Hydrologic Features and Eco-environmental Classification of Epikarst Springs in Luota, West of Hunan, China

Abstract

It is significant for the regulation capacity of epikarst zone in controlling the rock desertification and water supply in the karst mountain areas, where the water shortage is very serious. When we considered Luota karst area, in the west of Hunan, as an example, three typical kinds of epikarst springs were summarized according to the ecological and environmental properties on the basis of a large number of field investigations. They are as follows: epikarst springs in the forest environment, epikarst springs in the rock desertification environment, and epikarst springs in the rock desertification-forest transition environment. The development conditions and hydrologic characteristics of the three kinds of epikarst springs in Luota karst area are discussed in detail in the article. Epikarst springs in the forest environments have a stable hydrologic regime and a continuous water flow; one of epikarst springs in the rock desertification environments is extremely unstable and is in correspondence with precipitation; and in the case of epikarst springs in the rock desertification-forest transition environments, the time of peak discharge is moderately delayed by the increase in the vegetation overcast rate of the spring basin. The classification of epikarst springs, according to their environment types, can directly indicate their particular hydrological features, which can help in the rational development and synthetic utilization of epikarst springs.