Changes in Surface Runoff and Temporal Dispersion in a Restored Montane Watershed on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Xiaofeng Ren (), Erwen Xu, C. Ken Smith, Michael Vrahnakis, Wenmao Jing, Weijun Zhao, Rongxin Wang, Xin Jia, Chunming Yan and Ruiming Liu
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Xiaofeng Ren: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
Erwen Xu: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
C. Ken Smith: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85727, USA
Michael Vrahnakis: Department of Forestry, Wood Sciences and Design, University of Thessaly, 43131 Karditsa, Greece
Wenmao Jing: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
Weijun Zhao: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
Rongxin Wang: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
Xin Jia: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
Chunming Yan: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China
Ruiming Liu: Gansu Qilian Mountain Water Conservation Forest Research Institute, Zhangye 734000, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-22

Abstract: Surface runoff is a major component of the hydrological cycle, and it is essential for supporting the ecosystem services provided by grassland and forest ecosystems. It is of practical importance to understand the mechanisms and the dynamic processes of runoff in a river’s basin, and in this study, we focused on the restored montane Pailugou Basin in the Qilian Mountains, Gansu Province, China, since its water status is extremely important for the large arid area and local economies therein. Our purpose was to determine the annual variation in the surface runoff in the Pailugou Basin because it is important to understand the influence of climate fluctuations on surface water resources and the economy of the basin. In addition, little is known about the annual variations in precipitation and runoff in this region of the world. Daily atmospheric precipitation, air temperature and runoff data from 2000 to 2019 were analyzed by the calculation of the uneven annual distribution of surface runoff, the calculation of the complete adjustment coefficient, and the vector accumulation expressed by the concentration degree. We also used the cumulative anomaly approach to determine the interannual variation trend of runoff, while the change trend was quantified by the sliding average method. Finally, we used the Mann–Kendall mutation test method and regression analysis to establish the time-series trend for precipitation and runoff and to determine the period of abrupt runoff changes. The results indicated concentrated and positive distributions of surface runoff on an annual basis, with a small degree of dispersion, and an explicit concentration of extreme flows. The relative variation ranges exhibited a decreasing trend, and the distribution of the surface runoff gradually was uniform over the year. The runoff was highest from July to September (85% of the annual total). We also determined that annual surface runoff in the basin fluctuated over the 20-year period but showed an overall increasing trend, increasing by 3.94 × 10 5 m 3 , with an average increase rate of 0.42 × 10 5 m 3 every ten years. From 2005 to 2014, the annual runoff and the proportion of runoff in the flood season (July to September) to the annual runoff fluctuated greatly. The correlation between the runoff and precipitation was significant (r = 0.839, p < 0.05), whereas the correlation between air temperature and surface runoff was low (r = 0.421, p < 0.05).

Keywords: runoff trends; Pailugou Basin; Qilian Mountains; non-uniform coefficient; correlation analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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