Hydrological Processes最新文献

{"title":"Quantifying Changing Groundwater Exfiltration at a High Arctic Site due to Climate Change","authors":"Selsey A. Stribling,&nbsp;Pierrick Lamontagne-Hallé,&nbsp;Dylan Hemmings,&nbsp;Tom MacNeil,&nbsp;Jeffrey M. McKenzie","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70243","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Increasing Arctic warming rates drive significant environmental change, including permafrost thaw and new groundwater pathway development, thereby increasing groundwater vulnerability to contaminant transport at the thousands of unremediated sites in the circumpolar north. As a first step in assessing hydrogeological controls of Arctic contaminant transport, this study uses numerical modelling to disentangle the impacts of increasing precipitation and air temperature on groundwater flow within the active layer at a high arctic site (63°30′ N). The study uses the numerical model SUTRA 4.0 to simulate groundwater flow and energy transport, including dynamic freeze–thaw processes, across an Arctic hillslope under current and future air temperatures due to climate warming. The model domain represents a two-dimensional hillslope terminating in a lake. Two layers implemented in the model represent unconsolidated glacial till and underlying crystalline bedrock. Four simulation cases are examined based on downscaled CMIP5 projections under the high-emissions “business as usual” scenario: Baseline Conditions (1981–2010), Near-Projections (2011–2040), Mid-Projections (2041–2070), and Far Projections (2071–2100). Climate projections indicate increasing mean annual air temperatures, reducing annual air temperature amplitude, and increasing precipitation. Further, model results show that groundwater flow dynamics are primarily influenced by the coupling of both increased mean annual temperatures and precipitation, with the consequent deepening and prolonged thawing of the active layer allowing for increased groundwater exfiltration to the lake. Sensitivity analysis identifies overburden permeability, overburden residual liquid freezing temperature, and model base temperature as significant parameters that affect model outcomes. Finally, a variable transmissivity assessment provides new insight into active layer groundwater flows.</p>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hyp.70243","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144869535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Surface Runoff and Sediment Yield Responses to Land Use and Cover Changes: Implications for Watershed Management in the Gidabo Watershed, Ethiopia","authors":"Degefu Dogiso,&nbsp;Alemayehu Muluneh,&nbsp;Abiot Ketema","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70245","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Land use and land cover (LULC) changes, primarily driven by deforestation, agricultural expansion, and urbanisation, have significantly altered hydrological processes in the Gidabo watershed, located in southern Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aims to assess both the historical and projected impacts of LULC changes on surface runoff (Q_surf) and sediment yield (SY). To achieve this, Landsat imagery from 2003 to 2024 was classified using the Random Forest (RF) algorithm within the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, achieving 92.1% overall accuracy and a Kappa coefficient of 0.905. In addition, future LULC scenarios for 2030 and 2050 were predicted based on key biophysical and socio-economic drivers and then integrated into the SWAT+ model under constant climate conditions. The model was calibrated and validated using observed streamflow and sediment data from four hydrological stations. The baseline simulation showed Q_surf of 150.23 mm/year and SY of 0.277 t/ha/year. However, under future LULC scenarios, Q_surf is projected to increase by 26.07% in 2030 and 36.51% in 2050, reaching up to 205.73 mm/year, while SY is expected to rise by 54.51% and 74.37%, respectively, peaking at 0.48 t/ha/year in steep and cultivated areas. Moreover, the runoff coefficient showed an increasing trend, indicating reduced infiltration and greater overland flow due to land degradation. Thus, this study demonstrates that combining cloud-based RF classification with SWAT+ modelling provides an effective approach for evaluating hydrological responses to LULC changes. Consequently, the findings imply the urgent need for integrated watershed management strategies such as afforestation, erosion control, and sustainable land use planning to mitigate adverse hydrological impacts and ensure long-term water resource sustainability.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144869536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil Water Response to Rainfall in Loess Plateau Forests: Insights From Water Transport and Recharge Processes","authors":"Ning Guan,&nbsp;Huaxing Bi,&nbsp;Danyang Zhao,&nbsp;Zehui Liu,&nbsp;Yilin Song,&nbsp;Haobo Huang","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70249","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>In China's Loess Plateau, soil water response to rainfall critically influences soil water content and distribution. Investigating these processes helps accurately evaluate soil infiltration and water retention capacities following vegetation restoration. This study examined three typical forest types (<i>Robinia pseudoacacia</i> plantation, <i>Pinus tabuliformis</i> plantation, and natural secondary forest) using high-frequency, fixed-point soil moisture monitoring to analyse soil water transport and recharge following 31 rainfall events. Results indicated that across all monitored rainfall events, the average throughfall for the <i>Robinia pseudoacacia</i> plantation, <i>Pinus tabuliformis</i> plantation, and natural secondary forest was 7.51, 5.62, and 5.32 mm, respectively. Light rainfall events dominated the annual rainfall. Under these rainfall conditions, the soil water in 0–40 cm soil layers was able to respond to rainfall, while soil below 40 cm depth couldnot receive immediate rainfall recharge. Soil water responded to rainfall predominantly through preferential flow mechanisms, with the occurrence frequency of preferential flow decreasing as soil depth increased, transitioning from preferential flow to matrix flow. Soil water transport rate, water recharge rate, and recharge volume all diminished significantly with soil depth. Compared to soil properties, the transport and recharge of soil water were more significantly influenced by rainfall conditions. Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, porosity, and bulk density significantly controlled water transport and recharge, while soil texture and organic matter influenced the process primarily through effects on soil porosity. In the Loess Plateau region, vegetation restoration effectively enhances water conservation functions, while low-density afforestation demonstrates superior performance in promoting infiltration and water retention capabilities.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144869148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Water Quality Dynamics and Their Natural and Anthropogenic Controls Under the National Protection Strategy in the Chongqing Section of Yangtze River, Southwest China","authors":"Chengcheng Xia,&nbsp;Xin He,&nbsp;Jie Wei,&nbsp;Yufeng Ren,&nbsp;Fengming Dai,&nbsp;Xuchenyu Liu,&nbsp;Xiaoxue Zhang,&nbsp;Jian Luo","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70242","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70242","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study aims to evaluate the spatiotemporal dynamics of water quality in the Chongqing section of Yangtze River (YRCQ) under the implementation of Yangtze River Protection Strategy (YRPS). Leveraging daily records for nine indices from 15 monitoring stations during the hydrological years from 2020 to 2024, multivariate statistical analyses were employed to identify the dominant pollutants and elucidate the driving mechanisms. The results demonstrated that the proportion of Classes I–III complying with the <i>Chinese Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water</i> (GB3838−2002, abbreviated as ‘Chinese Standard’), remained above 95% over the study period. The water quality index (<i>WQI</i>) indicated an overall ‘good’ water quality, with no ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ classifications. Seasonal variations were evident for indices, with pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and electrical conductivity (EC) higher in the dry season, and water temperature (WT), permanganate index (COD_Mn) and total phosphorus (TP) elevated in the wet season. Generally, water quality was markedly superior in the dry season compared to the wet season. The <i>WQI</i> trends indicated by the Mann–Kendall test divulged a positive trend in water quality at most upstream and midstream stations, whereas a slight deterioration was observed at most downstream stations. Water quality characteristics exhibited significant spatial heterogeneity. Based on the temporal patterns of <i>WQI</i>, stations were classified into four distinct categories: superior, good, fair and poor. Principal component analysis (PCA) pinpointed TP and total nitrogen (TN) as primary drivers of water quality variations, predominantly linked to urban domestic sewage and agricultural runoff. Air temperature and precipitation amount tremendously influenced water quality temporally. An increased rate of surface runoff generation from urban development and nonpoint source pollution from cropland exerted negative effects on water quality. This study underscores critical water environmental challenges in the YRCQ, providing robust theoretical and practical insights for regional water protection and sustainable management.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144869350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Projected Changes in Spatiotemporal Propagation of Droughts Over the Loess Plateau: Roles of Climate and Vegetation Change","authors":"Feng Ma,&nbsp;Haoyu Yang,&nbsp;Xing Yuan","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70246","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The Loess Plateau (LP) is experiencing amplified warming and greening trends, which complicate the spatiotemporal propagation of droughts in the atmosphere-hydrological-soil system. Investigating how climate and vegetation changes modulate drought propagation processes is crucial for understanding the hydrological responses to environmental change. Using an ensemble of 10 climate models to drive a process-based hydrological model to perform long-term simulations, this study aims to investigate future changes in drought propagation characteristics across the LP under different climate and vegetation change scenarios. Here, a three-dimensional drought identification method was adopted, and results show that meteorological drought duration and severity were projected to decrease. Future soil and hydrological drought projections would exhibit less robust but divergent changes, with hydrological drought duration decreasing while soil drought duration and intensity increasing moderately. Despite large uncertainties in the projections, our analysis demonstrated a significant acceleration in the propagation from meteorological to soil and hydrological droughts under future scenarios. Climate change was expected to dominate the accelerated propagation, indicating an important role of thermal-enhanced soil moisture depletion. The impact of vegetation change was much smaller, which was projected to slightly decrease the propagation time under a moderate emission scenario but increase it under a high emission scenario. These findings reveal distinct responses of soil and hydrological droughts to global change in arid/semi-arid regions and underscore the urgent need for climate mitigation to curb escalating drought risks.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144869247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Subsurface Storage Drives Hydrologic Connectivity and Spatial Variability in Stream Chemistry","authors":"Jaime Ortega,&nbsp;Sidney A. Bush,&nbsp;Catalina Segura,&nbsp;Pamela L. Sullivan","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70228","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Understanding how subsurface water storage—created and structured by the geology and geomorphology of the critical zone—governs hydrologic connectivity between landscapes and streams is essential for explaining spatial and temporal variation in stream water chemistry. Most headwater studies have focused on high-resolution stream water chemistry at the catchment outlet, rarely examining the spatial variability among tributaries and the main channel, or how these patterns relate to the underlying geology and geomorphology. Linking upstream spatial and temporal variability with chemical dynamics at the outlet over time is even less common. We conducted weekly synoptic sampling along Lookout Creek, located within the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest Long Term Ecological Research programme. Lookout Creek is in the volcanic terrain of the western Cascades, Oregon. The catchment spans multiple geologic units (e.g., lava flows) and geomorphic features (e.g., earthflows). We measured stream chemistry along the main stem and five tributaries to assess how varying degrees of hydrologic connectivity influence solute concentrations and transport across this geologic and geomorphologic template. To identify the timing and magnitude of hydrologic connectivity between tributaries, the main stem, and the catchment outlet, we analysed spatiotemporal patterns in stream chemistry using concentration-discharge relationships, principal component analysis, and a metric of subcatchment synchrony. We found that in previously glaciated catchments with active earthflows, solute concentrations and base-cation-to-silica ratios were higher, and more solutes had a chemostatic or mobilising behaviour, indicating high subsurface storage. This variability in subsurface storage, and its influence on hydrologic connectivity, ultimately determined the degree of chemical synchrony with the catchment outlet. Our findings suggest that, under future climate scenarios with shifts in precipitation phase and timing, headwater systems with substantial subsurface storage are likely to be more chemically resilient.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights Into Heterogeneous Streamflow Generation Processes and Water Contribution in Forested Headwaters","authors":"Jaime Ortega,&nbsp;Catalina Segura,&nbsp;J. Renée Brooks,&nbsp;Pamela L. Sullivan","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70241","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Understanding how diverse headwater streams contribute water downstream is critical for accurate modelling of seasonal flow dynamics in larger systems. This study investigated how headwater catchments, with diverse subsurface storage, influence downstream flows within Lookout Creek—a 62 km², 5th-order catchment in the rain-snow transition zone in western Oregon, USA. We analysed one year of hydrometric and water stable isotope data collected at 10 stream locations, complemented by a decade of precipitation isotopic data. As expected, isotopic data revealed that most of the streamflow was sourced from large fall and winter storms. Generally, stream isotope ratios decrease with elevation. However, some streams had higher isotopic values than expected, reflecting the influence of isotopically heavy storms and relatively low storage. Other streams that tended to have low flow variability in response to precipitation inputs had lower isotopic values, indicating higher elevation water sources than their topographic watershed boundaries. Both hydrometric data and water isotope-based end-member mixing models suggest storage differences among headwater catchments influenced the seasonal water contributions from tributaries. Most notably, the contributions of Cold and Longer Creeks, which occupy less than 10% of the Lookout Creek drainage area, sustain up to 50% of the streamflow in the summer. These catchments have high storage and high groundwater contributions, as evidenced by flat flow duration curves. Finally, our data suggest that geologic variability and geomorphic complexity (presence of earthflows and landslides) can be indicators of storage that dramatically influence water movement through the critical zone, the variation in streamflow, and the response of streams to precipitation events. Heterogeneity in headwater catchment storage is key to understanding flow dynamics in mountainous regions and the response of streams to changes in climate and other disturbances.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal Evolution of Soil Hydraulic Properties in a Cropping Season: Drivers and Hydrological Impacts","authors":"Saurabh Kumar,&nbsp;Ajit Kumar Srivastava,&nbsp;Arnab Hazra,&nbsp;Richa Ojha","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70204","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Soil hydraulic properties (SHPs) are fundamental to the accuracy of land-surface, hydrological and agro-hydrological models. Most modelling studies assume static SHPs due to limited information on how climate and anthropogenic factors drive their temporal fluctuations. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the temporal variation of SHPs in a cropping season (rice and wheat) under different fertiliser and irrigation management practices, identifying the key factors controlling this variability, and understanding the resulting impacts on hydrological processes. Experiments were conducted at an agricultural plot at IIT Kanpur, India, located within the Ganga Basin under no-tillage conditions. The temporal variability was analysed in soil organic carbon (<span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <mi>OC</mi>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ mathrm{OC} $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>) content, bulk density (<span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>ρ</mi>\u0000 <mi>b</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {rho}_b $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>), saturated hydraulic conductivity (<span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>K</mi>\u0000 <mi>sat</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {K}_{mathrm{sat}} $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>) and soil water retention curve (SWRC) for the period 2022–2023. The highest variability was observed in <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>K</mi>\u0000 <mi>sat</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {K}_{sat} $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>. The maximum change in <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>K</mi>\u0000 <mi>sat</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {K}_{mathrm{sat}} $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math> value for the study duration was observed to be <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <mn>160</mn>\u0000 <mo>%</mo>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ 160% $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math> at 25 cm depth. The saturated water content, <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>θ</mi>\u0000 <mi>sat</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {theta}_{mathrm{sat}} $$</annotation>\u0000 <","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144814679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of Changes in Natural Factors and Human Activities on Surface Water Variations in the Aral Sea Basin","authors":"Xuewen Yang,&nbsp;Ninglian Wang,&nbsp;Yujie Zhang","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70237","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70237","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Surface water in the Aral Sea Basin has undergone rapid changes since the 1960s, leading to severe environmental issues that have attracted global attention. This study quantified surface water variations in the Aral Sea Basin from 1986 to 2021 based on all available Landsat images integrated in the Google Earth Engine platform, and further analysed the impacts of changes in natural factors and human activities on surface water variations in the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the basin. The results indicate that the total surface water area in the basin decreased significantly from 56 058.79 km² to 26 292.35 km² during 1986–2021, showing a net loss of 29 766.44 km² at a rate of 845.36 km²/a. The surface water area in the upstream and midstream exhibited modest increases at the rates of 69.92 km²/a and 39.80 km²/a respectively, while that in the downstream suffered a drastic reduction at a rate of 955.08 km²/a. The Aral Sea experienced the most drastic shrinkage in space, shrinking from 68 478 km² in 1960 to 9397.31 km² in 2021 at a decreasing rate of 999.17 km²/a, accompanied by water level and volume decline rates of 0.37 m/a and 17.18 km³/a, respectively. Natural factors, particularly glacier melting induced by climate warming, primarily drive surface water variations in the upstream mountains. In contrast, human activities, especially damming and irrigation, dominate surface water variations in the mid-downstream areas. Although the increased reservoir storage has slightly boosted surface water in the midstream, the strong diversion of runoff has caused severe surface water depletion in the downstream, constituting the predominant driver of surface water deficits across the entire basin.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144814680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Influence of Woody Plant Thinning on Soil Hydrological Processes: A Paired Plot Experiment in A Semi-Arid Savanna Affected by Woody Thickening","authors":"Tiffany A. Aldworth,&nbsp;Michele L. Toucher,&nbsp;Anthony M. Swemmer,&nbsp;Alistair D. Clulow","doi":"10.1002/hyp.70235","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70235","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>During the past 150 years, grassy biomes in drylands across the globe have undergone a shift from grass to woody dominance, a phenomenon commonly termed woody thickening or woody encroachment. The hydrological implications are of concern because a change in the dominant plant functional type can alter rainfall interception, plant water uptake, and soil hydrological processes, with potentially significant implications for streamflow and groundwater recharge at the landscape scale. Removal of woody plants has long been proposed as a management strategy for increasing water yields, despite a lack of empirical evidence to prove its effectiveness. The current study investigated how woody plant thinning influenced soil hydrological processes in a semi-arid savanna in South Africa affected by woody thickening. Over a two-and-a-half-year period, a field-scale paired-plot experiment was conducted, with soil water content, soil temperature, and evapotranspiration (ET) measured in plots that had been thinned of the dominant woody plant species (<i>Colophospermum mopane</i>) and adjacent woody-thickened plots. Surface infiltration tests were also carried out. Thinning had minor effects on soil water in the soil profile (mean difference of &lt; 0.05 mm³ mm⁻³ between paired plots) and soil temperature, and no pronounced effect on daily ET. Only one set of infiltration tests indicated a significant increase in infiltration following thinning. This contradicts the results of some similar studies in dryland savannas but is consistent with others. Whether thinning can increase the production of surface runoff or groundwater recharge over a longer time period in this study system requires further investigation.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":13189,"journal":{"name":"Hydrological Processes","volume":"39 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144814681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}