Abstract
The calculation and mapping of water yield are of significant importance to the effective planning and management of water resources in North Korea. In this study, we quantified and assessed the water retention capacity of North Korean forests using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) water yield model; six thematic maps were constructed and two coefficients were derived for use in the modeling. Data were obtained from the following sources: average annual precipitation from WorldClim; average monthly evapotranspiration from Global Potential Evapotranspiration (Global-PET); and the soil depth data from the International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC). The plant available water fraction was calculated using a bulk density formula. Land cover was classified using the Normalized Difference Snow, Water and Vegetation Indices, using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery. Data for the watershed analysis were provided by the World Wildlife Fund. The total water retention in North Korean forests was estimated to be 760,145,120 tons in the 2000s. However, previous studies from 2011 showed a much higher (by 9,409,622,083 tons) water retention capacity in South Korea. In North Korea, the largest monthly water storage volume occurred in July, followed by August, September, and June. This mirrors rainfall patterns, indicating that precipitation has a significant impact on water storage. Analysis of the annual spatial distribution of water storage by administrative district showed that Hamgyongnam-do had the highest, followed by Jagang-do and Gangwon-do Provinces.
Highlights
Forests play a globally vital role in controlling floods, drought, and soil erosion; for this reason, forest ecosystems are sometimes termed green dams or reservoirs [1,2]
Yin et al [11] estimated the temporal variations and associated factors in water yield ecosystem services in North China, and the results showed that the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model performed well in water yield estimation (R2 = 0.93)
Our study focused on the stocked forest land of North Korea
Summary
Forests play a globally vital role in controlling floods, drought, and soil erosion; for this reason, forest ecosystems are sometimes termed green dams or reservoirs [1,2] Their importance in this context was demonstrated by the effects on forest cover of the North Korean famine of 1994 to 1998, known as the Arduous March. This period was characterized by energy shortages, forcing much of the population to utilize wood from forests for fuel, while desperate efforts to ensure food production led to the unsustainable clearance of sloping forested land for cultivation.
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