Spatiotemporal differences in dominant drivers of streamflow evolution on the Loess Plateau

Previous studies have found that climate change and underlying surface change are the most direct and important drivers of the streamflow change in the Yellow River Basin. However, there are significant spatial differences in climate and underlying surface in the Yellow River Basin, especially in the Loess Plateau, attribution analysis of runoff evolution in the Loess Plateau from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity was rarely reported. Therefore, in order to further reveal the causes of runoff evolution in the Loess Plateau, this study have quantitatively revealed the spatial differences of climate and underlying surface changes driving streamflow changes in 34 main Loess Plateau basins from 1956 to 2020 basing on the Budyko equation with fixed parameters. Results show that the streamflow on the Loess Plateau decreased significantly from 1956 to 2020, and streamflow decreased by 17.19 mm (26.95%) after abrupt change in 1990. The sensitivity coefficients of streamflow change on the Loess Plateau to precipitation, potential evapotranspiration and underlying surface parameters are 0.30, −0.08 and −69.26 respectively. The contributions of precipitation, potential evapotranspiration and underlying surface change to streamflow change were 26.24%, 2.15% and 73.01%, respectively, and showed significant spatiotemporal differences. The spatial variability of streamflow is mainly controlled by underlying surface. For 29 of the whole 34 tributaries, underlying surface change was the dominant driver of streamflow change with the contribution of 52.50%–98.22%. The temporal variability of streamflow on the Loess Plateau is mainly controlled by precipitation. The wetter the climate is, the more sensitive of the streamflow changes are to climate change. And the smaller the underlying surface parameters are, the more sensitive the streamflow changes are to the underlying surface change. The results further deepen our understanding for the response of streamflow to climate and underlying surface changes in the Loess Plateau and can provide theoretical support for systematic regulation of basin water resources in the future.

[1]  Shaokun He,et al.  Exploring the impacts of climate change and human activities on future runoff variations at the seasonal scale , 2023, Journal of Hydrology.

[2]  Zhongbo Yu,et al.  Spatial difference analysis of the runoff evolution attribution in the Yellow River Basin , 2022, Journal of Hydrology.

[3]  A. Turiel,et al.  Increasing stratification as observed by satellite sea surface salinity measurements , 2022, Scientific Reports.

[4]  Yaning Chen,et al.  An integrated assessment of runoff dynamics in the Amu Darya River Basin: Confronting climate change and multiple human activities, 1960–2017 , 2021, Journal of Hydrology.

[5]  Xiaoming Zhang,et al.  Evaluating the impact of ecological construction measures on water balance in the Loess Plateau region of China within the Budyko framework , 2021 .

[6]  Ziyan Zheng,et al.  Separating variance in the runoff in Beijing's river system under climate change and human activities , 2021 .

[7]  Chong Jiang,et al.  Contribution Analysis of the Streamflow Changes in Selected Catchments on the Loess Plateau, China, Using Multiple Budyko-Based Approaches , 2021, Water.

[8]  G. Villarini,et al.  Humans, climate and streamflow , 2021, Nature Climate Change.

[9]  Jinfeng Wang,et al.  Quantifying the effect of environmental drivers on water conservation variation in the eastern Loess Plateau, China , 2021 .

[10]  Dawen Yang,et al.  Hydrological cycle and water resources in a changing world: A review , 2021 .

[11]  Zhiying Li,et al.  Identifying the Dominant Drivers of Hydrological Change in the Contiguous United States , 2021, Water Resources Research.

[12]  C. Miao,et al.  Is the runoff coefficient increasing or decreasing after ecological restoration on China’s Loess Plateau? , 2021, International Soil and Water Conservation Research.

[13]  Xueli Zhang,et al.  Study on the influence of vegetation change on runoff generation mechanism in the Loess Plateau, China , 2020, Water Supply.

[14]  Dawen Yang,et al.  Separating the effects of revegetation and sediment-trapping dams construction on runoff and its application to a semi-arid watershed of the Loess Plateau , 2020 .

[15]  G. Church,et al.  Pluripotent stem cell-derived CAR-macrophage cells with antigen-dependent anti-cancer cell functions , 2020, Journal of Hematology & Oncology.

[16]  T. McVicar,et al.  Globally partitioning the simultaneous impacts of climate-induced and human-induced changes on catchment streamflow: A review and meta-analysis , 2020 .

[17]  B. Fu,et al.  Identification of climate variables dominating streamflow generation and quantification of streamflow decline in the Loess Plateau, China. , 2020, The Science of the total environment.

[18]  Yubao Wang,et al.  Attribution analysis of climatic and multiple anthropogenic causes of runoff change in the Loess Plateau—A case‐study of the Jing River Basin , 2020, Land Degradation & Development.

[19]  Yuanyuan Zhang,et al.  Quantitative Analysis of Hydrological Responses to Climate Variability and Land-Use Change in the Hilly-Gully Region of the Loess Plateau, China , 2019, Water.

[20]  C. Ritsema,et al.  Impacts of land use change and climatic effects on streamflow in the Chinese Loess Plateau: A meta-analysis. , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[21]  Juan Sun,et al.  The effects of climate and catchment characteristic change on streamflow in a typical tributary of the Yellow River , 2019, Scientific Reports.

[22]  C. Miao,et al.  Temporal and spatial variations in water discharge and sediment load on the Loess Plateau, China: A high-density study. , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[23]  K. Duan,et al.  Partitioning climate and human contributions to changes in mean annual streamflow based on the Budyko complementary relationship in the Loess Plateau, China. , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[24]  Yan Zhang,et al.  Land-use changes and check dams reducing runoff and sediment yield on the Loess Plateau of China. , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[25]  Qingyun Duan,et al.  Analysis of precipitation characteristics on the loess plateau between 1965 and 2014, based on high-density gauge observations , 2018, Atmospheric Research.

[26]  Qiang Huang,et al.  Detecting the Dominant Cause of Streamflow Decline in the Loess Plateau of China Based onthe Latest Budyko Equation , 2018, Water.

[27]  Daqing Yang,et al.  Spatiotemporal variation in the attribution of streamflow changes in a catchment on China's Loess Plateau , 2017 .

[28]  Shuai Wang,et al.  Hydrogeomorphic Ecosystem Responses to Natural and Anthropogenic Changes in the Loess Plateau of China , 2017 .

[29]  R. Srinivasan,et al.  Analysis of streamflow responses to climate variability and land use change in the Loess Plateau region of China , 2017 .

[30]  Qingyun Li,et al.  Streamflow responses to climate change and LUCC in a semi-arid watershed of Chinese Loess Plateau , 2017, Journal of Arid Land.

[31]  Q. Duan,et al.  Contribution analysis of the long-term changes in seasonal runoff on the Loess Plateau, China, using eight Budyko-based methods , 2017 .

[32]  Wei Cheng,et al.  The role of climatic and anthropogenic stresses on long-term runoff reduction from the Loess Plateau, China. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[33]  G. Dong,et al.  Reduced Runoff Due to Anthropogenic Intervention in the Loess Plateau, China , 2016 .

[34]  Shuai Wang,et al.  Determining the hydrological responses to climate variability and land use/cover change in the Loess Plateau with the Budyko framework. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[35]  Jianyun Zhang,et al.  Attribution of Runoff Change for the Xinshui River Catchment on the Loess Plateau of China in a Changing Environment , 2016 .

[36]  R. Woods,et al.  Correspondence: Space-time asymmetry undermines water yield assessment , 2016, Nature Communications.

[37]  Muhammad Attique Khan,et al.  Factors responsible for temporal and spatial variations in water and sediment discharge in Ramganga River, Ganga Basin, India , 2016, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[38]  Di Long,et al.  Quantifying the impacts of climate change and ecological restoration on streamflow changes based on a Budyko hydrological model in China's Loess Plateau , 2015 .

[39]  G. Sun,et al.  Global pattern for the effect of climate and land cover on water yield , 2015, Nature Communications.

[40]  J. Jia,et al.  Estimating the sensitivity of annual runoff to changes in climate and land use in the Loess Plateau, China , 2014, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

[41]  Jianhua Xu,et al.  Combining BPANN and wavelet analysis to simulate hydro-climatic processes—a case study of the Kaidu River, North-west China , 2013, Frontiers of Earth Science.

[42]  Fubao Sun,et al.  New analytical derivation of the mean annual water‐energy balance equation , 2008 .

[43]  Lukas H. Meyer,et al.  Summary for Policymakers , 2022, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

[44]  Dawen Yang,et al.  Analyzing spatial and temporal variability of annual water‐energy balance in nonhumid regions of China using the Budyko hypothesis , 2007 .

[45]  H. B. Mann.  Nonparametric Tests Against Trend , 1945 .

[46]  杨琳 Yang Lin.  Attribution of runoff variations in Tao River and Daxia River based on Budyko Hypothesis , 2021, Acta Ecologica Sinica.

[47]  Ji Chen,et al.  Quantifying the contributions of climate variation, land use change, and engineering measures for dramatic reduction in streamflow and sediment in a typical loess watershed, China , 2020 .

[48]  Jianyun Zhang,et al.  Attribution analysis of runoff decline in a semiarid region of the Loess Plateau, China , 2016, Theoretical and Applied Climatology.

[49]  Hu Qingye.  Responses of hydrology and water resources to the climate change in the Yellow River source region , 2013 .