Change in Land Use and Evapotranspiration in the Manas River Basin, China with Long-term Water-saving Measures

Xinlin He,Guang Yang,Lianqing Xue,Cui Wang,Aihua Long

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18030-5

Xinlin He, Guang Yang + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18030-5

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Dec 1, 2017
Citations: 51	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Shihezi University, Hohai University

Abstract

Widespread application of water-saving measures, especially advanced drip irrigation technologies, may significantly impact on the land use, and further potentially alter regional ecological environments in an arid area. In this study, the remote sensing and geographic information system technology were used to analyze the LANDSAT images (1976–2015) and the MOD16 evapotranspiration data (2000–2015) in the Manas River Basin (MRB), China where the water-saving technologies have experienced the past 40 years. Our results show that the area of the cultivated land was approximately doubled from 1976 to 2015 with a dynamic degree of cultivated land ranging from 1.7% to 4%. The reclamation rates were estimated at 9.5% in 1976 and 21.8% in 2015 and the comprehensive index of land use degree shows an increasing trend in the MRB. The evapotranspiration in the MRB suggests that the cultivated land is becoming more humid while the other regions are becoming more arid. Long-term change in the land use is mainly promoted due to the multiple years’ efforts on development of the water-saving technologies. This study greatly improves our understanding of the interactions between change in ecological environments and human activities and may provide policy makers guidance of sustainable development at an arid area.

Highlights

A literature review about linking water savings with water diversion and water depletion from both theoretical models and empirical evidence[26]
In this study the land use over a period of 1976–2015 and temporal and spatial distributions of evapotranspiration over a period of 2000–2014 at the Manas River Basin, China were assessed with the remote sensing and geographic information system analysis
Our results show that water-saving measures in agriculture promoted expansion in the cultivated land and further resulted in change in the land use over the period of 1976–2015

Summary

Introduction

A literature review about linking water savings with water diversion and water depletion from both theoretical models and empirical evidence[26]. During the last several years, the Manas River Basin (MRB) has become one of the hot topics about impacts of both climate change and human activities on an ecological system because 1) the MRB represents a unique and complex ecological system in an arid area with landscapes ranging from snow cover, mountain, river, plain, oasis, and desert; 2) water availability the main factor that limits reclamation in the MRB; and 3) water-saving measures have been implemented in MRB over 40 years. The MRB is located at the center of the North Slope Economic Zone of the Tianshan Mountains, to the southern margin of the Junggar Basin in China (Fig. 1) It is a typical mountain-oasis-desert landscape which can be divided into the upper reach of the mountainous area, the central plain and the lower reach of the desert area[32]. At the Manas River Basin, water allocation and utilization is a key factor that determines land use, agricultural production and socio-economic development[32,33].

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