Water balance in a watershed considering the response of vegetation cover to rainfall changes

MO Kangle; CONG Zhentao

doi:10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2017.22.049

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Journal of Tsinghua University(Science and Technology) ›› 2017, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (8) : 851-856. DOI: 10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2017.22.049

HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING

Water balance in a watershed considering the response of vegetation cover to rainfall changes

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Abstract

This study distinguishes the direct and indirect effects of rainfall changes on the water balance in a watershed. The water balance is used to build a model based on Eagleson's ecohydrological optimality theory to describe the vegetation cover response to rainfall changes. An attribution analysis distinguishes the direct effect of rainfall on the water balance shifts and the indirect effect of vegetation cover which is influenced by the rainfall. This method is applied to the Xilamulun-Laoha River basin in the Horqin Sands area. The results show a positive correlation between the vegetation cover and the rainfall with the relationship affected by the rainfall intensity and frequency. Increased rainfall mainly increases the evapotranspiration and soil water storage during the non-growing season. Increased rainfall has a positive effect on every water balance term. However, the indirect effects of the vegetation cover result in negative changes to all the water balance terms, except for the evapotranspiration. The relationship between the evapotranspiration efficiency and the rainfall is affected by the response of the vegetation cover to rainfall changes.

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water balance / ecohydrological optimality / attribution analyses / vegetation coverage

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MO Kangle, CONG Zhentao. Water balance in a watershed considering the response of vegetation cover to rainfall changes[J]. Journal of Tsinghua University(Science and Technology). 2017, 57(8): 851-856 https://doi.org/10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2017.22.049

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