Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades
The impacts of climate and human activities exerted on streamflow over the recent decades in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMRB) have been examined in separate forms and this study performed an integrated quantitative evaluation. Using the meteorological and hydrological data measured in LMRB duri...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1024037/full |
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| author | Renzhi Li Renzhi Li He Qing Huang He Qing Huang Zhonggen Wang Zhonggen Wang Ruxin Zhao |
| author_facet | Renzhi Li Renzhi Li He Qing Huang He Qing Huang Zhonggen Wang Zhonggen Wang Ruxin Zhao |
| author_sort | Renzhi Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The impacts of climate and human activities exerted on streamflow over the recent decades in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMRB) have been examined in separate forms and this study performed an integrated quantitative evaluation. Using the meteorological and hydrological data measured in LMRB during 1961–2015, we analyzed the varying trend and abrupt change characteristics of streamflow along the river course, and constructed a SWAT hydrological model to quantitatively evaluate the contributions of climate and human activities by taking into account their spatial heterogeneity. At the yearly timescale, the results show that for significant complex changes in streamflow along the Lancang-Mekong River, the ratios of the contributions of the impacts of human activity (ηh) before 2000 to those after 2000 are under 15.2%, 17.5% and 32.4% respectively in the source area above Jiuzou (China), the upper area between Jiuzhou and Yunjinghong (China), and the middle area between Jiuzhou and Vientiane (Laos). In the lower area between Vientiane and Stung Treng (Cambodia), ηh was only 22.6% before 2000 and yet dramatically increased to 59.1% after 2000. While the same situation happened at the seasonal time scale, ηh has relatively larger values during dry seasons than in wet seasons. In contrast to the gradually increased impacts of human activities, the impacts of climate on streamflow gradually decreased from the upper to the lower areas. Furthermore, the impacts of the changes in land use types account for about 1/3 in the Lancang River Basin and yet reaches more than 1/2 in the Mekong River Basin. |
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| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:06:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
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| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-acf8b15969db47c18ab67dc0a74e4c822023-01-04T12:08:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632023-01-011010.3389/feart.2022.10240371024037Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decadesRenzhi Li0Renzhi Li1He Qing Huang2He Qing Huang3Zhonggen Wang4Zhonggen Wang5Ruxin Zhao6National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Compound and Chained Natural Hazards Dynamics, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaNational Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Compound and Chained Natural Hazards Dynamics, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing, ChinaNational Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, ChinaThe impacts of climate and human activities exerted on streamflow over the recent decades in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMRB) have been examined in separate forms and this study performed an integrated quantitative evaluation. Using the meteorological and hydrological data measured in LMRB during 1961–2015, we analyzed the varying trend and abrupt change characteristics of streamflow along the river course, and constructed a SWAT hydrological model to quantitatively evaluate the contributions of climate and human activities by taking into account their spatial heterogeneity. At the yearly timescale, the results show that for significant complex changes in streamflow along the Lancang-Mekong River, the ratios of the contributions of the impacts of human activity (ηh) before 2000 to those after 2000 are under 15.2%, 17.5% and 32.4% respectively in the source area above Jiuzou (China), the upper area between Jiuzhou and Yunjinghong (China), and the middle area between Jiuzhou and Vientiane (Laos). In the lower area between Vientiane and Stung Treng (Cambodia), ηh was only 22.6% before 2000 and yet dramatically increased to 59.1% after 2000. While the same situation happened at the seasonal time scale, ηh has relatively larger values during dry seasons than in wet seasons. In contrast to the gradually increased impacts of human activities, the impacts of climate on streamflow gradually decreased from the upper to the lower areas. Furthermore, the impacts of the changes in land use types account for about 1/3 in the Lancang River Basin and yet reaches more than 1/2 in the Mekong River Basin.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1024037/fullLancang-Mekong river basinclimate changehuman activitiesstreamflowSWAT model |
| spellingShingle | Renzhi Li Renzhi Li He Qing Huang He Qing Huang Zhonggen Wang Zhonggen Wang Ruxin Zhao Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades Frontiers in Earth Science Lancang-Mekong river basin climate change human activities streamflow SWAT model |
| title | Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades |
| title_full | Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades |
| title_fullStr | Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades |
| title_short | Quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the Lancang-Mekong river over the recent decades |
| title_sort | quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate and human activities on streamflow of the lancang mekong river over the recent decades |
| topic | Lancang-Mekong river basin climate change human activities streamflow SWAT model |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1024037/full |
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