Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Ian Calder
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Abandonment of old agricultural fields is one of the main land cover changes over the second half of the XX century in Pyrenean headwater catchments, resulting in a natural succession from old crop fields and meadows towards shrub and forested covers, as well as an increase in forest canopy densities. In this situation, important changes in hydrological processes, water balance and, in consequence, water resources have been identified in the records and are expected for the future. The HYLUC model [Calder, I.R., 2003. Assessing the water use of short vegetation and forests: development of the Hydrological Land Use Change (HYLUC) model. Water Resources Research, 39(11), 1318] was tested for simulating the daily flows and water balance of the River Cardener (NE Spain) as well as for estimating the hydrological consequences of changes in land cover under operational conditions, i.e., with limited input data and parameter requirements. HYLUC Successfully simulated the historical daily flows, flow duration curve and annual water balances in the catchment. It had several advantages over the hydrological model currently used for operational purposes in this catchment, although a snow cover sub-model should be added if it is to be applied to the main headwater catchments in the same Pyrenean region. When the model was used to simulate the consequences of land cover changes, the differences in water balance were larger than those predicted with an annual water balance equation. However, similar results were obtained from the analysis of historical data from headwater catchments of the Ebro River basin, and the decrease in low flows simulated under forest cover was comparable to that observed under Mediterranean climate elsewhere. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Author(s): Delgado J, Llorens P, Nord G, Calder IR, Gallart F
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Hydrology
Year: 2010
Volume: 383
Issue: 1-2
Pages: 125-134
Print publication date: 01/03/2010
ISSN (print): 0022-1694
ISSN (electronic):
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.07.024
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.07.024
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
