Abstract
The impacts of climate change and human activities on runoff and sediment load are too integrated to distinguish their own contributions. We develop a new method to assess the impact of human activities based on paired years with similar precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET0) conditions (SPEC) using a 55-year monthly data of climate, runoff, and sediment load in 1958–2012 at Zhangjiashan Hydrologic Station of Jing River, Loess Plateau, China. The SPEC of paired periods is defined by similar annual amounts (difference less than 2.0%) and similar process (linear correlations of monthly data less than 0.05) which could set a precondition fixing the possible influence of climate factors. The runoff declined in all nine paired years, but the sediment load and concentration decreased in seven (78%) and six (67%) paired years, respectively. The further analysis with available data of land use and land cover (LUC), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and soil and water measures in this basin and the results could explain impacts of human activities well. The method could be used combining with the traditional methods in hydrological research.
Highlights
Streamflow and sediment load provide useful information on the soil erosion and sediment delivery occurring in a basin [1], and on the key factors of river health
We found that 18.18 thousand ha, 1.35 thousand ha, 0.03 thousand ha, and 0.03 thousand ha of forest changed into grassland, arable land, built-up land, and water bodies, respectively, and 32.99 thousand ha of grassland and 11.16 thousand ha of arable land changed into forest
Nine pairs of years were selected ranging from the 1960s to the 2000s using SPEC method
Summary
Streamflow and sediment load provide useful information on the soil erosion and sediment delivery occurring in a basin [1], and on the key factors of river health. Land use change is the reflection of the surface microtopography change by human activities. It has significant impacts on regional soil degradation, including soil erosion and soil acidification. A number of studies have been carried out to estimate the potential effects of land use change on soil erosion. Garcıa-Ruiz and Lana-Renault [14] stated that the effect of land cover changed on soil loss, sediment delivery, and hydrological response in Europe. Recent studies [18, 19] found that sediment yield rates may be expected to change in response to changes in rainfall
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
