Hydrologic variation with land use across the contiguous United States: Geomorphic and ecological consequences for stream ecosystems

Using daily discharge data from the USGS, we analyzed how hydrologic regimes vary with land use in four large hydrologic regions that span a gradient of natural land cover and precipitation across the continental United States. In each region we identified small streams (contributing area < 282 km²) that have continuous daily streamflow data. Using a national database, we characterized the composition of land cover of the watersheds in terms of aggregate measures of agriculture, urbanization, and least disturbed (“natural”). We calculated hydrologic alteration using 10 ecologically-relevant hydrologic metrics that describe magnitude, frequency, and duration of flow for 158 watersheds within the Southeast (SE), Central (CE), Pacific Northwest (NW), and Southwest (SW) hydrologic regions of the United States. Within each watershed, we calculated percent cover for agriculture, urbanized land, and least disturbed land to elucidate how components of the natural flow regime inherent to a hydrologic region is modified by different types and proportions of land cover. We also evaluated how dams in these regions altered the hydrologic regimes of the 43 streams that have pre- and post-dam daily streamflow data. In an analysis of flow alteration along gradients of increasing proportion of the three land cover types, we found many regional differences in hydrologic responses. In response to increasing urban land cover, peak flows increased (SE and CE), minimum flows increased (CE) or decreased (NW), duration of near-bankfull flows declined (SE, NW) and flow variability increased (SE, CE, and NW). Responses to increasing agricultural land cover were less pronounced, as minimum flows decreased (CE), near-bankfull flow durations increased (SE and SW), and flow variability declined (CE). In a second analysis, for three of the regions, we compared the difference between least disturbed watersheds and those having either > 15% urban and > 25% agricultural land cover. Relative to natural land cover in each region, urbanization either increased (SE and NW) or decreased (SW) peak flows, decreased minimum flows (SE, NW, and SW), decreased durations of near-bankfull flows (SE, NW, and SW), and increased flow variability (SE, NW, and SW). Agriculture had similar effects except in the SE, where near-bankfull flow durations increased. Overall, urbanization appeared to induce greater hydrologic responses than similar proportions of agricultural land cover in watersheds. Finally, the effects of dams on hydrologic variation were largely consistent across regions, with a decrease in peak flows, an increase in minimum flows, an increase in near-bankfull flow durations, and a decrease in flow variability. We use this analysis to evaluate the relative degree to which land use has altered flow regimes across regions in the US with naturally varying climate and natural land cover, and we discuss the geomorphic and ecological implications of such flow modification. We end with a consideration of what elements will ultimately be required to conduct a more comprehensive national assessment of the hydrologic responses of streams to land cover types and dams. These include improved tools for modeling hydrologic metrics in ungauged watersheds, incorporation of high-resolution geospatial data to map geomorphic and hydrologic drivers of stream response to different types of land cover, and analysis of scale dependence in the distribution of land-use impacts, including mixed land uses. Finally, ecological and geomorphic responses to human alteration of land cover will have to be calibrated to the regional hydroclimatological, geologic, and historical context in which the streams occur, in order to determine the degree to which stream responses are region-specific versus geographically independent and broadly transferable.     

Predicting plausible impacts of sets of climate and land use change scenarios on water resources

Our world is changing at an unprecedented rate in terms of climate and land use, but these changes can affect our water resources. Hence, we need a methodology that can predict both their individual and agglomerative ramifications. Using the Little Miami River (LMR) watershed as a case study, this paper describes a spatial analytical approach integrating mathematical modeling and geographical information sciences to quantitatively examine the relative importance of the separate and combined hydrologic and water quality impacts of climate and land use changes.The Hydrologic Simulation Program - Fortran (HSPF) model was chosen in this study to simulate stream flow and nutrient transport process. Five hypothetical climate change scenarios were used to cover the possible ranges of variability in the year 2050. An enhanced population-coupled Markov-Cellular Automata (CA-Markov) land use model was developed to predict the 2050 land use pattern. When these scenarios were incorporated into the HSPF model, the future conditions in the LMR basin were postulated. The findings demonstrated that: 1) the LMR watershed would experience an increase in flow and nutrients under the 2050 land use projection, 2) stream flow and water quality impacts would be amplified when both climate and land use changes were simultaneously considered, 3) land use change (and in the case of the LMR watershed, urbanization) could help to alleviate water shortage during the dry years, 4) total phosphorus and nitrogen would increase under all future climate and land use scenarios; the highest increase was found under the combined wettest and future land use scenarios, and 5) the described approach is effective in simulating the hydrologic and water quality effects of climate and land use changes in a basin scale. These results are relevant to planners; they can be useful in formulating realistic watershed management policies and mitigation measures.     

多尺度土地利用与土壤侵蚀

土地利用能够通过改变一系列的自然现象和生态过程影响土壤侵蚀,尺度不同,土地利用与土壤侵蚀的作用机制也会发生变化。本文针对坡面尺度、小流域／流域尺度和区域尺度,综述了不同尺度上土地利用对土壤侵蚀的影响研究。其中,在坡面尺度上,土地利用与土壤侵蚀的研究主要包括土地利用方式和土地管理措施对土壤侵蚀的影响,相应尺度上的模型有USLE／RUSLE、WEPP等;在小流域／流域尺度上,土地利用与土壤侵蚀的研究主要涉及土地利用结构和土地利用格局对土壤侵蚀的影响,相关的模型有LISEM、AGNPS、EUROSEM和SEDEM等;在区域尺度上土壤侵蚀评价研究主要是通过尺度上推和宏观因子评价的方法进行。多尺度土地利用与土壤侵蚀研究作为自然地理学研究中的热点问题,在进一步的研究中需要关注多尺度综合与尺度转换、土地利用政策效应、土地利用格局与土壤流失过程等方面的研究内容。     

水文要素与高程的关系

本文阐明水文要素的垂直变化按不同的尺度范围而各有其规律,并指出这些规律的应用。     

多尺度土壤侵蚀评价指数的技术与方法

针对不同尺度开展土地利用与土壤侵蚀的综合研究是自然地理学研究的前沿领域和热点问题。多尺度土 壤侵蚀评价指数作为新近提出的土壤侵蚀模型, 在跨尺度土地利用与土壤侵蚀的研究中具有良好应用前景。本文 基于多尺度土壤侵蚀评价指数计算公式及其因子内涵, 应用尺度转换的思想, 阐述了降雨侵蚀力、土壤可蚀性、作 物覆盖与管理因子、地形因子等不同评价因子在坡面、小流域、流域不同尺度上的计算方法与GIS 实现技术, 以期 服务于多尺度土地利用与土壤侵蚀研究的深入和多尺度土壤侵蚀评价指数的发展。     

A HYDROLOGIC MODEL FOR LOWER COASTAL PLAIN WATERSHEDS,SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES

A disributed, physically-based, watershed hydrologic simulation model, called COASTAL, has been specifically designed for use on watersheds of low relief where streamflow is supplied predominantly by ground water discharge. To use the model, the watershed is divided into square grid elements that are modeled by the lumped parameter approach. I nput data include daily temperature, daily precipitation, topographic elevation, soil field capacity, soil wilting point, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, aquifer thickness and land use for each grid element and a watershed stream rating curve. One or more years of daily streamflow data are needed to calibrate the model. Yearly correlation coefficients between measured and simulated daily streamflow averaged 0.85 and ranged from 0.70–0.91 in tests of the model using 1957-1964 data for the Hurricane Creek watershed, Georgia. Correlation coefficients between measured and predicted annual, monthly, and annual maximum streamflow for the eight years tested were 0.97, 0.93, and 0.82, respectively.     

Floodplain sedimentation in the Upper Mississippi Valley: Natural versus human accelerated

Understanding the time scales and pathways for response and recovery of rivers and floodplains to episodic changes in erosion and sedimentation has been a long standing issue in fluvial geomorphology. Floodplains are an important component of watershed systems because they affect downstream storage and delivery of overbank flood waters, and they also serve as sources and temporary sinks for sediments and toxic substances delivered by river systems. Here, ¹⁴C and ¹³⁷Cs isotopic dating methods are used along with ages of culturally related phenomena associated with mining and agriculture to determine rates of sedimentation and morphologic change for a reach of the upper Mississippi River and adjacent tributaries in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. The most important environmental change that influenced fluvial activity in this region during last 10,000 years involved the conversion of a late Holocene mosaic of prairie and forest to a landscape dominated by cropland and pastureland associated with Euro-American settlement. Results presented herein for the Upper Mississippi Valley (UMV) show that the shift from pre-agriculture, natural land cover to landscape dominance by agricultural land use of the last 175–200 years typically increased rates and magnitudes of floodplain sedimentation by at least an order of magnitude. Accelerated overbank flooding led to increased bank heights on tributary streams and, in turn, contributed to more frequent deep flows of high energy. These high energy flows subsequently promoted bank erosion and lateral channel migration, and the formation of a historical meander belt whose alluvial surface constitutes a new historical floodplain inset against the earlier historical floodplain. The new historical floodplain serves as a “flume-like” channel that provides efficient downstream transport of water and sediment associated with moderate and large magnitude floods. Floodplains on lower tributaries, however, continue to experience rates of overbank sedimentation that are of anomalously high magnitude given improved land cover and land conservation since about 1950. This lower valley anomaly is explained by minimal development of historical (agriculture period) meander belts because of relatively low stream power in these channel and floodplain reaches of relatively low gradient. In general, long-term pre-agriculture rates of vertical accretion between about 10,000 and 200 years ago averaged about 0.2 mm yr^− 1 in tributary watersheds smaller than about 700 km² and about 0.9 mm yr^− 1 on the floodplain of the upper Mississippi River where the contributing watershed area increases to about 170,000 km². On the other hand, rates of historical vertical accretion during the period of agricultural dominance of the last 200 years average between 2 and 20 mm yr^− 1, with short episodes of even higher rates during times of particularly poor land conservation practices. Significant hydrologic effects of mining and agricultural started by the 1820s and became widespread in the study region by the mid-19th century. The hydrologic and geomorphic influences of mining were relatively minor compared to those related to agriculture. High resolution dating of floodplain vertical accretion deposits shows that large floods have frequently provided major increments of sedimentation on floodplains of tributaries and the main valley upper Mississippi River. The relative importance of large floods as contributors to floodplain vertical accretion is noteworthy because global atmospheric circulation models indicate that the main channel upper Mississippi River should experience increased frequencies of extreme hydrologic events, including large floods, with anticipated continued global warming. Instrumental and stratigraphic records show that, coincident with global warming, a shift to more frequent large floods occurred since 1950 on the upper Mississippi River, and these floods generally contributed high magnitudes of floodplain sedimentation.     

SWAT模型的原理、结构及应用研究

SWAT(SoilandWaterAssessmentTool)是一个具有很强物理机制的长时段的流域分布式水文模型。它能够利用GIS和RS提供的空间数据信息,模拟复杂大流域中多种不同的水文物理过程,包括水、沙、化学物质和杀虫剂的输移与转化过程。本文着重探讨SWAT模型的水文学原理和模型的基本结构与独特的分布式运行控制方式,并将其成功应用于西北寒区(黑河莺落峡以上流域)的分布式日径流过程的模拟。     

流域LUCC水文效应研究中的若干问题探讨

随着全球变化研究的深入,土地利用/覆被变化(LUCC)的水文效应研究日益成为热点问题。综合国内外研究进展,论文就流域土地利用/覆被变化水文效应研究中的几个问题进行了总结和探讨：子流域和水文响应单元是分布式水文模型对流域基本空间单元的理想划分;对国内外现有的土地利用分类系统进行了适当的调整和归并,建立了基于水文响应研究的土地利用分类系统,将土地利用分为9个Ⅰ级类和21个II级类;土地利用/覆被变化情景分析的常用方法有参照对比法、历史反演法、模型预测法、极端土地利用法、土地利用空间配置法等。     

流域土地利用/覆被变化水文效应研究的方法评述

将流域土地利用/覆被变化(LUCC)水文效应研究的主要方法归结为3类:流域对比试验法、水文特征参数法和流域水文模型模拟法.流域对比试验法适用于较小流域,试验结果比较容易获得,但不易找到主要影响因子,对比性差,研究周期长;水文特征参数法是一种简洁的分析LUCC水文效应的方法,资料丰富更有助于提高其应用价值,但该法只能判断流域内的水文响应是否发生了变化,无法解释水文变化的机理;水文模型模拟法的种类较多,其中基于物理机制的分布式水文模型更适于研究人类活动造成的水文效应,其参数物理意义明确,且充分考虑了空间异质性,在模拟LUCC的水文效应方面,该方法具有较为明显的优势,特别是在计算机技术、3S技术日趋成熟及数据库建设不断完善的条件下,其优势更明显.针对现阶段国外比较常用的10种流域水文模型,分析了它们的结构及特点,旨在对流域LUCC的水文效应研究提供基础.     

A review of runoff generation and soil erosion across scales in semiarid south-eastern Spain

Climate, lithology, soil and especially, intense land use/cover changes, make SE Spain very vulnerable to runoff generation and water erosion leading to loss of nutrients and organic matter and to infrequent but devastating floods, reservoir siltation and mass failures. This susceptibility has led to heavy economic investment and research efforts since the 1980s, making this region a worldwide reference for understanding the hydrology and geomorphology of semiarid ecosystems. Runoff and soil erosion have been intensively studied throughout the last decades in various natural ecosystems as well as in abandoned farmlands. Research has considered a wide range of methods and spatial and temporal scales. This paper reviews the methods and data describing runoff generation and water erosion, synthesising the key processes involved, rates, thresholds and controlling factors from a scale-dependent perspective. It also identifies the major gaps in current knowledge to provide recommendations for further research towards solutions that reduce the negative impacts of erosion. Research in SE Spain has contributed significantly to a better understanding of the effect of spatial and temporal scale on runoff and sediment yield measurements, and highlighted the important role of distinct erosion and sediment transport processes, hydrologic connectivity, spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall, the occurrence of extreme events and the impacts of land use changes. The most effective ways and challenges to predict runoff, soil erosion and sediment yield at the catchment scale are also discussed.     

Identifying sustainability challenges on land and water uses: The case of Lake Ziway watershed,Ethiopia

This paper firstly analyzes the land use - land cover (LULC) in Lake Ziway watershed (Ethiopia) and quantifies the changing patterns from 1973 to 2014 using Landsat images. Secondly, the paper estimates sediment yields using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT model). It also assesses and estimates water abstraction from Lake Ziway using survey data. The study shows that the conversions from woodlands into agricultural lands and settlement areas are the major detected LULC changes. Of the total area of the watershed, agricultural lands and settlement areas together increased from 57% in 1973 to 75% in 2014 at the expense of woodlands whose areas decreased from 26.16% to 6.63% in the study periods. The study also shows that water abstraction and sediment loads are increasing at Lake Ziway watershed. The major driving forces behind these LULC changes and the impacts on the lake natural condition are anthropogenic factors such as population growth, land policy changes and deforestation. Increasing demands for more land and water resources, i.e., land for settlements and cultivation, wood for fuel and charcoals, and water for irrigation and municipal water supply, are the underlying causes for the observed changes on the watershed resources. Thus, if the existing scenarios of human pressures are left neglected without management interventions, severe watershed degradations will continue to further affect the watershed's resources including the hydrology. Therefore, responsible government institutions should start mobilizing the local communities along with providing financial and material supports for watershed rehabilitation through afforestation and soil and water conservation activities. Additionally, the free-access practices for water use should be replaced by user-charge policy to regulate water abstractions in order to adequately sustain the water level of Lake Ziway and its feeder rivers. In this respect, this study provides firsthand information to policy makers and planners to put in place a comprehensive land and water use plan and regulations against the unruly human actions in the watershed before irreversible losses might happen to Lake Ziway and its watershed resources.     

TIMBER HARVESTING AND THE HYDROLOGIC RESPONSE OF REDWOOD CREEK,CALIFORNIA

Timber removal on publicand private land surrounding Redwood National Park exacerbates naturally high rates of erosion that are common to this region and alters hydrologic processes within the park boundaries. These alterations of the natural environment complicate the efforts of the National Park Service to preserve a remnant of the once extensive coastal redwood ecosystem in the park. A watershed model for Redwood Creek calibrated to pre-logging conditions is employed to define and quantify changes in the hydrologic response of the basin during the years when timber harvesting reduced significantly the acreage of redwoods. Analysis of modeled and observed runoff indicates that timber removal is related to increased runoff during wet months and wet years, but runoff is reduced during dry months and dry years. These alterations in the hydrologic system occur at the least beneficial time because they augment high flows, whereas low flows are depleted. Such changes in runoff contribute to magnified erosion and deposition problems and increased stress for the flora and fauna that reside in and along Redwood Creek. [Key words: Redwood National Park, hydrology, watershed model, timber harvesting.]     

水文循环模拟中下垫面参数化方法综述

针对水文循环模拟中地形、土地利用覆被等流域下垫面参数化方法众多,且模拟效果相差较大的现状。本文首先根据水文循环模拟中产汇流原理,对常用水文循环模拟中产汇流模拟方法进行汇总和分类;在此基础上,对产流模拟中的降水径流相关系数法、蓄满产流和超渗产流等及汇流模拟中的等流时线、单位线、圣维南方程、马斯京根法等主要模拟方法中地形、土地利用覆被和土壤类型参数化方法进行分析和讨论;根据其中流域地形、土地利用覆被和土壤类型参数化方法对机理过程的描述程度,将其分为无明确表示类、率定型参数类、确定型参数类、物理过程表达类;进而阐明不同参数化方法中流域地形、土地利用覆被和土壤类型对水文循环模拟结果的响应和贡献。最后回归模型本质,阐述水文循环模拟中流域下垫面参数化方法中存在经验关系对复杂机理简单表述的合理性和物理机理过程描述的欠缺性问题,并预估未来水文循环模拟中下垫面参数化方法朝着简洁实用化和复杂机理化两个方向发展。     

江汉平原土地利用的时空变化及其驱动因素分析

采用遥感、GIS一体化技术,利用1989～1990、1995～1996和1999～2000年获取的三期陆地资源卫星图像,对江汉平原土地利用10年变化和以1995～1996年为界的前后两个5年变化的时空特征进行了分析,并探讨了变化的驱动因素。结果表明,该区的土地利用在不同的时间及空间尺度上有明显不同的特点。10年间,耕地减少近5万hm²,其中,前5年的减少量占多数,达6783%。各类建设用地总计增加了156万hm²,其中,前5年的增加量是后5年的2倍。水域面积在10年间增加了达到354万hm²,后5年的增幅不到前期的1/2。土地利用变化最快的区域均处于工业经济较发达、城市化较快的地区如武汉、仙桃,变化最慢的区域在监利、松滋、天门等地。政策、社会经济与科技因素对土地利用随时间尺度的变化有决定性的影响。     

准格尔丘陵沟壑区五分地沟流域土地覆盖分析(英文)

以准格尔丘陵沟壑区五分地沟流域为研究区,应用彩红外航片和IKONOS卫星影像,绘制了1987、2002年土地覆盖/植被类型图,并数字化基于地面土地利用调查绘制的1979年土地利用图.利用景观格局指数,评价了研究区土地覆盖/植被空间格局现状及土地覆盖类型动态变化;并以ETM 数据为信息源,绘制了2002年土地覆盖/植被类型图.研究表明:2002年研究区土地覆盖/植被呈现出一个耕地、草地、人工乔木林和人工灌木林以及种植稀疏灌木的草地高度镶嵌的景观格局特征;20年内土地覆盖类型发生了显著的变化,景观异质性增强.基于研究区景观的高度破碎化,绘制小流域精细尺度土地覆盖图,高空间分辨率遥感数据十分必要.     

准格尔丘陵沟壑区五分地沟流域土地覆盖分析

以准格尔丘陵沟壑区五分地沟流域为研究区,应用彩红外航片和IKONOS卫星影像,绘制了1987、2002年土地覆盖/植被类型图,并数字化基于地面土地利用调查绘制的1979年土地利用图.利用景观格局指数,评价了研究区土地覆盖/植被空间格局现状及土地覆盖类型动态变化;并以ETM 数据为信息源,绘制了2002年土地覆盖/植被类型图.研究表明:2002年研究区土地覆盖/植被呈现出一个耕地、草地、人工乔木林和人工灌木林以及种植稀疏灌木的草地高度镶嵌的景观格局特征;20年内土地覆盖类型发生了显著的变化,景观异质性增强.基于研究区景观的高度破碎化,绘制小流域精细尺度土地覆盖图,高空间分辨率遥感数据十分必要.     

土地利用/土地覆盖变化与土壤侵蚀关系研究进展

土壤侵蚀作为LUCC引起的主要环境效应之一,是自然和人为因素叠加的结果。不合理的土地利用和地表植被覆盖的减少对土壤侵蚀具有放大效应。土地利用/土地覆盖变化与土壤侵蚀关系的研究已逐渐成为LUCC研究和土壤侵蚀研究的一项新的重要课题。目前,涉及土地利用/土地覆盖的土壤侵蚀研究方法有很多,本文介绍了基于模型的定量研究、基于GIS和RS的研究、基于放射性同位素的研究以及基于湖泊(水库)沉积物的研究的基本原理与研究进展,同时指出了每种方法中存在的不足。     

青海北川河流域径流变化的机理研究——基于模型和统计两种方法

气候变化和下垫面变化是影响河道径流的两大驱动力,研究两者对径流的影响有利于深入理解流域水文过程,为水资源管理提供科学依据。鉴于利用不同方法获得的结果存在一定程度的差异,有必要使用多种方法进行交叉验证。论文基于Budyko水量平衡法和新增水库模块的分布式水文模型(DHSVM)法量化了气候变化和下垫面变化对青海省北川河流域径流变化的贡献。结果表明：① 自1960年以来流域出口流量以每年0.037 m³/s的趋势下降,突变年份发生在1969年。② 2种方法的分析结果均表明,年代际尺度上,气候变化对径流影响的贡献率由高到低依次为：1990—1999年>2000—2009年>1970—1979年>1980—1989年=2010—2019年,且下垫面变化是1970—2019年流域出口径流变化的主导因素,对应的贡献率分别为94.58% (Budyko法)和65.68% (DHSVM法)。③ Budyko方法只能揭示流域整体的变化,而DHSVM方法能够体现水文过程变化的时空差异,模型结果表明上中游、下游地区的年平均径流变化分别受气候变化、下垫面变化主导;流域出口处月径流变化则对下垫面条件中的水库调节更敏感。此外,文中就2种方法量化结果差异的原因也展开了讨论。     

SPATIO-TEMPORAL ASPECTS OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGES IN THE NIAH CATCHMENT, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

This paper focuses on the large‐scale land use and land cover changes that have taken place in Sarawak state, East Malaysia over the three decades of 1972‐2002. Results are presented from a detailed land use and cover change (LUCC) study in the Niah River catchment using satellite imagery, questionnaire surveys and interviews. Successive waves of land cover changes have taken place. Large forest areas have been logged and gradually replaced by oil palm plantations, which now occupy more than 40 per cent of the total land area in the catchment. Concurrently, small‐scale farming systems have also changed. Formerly dominant Iban shifting cultivation practices are increasingly being replaced by cash crop production on permanent fields and impacted by off‐farm activities involving many ethnic groups. It is argued that land cover changes are continuous and complex processes involving a large number of variables which can be analysed for different time periods at various scales.