Abstract
The biodiversity and integrity of river ecosystems are depending on the natural streamflow regime. Therefore, assessing alteration of hydrologic regimes becomes a fundamental step in river ecosystem protection and restoration. In this paper, the Range of Variability Approach (RVA) was used to analyze the alteration hydrologic regimes from 1959 to 2016 in the Tang River, the upstream of Baiyangdian Lake Basin, China. Several results can be drawn: (i) annual streamflow presented a decreasing trend, and an abrupt change was detected in 1979; (ii) the significant changed indicators of hydrologic variation in upstream of Baiyangdian Lake Basin were the monthly streamflow in March, April, August, November, time of 3-day and 90-day maximum streamflow, date of maximum streamflow occurrence, rise rate and number of reversals; and (iii) monthly water should be restored in flood and delivered in non-flood season, and annual extreme streamflow frequency and duration of high and low streamflow also should be regulated to maintain the streamflow regimes in the Tang River Basin, China. The results will help to provide the suitable ecological streamflow and maintain the integrity of river ecosystem in changing environment.
Highlights
The biodiversity and integrity of river ecosystems depend on natural streamflow conditions, and can be characterized by ecologically relevant hydrologic indicators of streamflow data [1]
According to timing of abrupt change, annual streamflow can be divided into two periods: natural period (1959-1978) and changed period (1979-2016)
(ii) According to Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) and Range of Variations method (RVA), the significant alteration of hydrologic indicators were the average streamflow in March, April, August and November, the maximum streamflow time of 3-day and 90-day series, date of maximum streamflow occurrence, rise rate, and number of reversals
Summary
The biodiversity and integrity of river ecosystems depend on natural streamflow conditions, and can be characterized by ecologically relevant hydrologic indicators of streamflow data [1]. Alteration of hydrologic regimes are considered to be the main cause of degradation of river ecosystems [2]. In this context, to explore the changes of hydrologic regimes and diagnosis alteration of hydrologic indicators have been regarded as one of effective methods to support river management. Our objectives are: (i) to explore the temporal trend of streamflow in annual scale; (ii) to obtain the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) parameters with significant changes; and (iii) to propose the suitable ecological streamflow for the river restoration. The results should help to provide the suitable ecological streamflow and maintain the integrity of river ecosystem
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