Climate Change, Land Use, and Vegetation Evolution in the Upper Huai River Basin

Abel Girma; Denghua Yan; Kun Wang; Hailu Birara; Mohammed Gedefaw; Dorjsuren Batsuren; Asaminew Abiyu; Tianlin Qin; Temesgen Mekonen; Amanuel Abate

doi:10.3390/atmos14030512

Atmosphere (Mar 2023)

Climate Change, Land Use, and Vegetation Evolution in the Upper Huai River Basin

Abel Girma,
Denghua Yan,
Kun Wang,
Hailu Birara,
Mohammed Gedefaw,
Dorjsuren Batsuren,
Asaminew Abiyu,
Tianlin Qin,
Temesgen Mekonen,
Amanuel Abate

Affiliations

Abel Girma: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
Denghua Yan: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing 100038, China
Kun Wang: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing 100038, China
Hailu Birara: Department of Natural Resource Management, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 196, Ethiopia
Mohammed Gedefaw: Department of Natural Resource Management, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 196, Ethiopia
Dorjsuren Batsuren: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
Asaminew Abiyu: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
Tianlin Qin: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing 100038, China
Temesgen Mekonen: Department of Natural Resource Management, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 196, Ethiopia
Amanuel Abate: Department of Natural Resource Management, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 196, Ethiopia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030512
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 3
p. 512

Abstract

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Land-use/land-cover change and climate change have changed the spatial–temporal distribution of water resources. The Huai River Basin shows the spatial and temporal changes of climate from 1960 to 2016 and land-use/land-cover changes from 1995 to 2014. Thus, this study aims to investigate climate change, land use, and vegetation evolution in the Upper Huai River Basin. The Mann–Kendall test (MK), Innovative Trend Analysis Method (ITAM), and Sen’s slope estimator test were used to detect climate change trends. The land-use/land-cover change was also examined using a transformation matrix and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The results of this study revealed that precipitation has shown a slightly decreasing trend during the past 56 years. However, the air temperature has increased by 1.2 °C. The artificial and natural vegetation and wetland were decreased by 12,097 km2, 3207 km2, and 641 km2, respectively. On the other hand, resident construction land and artificial water bodies increased by 2277 km2 and 3691 km2, respectively. This indicates that the land cover has significantly changed during the past 30 years. The findings of this study will have implications for predicting the water resources safety and eco-environment of The Huai River Basin. The spatial distribution showed an uneven change in the Huai River Basin. Together, we suggested that the variability of water resources availability in the Huai River Basin was mainly attributed to climate variability, while land use change plays a key role in the sub-basins, which experienced dramatic changes in land use.

Published in Atmosphere

ISSN: 2073-4433 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Physics: Meteorology. Climatology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/

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