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Sensitivity of runoff to climatic variability in the northern and southern slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains, China

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Abstract

Temperature and precipitation play an important role in the distribution of intra-annual runoff by influencing the timing and contribution of different water sources. In the northern and southern slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains in China, the water sources of rivers are similar; however, the proportion and dominance of water sources contributing to runoff are different. Using the Manas River watershed in the northern slope and the Kaidu River watershed in the southern slope of the Middle Tianshan Mountains as case studies, we investigated the changes in annual runoff under climate change. A modified hydrological model was used to simulate runoff in the Kaidu River and Manas River watersheds. The results indicated that runoff was sensitive to precipitation variation in the southern slope and to temperature variation in the northern slope of the Middle Tianshan Mountains. Variations in temperature and precipitation substantially influence annual and seasonal runoff. An increase in temperature did not influence the volume of spring runoff; but it resulted in earlier spring peaks with higher levels of peak flow. Damages caused by spring peak flow from both slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains should be given more attention in future studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Feiyun Zhang, Lei Bai & Lanhai Li

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Feiyun Zhang & Lei Bai

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan

    Quan Wang

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  1. Feiyun Zhang
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  2. Lei Bai
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  3. Lanhai Li
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  4. Quan Wang
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Correspondence to Lanhai Li.

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Zhang, F., Bai, L., Li, L. et al. Sensitivity of runoff to climatic variability in the northern and southern slopes of the Middle Tianshan Mountains, China. J. Arid Land 8, 681–693 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-016-0015-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-016-0015-x

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