The effect of climate change on the annual flow distribution of small rivers in the southern half of the European territory of Russia

Abstract

The ongoing climate changes lead to the transformation of the water regime of rivers. The analysis of the flow of small rivers in the southern half of the European territory of Russia has shown that, it has been characterized by intra-annual redistribution since the middle of 1970s: an increase in the underground component and a decrease in the surface component, mostly during the flood period, have been observed. Some decrease in the area of arable lands within the southern forest, forest-steppe, and steppe landscapes after 1991 has had little effect on the change in the ratio of underground and surface water runoff. The redistribution of the annual flow has a significant impact on the reduction of erosion rates, because it is the surface flow during the snowmelt period that is an important factor in their development. The surface flow from arable lands contributes to the formation of maximum water flow during the snow melt period, because the depth of soil freezing is generally lower under the forest and meadow conditions, while the water permeability of these soils is higher than on arable lands.

Keywords

• small rivers
• arable lands
• river flow
• annual variability
• maximum flow
• minimum flow
• erosion
• accumulation