Water yield reduction due to forestation in arid mountainous regions, northwest China

作     者：Pengtao YU1*, Yanhui WANG2, Xudong WU3, Xiaohong DONG4, Wei XIONG5, Gaowa BU6, Shunli WANG7, Jinye WANG8, Xiande LIU9, and Lihong XU101 Dr., 2 Prof. Dr., 4 Ms., 5 Dr., 10 Dr., Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, The Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China, 3 Mr., 6 Ms., College of Ecology and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia Agriculture University, Hohhot, 010018, China 7 Mr., 9 Prof. Dr., Academy of Water Resources Conservation Forests in Qilian Mountain of Gansu Province, Zhangye, 734000, Gansu, China 8 Prof. Dr., Tour College of Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, Guangxi, China 

作者机构：Dr. Research Institute of Forest Ecology Environment and Protection The Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing 100091 China Prof. Dr. Research Institute of Forest Ecology Environment and Protection The Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing 100091 China Mr. College of Ecology and Environmental Science Inner Mongolia Agriculture University Hohhot 010018 China Ms. Research Institute of Forest Ecology Environment and Protection The Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing 100091 China Ms. College of Ecology and Environmental Science Inner Mongolia Agriculture University Hohhot 010018 China Mr. Academy of Water Resources Conservation Forests in Qilian Mountain of Gansu Province Zhangye 734000 Gansu China Prof. Dr. Tour College of Guilin University of Technology Guilin 541004 Guangxi China Prof. Dr. Academy of Water Resources Conservation Forests in Qilian Mountain of Gansu Province Zhangye 734000 Gansu China 

出 版 物：《International Journal of Sediment Research》 (国际泥沙研究(英文版))

年 卷 期：2010年第25卷第4期

页      面：423-430页

核心收录：

学科分类：090702[农学-森林培育] 0907[农学-林学] 0709[理学-地质学] 0819[工学-矿业工程] 09[农学] 0708[理学-地球物理学] 0818[工学-地质资源与地质工程] 0903[农学-农业资源与环境] 0816[工学-测绘科学与技术] 

基　　金：the National Science Foundation of China (40671038, 40730631) the State Forestry Administration of China (200904056, 200904005) the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2007038)and the Key Laboratory for Forest Ecological Environment of the State Forestry Administration of China 

主　　题：Arid region Water yield Forestation Watershed scale Site scale 

摘      要：Forestation has been encouraged worldwide due to increasing demand for forest products, and for its ecological benefits such as soil erosion control and sediment reduction. However, forestation reduces runoff, thus potentially aggravating water shortages in arid regions. In order to quantitatively estimate the possible water yield reductions caused by forestation in an arid region, a small watershed (the Pailugou watershed) in the Qilian Mountains of northwest China was chosen as a study area. The responses of hydrological dynamics to different forestation scenarios in the study area were simulated using the TOPOG model. The results showed that forestation could lead to a complete loss of runoff at the site scale. At the watershed scale, a 10% increase in forest coverage led to a runoff reduction of 25.6 mm, equivalent to 13% of the runoffin the un-forested watershed. However, due to climatological and topographical constraints, the potential forest distribution occupied only 46.3% of the watershed area, and runoff reduction was estimated to reach a maximum of 60% when the forest cover ratio increased from 0.41% to 46.1%. Actual forest coverage is 36% in the study area, thus the water yield will be reduced with any further increase in forest area. Our study suggested that a trade-off between the numerous benefits of forest coverage increase and its negative impact on water yield should be carefully addressed in arid regions with inherently severe water-shortage.