Effects of precipitation patterns and temperature trends on soil water available for vineyards in a Mediterranean climate area

The objective of this paper is to analyse the impact of temperature increases and irregular rainfall distribution, associated with climate change, on water availability for rainfed vineyards cultivated in a Mediterranean climate area. The study includes the analysis of the interrelations between precipitation distribution, temperature, evapotranspiration and runoff rates, and the resulting water storage in vineyards soils of the Penedès region (NE Spain). A hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to classify the years according to water availability. The influence of water stored into the soil on yield for some one of the main vine varieties cultivated in the area is analysed. A vineyard, representative of the land management practices in this area, was selected for soil moisture monitoring and runoff evaluations, as well as for grape yield, which was compared with yields recorded in other plots.According to rainfall distribution and water availability, the 12 analysed years represent five different situations: wet years with positive and negative water balance; dry years; years with average annual rainfall but irregularly distributed throughout the year leading to a negative water balance; and extreme situations. Significant water deficits were observed in years in which total rainfall amount was above the annual average in the area, being similar to those observed in dry years: in 8 of the 12 analysed years deficits higher than 100 mm (up to 309 mm) during the growing period (budbreak-harvest) were recorded. At annual scale, 42% of the analysed years recorded deficits ranging between 27.7 and 191.4 mm. In the driest years, and those with more irregular rainfall distribution, soil moisture contents below the wilting point were reached. The high intensity rainfalls, producing important runoff losses (in many cases out of the periods in which crop water needs are higher), together with the increasing temperature trends, which give rise to significant evapotranspiration increases (values up to 32% higher than the average were recorded during the study period), are the main responsible factors for the water deficits recorded during grape development. Winegrape yield was influenced by the water stored into the soil, bloom-veraison or during budbreak-bloom depending on the variety.     

亚热带杉木、马尾松人工林水文功能的研究

1984-1990年,在江西省分宜县山下林场,对22年生杉木,马尾松人工林中的主要水文要素:降雨、林冠截留、树干茎流、土壤水分含量、径流及各种水的养分含量进行了测定,结果表明:人工林林冠的截留率为10.20-17.56％,茎流率为0.98-1.40％。土壤层较薄,含水率低,水文物理性质较差,土壤蓄渗性能较弱。林地径流量较小,且多为表层流。降雨输入林地的养分量大于径流的输出量。林内雨和树干茎流淋溶的养分量占养分还原总量的48-53％。其淋溶的K、Mg、N的养分量超过凋落物归还量。     

长江源区长序列径流变化规律及其与气象要素的关系分析

基于长江源区1956-2012年水文气象资料,采用集中期和集中度、突变检验、小波变换等方法,分析了长江源区沱沱河站和直门达站年径流变化的趋势性、突变性和周期性,并从相关性和径流系数变化方面探讨了径流变化对气象要素的响应。结果表明：长江源径流年内分配的集中程度呈弱增加趋势,集中期均呈弱延后趋势。沱沱河站、直门达站1956~2012年年径流量均呈显著增加趋势。沱沱河站年径流在1997年发生突变,直门达站在1961和1967年发生突变。沱沱河站年径流存在20-28年、12年的显著周期。直门达站年径流存在8年、24-28年的显著周期。长江源径流与降水、气温呈显著正相关,与水面蒸发呈显著负相关。降水是三江源径流的主要来源,沱沱河径流组成中冰川消融量占比站较直门达站大。     

基于SWAT模型的岩溶地区地下水资源评价

建立SWAT分布式水文模型来评价岩溶地区地下水资源。选取连江流域为研究对象,采用GIS和RS技术提取水文气象、地形、土壤、土地利用等模型所需要的参数,建立SWAT分布式水文模型来模拟连江流域径流过程,以流域出口黄德高道水文站2008～2010年月流量数据对模型参数进行率定和验证。结果表明,与传统的地下水资源评价方法相比,该方法充分考虑了岩溶区特殊的地质背景和降雨不均等影响因素,精确地模拟了连江流域径流过程,可以用来评价地下水资源量。该研究可为其他岩溶地区地下水资源评价提供借鉴意义。     

冀西北寒旱区砂质栗钙土水分入渗和径流特征研究

针对冀西北高原寒旱区农业生产的水分限制特征,研究区域降水、入渗及径流特征。结果表明,冀西北寒旱区2°～6°常见坡耕地平均径流系数达6.16%,表明区域农田在通常年景下均有产流,构成滩梁地貌之间水土空间分异的基础。坡耕地产流为降水汇集与回归补充地下水资源奠定物质基础。这一结果对指导区域降水资源化生产具有重要意义。     

上海地区不同施肥方式氮磷随地表径流流失研究

选择上海宝山罗店镇具有代表性的旱地蔬菜农田生态系统,在从2004年3月到8月的近半年时间里,通过对径流及径流中侵蚀泥沙的氮磷流失情况的连续监测与实验分析,研究了旱地农田施肥与氮磷流失污染之间的关系,探讨了农田氮磷的迁移特征及环境效应,主要结果表明:随地表径流流失的总氮、总磷,流失形态以沉积相为主,大部分是当季施用的化肥,随径流排出农田的氮素中有37.7%是当季施用的氮素化肥,磷素中有26.9%是当季施用的磷素化肥。     

Efficiency of wheat straw mulching in reducing soil and water losses from three typical soils of the Loess Plateau,China

Mulching the soil surface with a layer of plant residue is considered an effective method of conserving water and soil because it increases water infiltration into the soil, reduces surface runoff and the soil erosion, and reduces flow velocity and the sediment carrying capacity of overland flow. However, application of plant residues increases operational costs and so optimal levels of mulch in order to prevent soil and/or water losses should be used according to the soil type and rainfall and slope conditions. In this study, the effect of wheat straw mulch rate on the total runoff and total soil losses from 60-mm simulated rainstorms was assessed for two intensive rainfalls (90 and 180 mm h⁻¹) on three slope gradients typical conditions on the Loess Plateau of China and elsewhere. For short slopes (1 m), the optimal mulch rate to save water for a silt loam and a loam soil was 0.4 kg m⁻². However, for a clay loam soil the mulch rate of 0.4 kg m⁻² would be optimal only under the 90 mm h⁻¹ rainfall; 0.8 kg m⁻² was required for the 180 mm h⁻¹. In order to save soil, a mulch rate of 0.2 kg m⁻² on the silt loam slopes prevented 60%–80% of the soil losses. For the loam soil, mulch at the rate of 0.4 kg m⁻² was essential in most cases in order to reduce soil losses substantially. For the clay loam, 0.4 kg m⁻² may be optimal under the 90 mm h⁻¹ rain, but 0.8 kg m⁻² may be required for the 180 mm h⁻¹ rainstorm. These optimal values would also need to be considered alongside other factors since the mulch may have value if used elsewhere. Hence doubling the optimal mulch rate for the silt loam soil from 0.2 kg m⁻² or the clay loam soil under 90 mm h⁻¹ rainfall from 0.4 kg m⁻² in order to achieve a further 10% reduction in soil loss needs to be assessed in that context. Therefore, Optimal mulch rate can be an effective approach to virtually reduce costs or to maximize the area that can be treated. Meantime, soil conservationist should be aware that levels of mulch for short slopes might not be suitable for long slopes.     

Investigation of environmental and land use impacts in forested permafrost headwaters of the Selenga-Baikal river system,Mongolia - Effects on discharge,water quality and macroinvertebrate diversity

Headwater streams play a major role for provision of ecosystem services, e.g. drinking water. We investigated a high-altitude headwater catchment of the Kharaa River (including 41 1st-order rivers) to understand the impact of land cover (especially forest cover), environment and human usage on runoff, chemical water quality and macroinvertebrate fauna in a river basin under discontinuous permafrost conditions in an arid, sparsely populated region of Mongolia. To verify our hypotheses that different landuses and environmental impacts in permafrost headwaters influence water quality, we investigated 105 sampling sites, 37 of them at intermittent stream sections without water flow. Discharge was positively impacted by land cover types steppe, grassland and forest and negatively by shrubland, forest burnt by wild fires (indicating a reduction of permafrost) and slope. Water quality was affected by altitude, longitude and latitude, shrub growth and water temperature. Shannon diversity of macroinvertebrates was driven by water temperature, iron content of the water, flow velocity, and subbasin size (adjusted R² = 0.54). Sample plots clustered in three groups that differed in water chemistry, macroinvertebrate diversity, species composition and bio-indicators. Our study confirms that steppes and grasslands have a higher contribution to runoff than forests, forest cover has a positive impact on water quality, and diversity of macroinvertebrates is higher in sites with less nutrients and pollutants. The excellent ecological status of the upper reaches of the Kharaa is severely threatened by forest fires and human-induced climate change and urgently needs to be conserved.     

Reliability of an expert-based runoff and erosion model: Application of STREAM to different environments

During the last decades, the European loess belt has been confronted with a significant increase in environmental problems due to erosion on agricultural land. Spatially distributed runoff and erosion models operating at the catchment scale are therefore needed to evaluate the impact of potential mitigation measures. Expert-based models offer an alternative solution to process-based and empirical models, but their decision rules are only valid for the local conditions for which they have been derived. The STREAM model, which was developed in Normandy (France), has been applied in two Belgian catchments having a similar soil texture, as well as in a catchment of southern France differing by soil, land use and climate characteristics. The performance of hydrological models can be assessed for instance by calculating the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency criterion (E_NS). When applied to Belgium, the model results are satisfactory to good after an adaptation of the decision rules (0.90 < E_NS < 0.93 for runoff predictions and 0.85 < E_NS < 0.89 for erosion predictions). Given the important environmental differences between Normandy and southern France, the model rules were also adapted for application in the latter environment. Unfortunately, the quality of runoff predictions was insufficient to simulate erosion in southern France. In conclusion, STREAM is a reliable model providing satisfactory runoff and erosion predictions in the regions where hortonian overland flow dominates. Nevertheless, an adaptation of decision rules based on local multi-scale (plot, field, catchment) data is needed, before running the model. STREAM can then serve as a decision support tool to design for instance flood control measures.     

Biogeochemical cycling in forest soils of the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains,USA

We review some of the unique features of biogeochemical cycling in forests of the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA. As is the case for most arid and semi-arid ecosystems, spatial and temporal variability in nutrient contents and fluxes are quite high. “Islands of fertility” are common in these forests, a result of spatial variations in both litterfall and decomposition rates. Dry summer conditions greatly inhibit biological activity in the O horizon, and thus most annual litter decomposition takes place beneath the snowpack when moisture is available. Snowmelt duration is shortened near tree boles because of local warming, resulting in earlier drying of the O horizon, significantly lower decomposition rates, and increased O horizon mass. Water and nutrient fluxes vary spatially because of snowdrift in winter and surface runoff over hydrophobic soils in summer and fall. Moisture variability in the vertical as well as the horizontal dimension has significant consequences for nutrient fluxes. Because of the very dry summers, rooting in the O horizons is absent in these forests, and thus competition between microbes and trees for nutrients in that horizon is non-existent. Nutrients mineralized from the O horizon and not taken up by plants enrich runoff through the O horizons over hydrophobic mineral soils, resulting in very high concentrations of inorganic N and P in runoff waters. Substantial temporal variations in water and nutrient fluxes occur on a seasonal (with snowmelt being the dominant hydrologic event of the year), annual, and decadal basis. The most significant temporal variation is due to periodic fire, which we estimate causes annualized N losses that are two orders of magnitude greater than those associated with leaching and runoff. We hypothesize that fire suppression during the 20th century may have contributed to the deterioration of nearby Lake Tahoe by allowing buildups of N and P in O horizons which could subsequently leach from the terrestrial ecosystem to the Lake in runoff. In general, we conclude that biogeochemical cycling in these forests is characterized by greater spatial and temporal variability than in more mesic forest ecosystems.