New discharge regime of the Huanghe (Yellow River): Causes and implications

Yu, Ye; Wang, Houjie; Shi, Xuefa; Ran, Xiangbin; Cui, Tingwei; Qiao, Shuqing; Liu, Yanguang

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2013.09.013

Cited by 125 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The Yellow River was once the world's largest carrier of fluvial sediment, but its sediment load has decreased by approximately 90% over the past 60 years 3 . The decline in sediment load is due to changes in water discharge and sediment concentration, which are both influenced by regional climate change and human activities.…”

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“…6). Afforestation, terraced farming, and the construction of check dams and reservoirs are the major human interventions in this area that have led to increased precipitation retention (Supplementary Table 3), and the consequent reduction of river sediment flux 3,[10][11][12]16 . One of the most effective methods of stabilizing soils and minimizing erosion is to establish perennial vegetation cover 13,17,18 .…”

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Reduced sediment transport in the Yellow River due to anthropogenic changes

et al. 2015

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The erosion, transport and redeposition of sediments shape the Earth's surface, and a ect the structure and function of ecosystems and society 1,2 . The Yellow River was once the world's largest carrier of fluvial sediment, but its sediment load has decreased by approximately 90% over the past 60 years 3 . The decline in sediment load is due to changes in water discharge and sediment concentration, which are both influenced by regional climate change and human activities. Here we use an attribution approach to analyse 60 years of runo and sediment load observations from the traverse of the Yellow River over China's Loess Plateau -the source of nearly 90% of its sediment load. We find that landscape engineering, terracing and the construction of check dams and reservoirs were the primary factors driving reduction in sediment load from the 1970s to 1990s, but large-scale vegetation restoration projects have also reduced soil erosion from the 1990s onwards. We suggest that, as the ability of existing dams and reservoirs to trap sediments declines in the future, erosion rates on the Loess Plateau will increasingly control the Yellow River's sediment load.Change of soil erosion and the resulting river sediment transport are important components of global change, so understanding the mechanisms behind such change is crucial to developing strategic plans for the sustainable management of catchments 4,5 . In recent decades, significant decreasing trends in river sediment loads have been observed in approximately 50% of the world's rivers 6,7 . The benefits and risks of the change in river sediment load largely depend on the baseline load and the scale of the change 8,9 . Hence, it is important to quantify the change of river sediment loads through time, and to understand the drivers and mechanisms behind them 2,5 .The Huang He, or Yellow River (YR) (Fig. 1), was the most sediment-laden river in the world, but its annual sediment load has continually decreased since the 1950s (refs 10-13). The yearly sediment loads at the main gauging stations along the YR, all show significant decreasing trends (p < 0.01) over the past six decades (Fig. 1b). Sediment load increases most suddenly in the middle reach of the river, when crossing the Loess Plateau (LP), between the Toudaoguai gauging station (TDG) (0.07 Gt yr −1 ) and the Tongguan station (TG) (0.63 Gt yr −1 ), and then gradually declines in the lower reach (Fig. 1b, top right inset). The LP is thus the largest sediment source, nearly 90% (refs 3,11) for the YR, and we therefore focus on this part of the river's catchment. A mass budget over the middle reach of the YR can be obtained from the difference of measured sediment flux and water discharge at TG and TDG (Fig. 1). Both the river discharge and sediment load across the LP show significant decreasing trends (−0.25 km 3 yr −2 , p < 0.001; and −0.02 Gt yr −2 , p < 0.001, respectively) over the past six decades, whereas precipitation decreased slightly (−1.2 mm yr −2 , p = 0.015). As Fig. 2a shows two abrupt falls in sed...

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Reduced sediment transport in the Yellow River due to anthropogenic changes

et al. 2015

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“…Over the past 60 years, construction of hydraulic structures and dramatic landuse changes in the Yellow River watershed has converted the second longest river in China to a hydrologic system highly regulated by human activities (Li et al, 1998a). Hydrological circle of the Yellow River Delta (YRD) has undergone a series of regime shift, characterized by 70-90% reductions in water and sediment supply (Wang et al, 2007;Yu et al, 2013), which is similar to many other large deltaic systems in the world (Blum and Roberts, 2009;Syvitski et al, 2009). The downward trends in runoff were also caused by climate change and increased water consumption in the Yellow River Basin (Xu, 2003).…”

Section: A Changing Ecohydrological Environment Of Yrd Wetlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of ecohydrology of the Yellow River delta wetland

Hua

Chen

Luo

2016

Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology

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“…The Yellow River now carries only~10.7% of the suspended solid load it did in the 1950s and, overall, sediment supply is insufficient to counter erosion in the old abandoned delta lobes (Yu et al 2013). There are~50 000 dams on the Yangtze River and its tributaries (Yang et al 2005), and there was a 50% reduction in sediment load reaching the sea between 1965 and 2002.…”

Section: The Yellow Sea Coastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shorebirds along the Yellow Sea coast of China face an uncertain future—a review of threats

Melville

Chen

2016

Emu - Austral Ornithology

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Abstract. Wetlands along the Yellow Sea coast of China, which are a major staging area for shorebirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, are in a state of crisis that threatens the future of this migration system. Populations of many shorebirds in the Flyway have declined in recent decades at a time when there has been widespread loss of habitat and degradation of coastal wetlands around the Yellow Sea. Here we examine current threats to coastal wetlands along China's Yellow Sea coast based on field surveys in 2013 and 2014 and a review of the literature. Intertidal habitats have been lost to land claim or degraded through aquaculture and harvesting, as well as gross pollution and invasion of exotic Spartina, all of which have negatively affected shorebird foraging, roosting and breeding sites. Planned further development, if unchecked, will result in the loss of most of the remaining intertidal area, which is likely to result in calamitous declines in populations of many shorebirds. There is a need for immediate action to curb future land claim and to develop an integrated coastal management strategy. Further research on applied aspects of shorebird ecology is urgently needed to inform future policy development and decision making.

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New discharge regime of the Huanghe (Yellow River): Causes and implications

Cited by 125 publications

References 49 publications

Reduced sediment transport in the Yellow River due to anthropogenic changes

Reduced sediment transport in the Yellow River due to anthropogenic changes

An overview of ecohydrology of the Yellow River delta wetland

Shorebirds along the Yellow Sea coast of China face an uncertain future—a review of threats

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