Land use change in a 200‐year period and its effect on blue and green water flow in two Slovenian Mediterranean catchments—lessons for the future

Abstract

The overexploitation and impairment of our freshwater resources require land management strategies that support the preservation of green and blue water flow and various ecosystem services. Historical landscape analysis and the influential driving factors of landscape development provide an essential basis for tackling current environmental questions in land and water management. Hence, this article investigates the influence of historical land use pattern on the hydrological processes and provision of blue and green water flow and storage for man and ecosystems under current climate conditions. Moreover, we discuss in how far these findings could be used to predict or optimise future land management options or as a reference for future land and water management. We used digitalized historical land use maps from 1787, 1827, 1940 and 1984 and a digital land use map of present situation from 2009 for our study areas, which are two small scale Slovenian catchments (Reka and Dragonja). The integrated river basin model soil and water assessment tool was used to simulate the land use change effects on blue and green water flow. The results showed for both catchments that the influence of land use change on total and green water quantity would be statistically insignificant but would have considerable effects on the seasonal flows. In the Reka catchment, historical situations indicate effects on spring and summer blue and green water flow due to a decreased percentage of forest and an increased percentage of grassland and vineyards in the past. Results for the Dragonja catchment indicate past shift from arable land use to forest as decrease in summer green water flow and increase in blue water flow. Possible effects are also increased levels of blue water flow and decreased levels of green water flow during the growing period of the year. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessment of changes in ecosystem service delivery – a historical perspective on catchment landscapes

“…The study adds to the demonstrations of the utility in assessing historical catchment conditions to inform current management questions and choices (see also Glavan et al 2012Glavan et al , 2013Tomscha et al 2016). Maps of historic and present-day habitats and ESs themselves provide a means to engage and inform land managers and other stakeholders, and furthermore, the visualisations they provide may contribute to instilling more holistic (i.e., whole catchment) management approaches.…”

“…This includes map-based approaches whereby spatially explicit data on land use, land cover or habitats are the proxies on which supply estimates are based (Burkhard et al 2012;Andrew et al 2015;Science For Environment Policy 2015;Metzger et al 2006;Glavan et al 2013;Syrbe & Walz 2012;Maes et al 2013;Vermaat et al 2015). Maps of different ESs can be produced and compared for the same landscape; however, to date, this approach has been focussed almost entirely on contemporary landscapes and their delivery of different ESs, whereas methodologies for assessing ES changes over time are much more limited (Glavan et al 2012;Haines-Young et al 2012;Tomscha et al 2016). In this study, it is argued that this is actually an important gap in understanding the ES potential of catchments.…”

Challenges in Using Hydrology and Water Quality Models for Assessing Freshwater Ecosystem Services: A Review

“…Rodrigues, et al [29] also considered the issues of water scarcity, both for blue and green water. Erol and Randhir [30] and Glavan, et al [31] studied the impact of different land use on the availability of freshwater as surface water and groundwater.…”

Performance Evaluation of SWAT Model for Land Use and Land Cover Changes under different Climatic Conditions: A Review

“…The results have shown that there is increasing rate for sediment yield and the sensitivity of rainfall-sediment yield relationship to rainfall changes move down by woodland, paddy field and farmland under the same condition of soil texture and terrain slope in the area. [39] assessed impact of two small scale Slovenian watersheds by using historical land use maps from 1787, 1827, 1940, 1984 and 2009 land use map depicting present situation for LUCC. Results showed statistically insignificant for both watersheds the influence of land use change on total and green water quantity, but would have considerable effects on the seasonal flow.…”