaa is severely threatened by forest fires and human-induced climate change and urgently needs to be conserved.
