On hydrological response to land-use/cover change in Luanhe River basin

This paper, taking the Luanhe River basin as a research area, quantifies and evaluates the hydrological response to land-use/cover change. Using the distributed hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the land-use data of 1985 and 2000, the responsive relationship between the surface runoff variation and the major types of landscapes is analyzed. The result shows that the calibrated SWAT model can well simulate the monthly flows, and is thus applicable to the study of Luanhe river basin. From 1985 through 2000, the conversion from forestry land to farmland and grassland had led to the 12.6% and 5.1% growths in average annual surface runoff and total runoff, respectively. The conversion had also brought in a significant spatial difference in average annual surface runoff on the basin. The overall trend in the spatial difference had been increasing, which is primarily caused by the transformation of land use from forest to others. Changes in surface runoff in the upstream catchment area controlled by the Sandaohezi hydrological station was mainly the result of farmland landscapes. The paper concludes that reasonably planning of land-use pattern is important for the sustainable use of water resources in the Luanhe River basin.