Runoff fluctuations in the Selenga River Basin

Lake Baikal isotope records of Holocene Central Asian precipitation

“…Annual and seasonal trends in precipitation and SAT from Irkutsk are similar to data from other sites around Lake Baikal, with similar trends observed in records of water inflow to the lake (Shimaraev et al, 2002;Frolova et al, 2017). As such, the meteorological data from Irkutsk can be regarded as being representative of the wider region.…”

“…6d). Observed reductions in Central Asian precipitation and river flow over recent decades (Liu et al, 2013;Li et al, 2015;Frolova et al, 2017) may therefore represent natural variability rather than an anthropogenic driven change.…”

Environmental change in the Selenga River—Lake Baikal Basin

“…The results of the various international research programs such as the Russian Geographical Society project "Expedition Selenga-Baikal", UNDP-GEF project "Integrated Natural Resource Management in the Baikal Basin Transboundary Ecosystem", and the German BMBF-funded Thematically, the manuscripts consider hydrological changes and their drivers, pollutant and sediment input, transport and deposition and their role for the aquatic ecosystem of the Selenga, its tributaries and its delta. The spatial focus of the manuscripts ranges from basinwide studies (Malsy et al 2016;Frolova et al 2017) to specific subregions such as the Selenga's headwaters (Kopp et al 2016;Kaus et al 2016;Thorslund et al 2012) or its delta (Chalov et al 2016) ( Table 1). These studies provide an important contribution for a better understanding of spatial and temporal processes regarding hydrology, sediment and pollutant fluxes and aquatic ecology in the Selenga River-Lake Baikal Basin, adding novel insights into this unique ecosystem as compared to previous reports in literature (Table 1).…”

“…Various temporal scales have been considered, ranging from the identification of long-term changes in the past based on hydrological and meteorological datasets (since the 1930s) (Frolova et al 2017) Malsy et al (2016) focused on the question whether climate change or socioeconomic change in the Selenga river basin is the more important driver of water quality changes in the region. The authors conclude that population growth/urbanization and increasing industrial activities (particularly mining) have the strongest impact on the water quality parameters considered in this study (biological oxygen demand, total dissolved solids, instream coliforms).…”

“…Snapshot field measurements of heavy metals in water and sediments (Thorslund et al 2012) and fish communities (Kaus et al 2016) were conducted to assess river system change (Brumbaugh et al 2013) Sediment transport (Chalov et al 2015), heavy metal fluxes (Lychagin et al 2017) Annual average flow, annual maximum hourly flows and annual minimum 30-day flows (Frolova et al 2017) Water quality parameters (Malsy et al 2016) Selenga river tributaries/subcatchment Heavy metal and arsenic accumulation in five fish species (Kaus et al 2016) Stormflow and decreasing low-flow condition headwaters (Kopp et al 2016) Sediment budget in the Kharaa River basin (Theuring et al 2015) n/a Local hot spots (Tuul and Sharyngol rivers)…”