Abstract
Abstract. Sediment load can provide very important perspective on erosion of river basin. The changes of human-induced vegetation cover, such as deforestation or afforestation, affect sediment yield process of a catchment. We have already evaluated that climate change and land cover change changed the historical streamflow and sediment yield, and land cover change is the main factor in Red river basin. But future streamflow and sediment yield changes under potential future land cover change scenario still have not been evaluated. For this purpose, future scenario of land cover change is developed based on historical land cover changes and land change model (LCM). In addition, future leaf area index (LAI) is simulated by ecological model (Biome-BGC) based on future land cover scenario. Then future scenarios of land cover change and LAI are used to drive hydrological model and new sediment rating curve. The results of this research provide information that decision-makers need in order to promote water resources planning efforts. Besides that, this study also contributes a basic framework for assessing climate change impacts on streamflow and sediment yield that can be applied in the other basins around the world.
Highlights
Studies on hydrological processes in a changing environment have been the focus of hydrological science in the 21st century
Land cover changes between year of 2001 and 2008 were calculated firstly by land change modeller, which showed that cropland increased and forest decreased obviously
The increase in cropland mainly came from forest changes (Fig. 2)
Summary
Studies on hydrological processes in a changing environment have been the focus of hydrological science in the 21st century. The geographic extent of land cover change worldwide has undergone tremendous change in the past years. It has been pointed out land cover change is a major driving force in degradation of natural environment, such as more frequent incidents of local flooding, increasing soil erosion (GarcíaRuiz et al, 2008). Most studies have been performed on the impact of land cover change on streamflow (Zheng et al, 2009) or sediment yield itself (Leh et al, 2013), few researches were related to impact of land use change on both streamflow and sediment load (Tang et al, 2011; Dao and Suetsugi, 2014). It is of great importance to predict future land cover change and its effects on combined streamflow and sediment flow in an effort to optimize the use of water resources and prevent reservoir siltation in Red river basin
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