Assessing the Effect of Climate Oscillations and Land-use Changes on Streamflow in the Central Spanish Pyrenees

Plans to increase the amount of irrigated land in Mediterranean countries should consider how changes in climate and land-use affect water resources. In this study, both precipitation and temperature were used to analyze regional trends in discharge in the basins of the Central Spanish Pyrenees sinc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Beguería, Santiago, López-Moreno, Juan I., Lorente, Adrián, Seeger, Manuel, García-Ruiz, José María
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2003
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/5214
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/5214
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:land use change
runoff
Discharge
trend
Pyrenees
Spain
Mountain
hydrology
Descripción
Sumario:Plans to increase the amount of irrigated land in Mediterranean countries should consider how changes in climate and land-use affect water resources. In this study, both precipitation and temperature were used to analyze regional trends in discharge in the basins of the Central Spanish Pyrenees since the mid-20th century. Annual variations in the relationship between precipitation and discharge suggested that discharge was relatively lower in the second half of the study period, coinciding with major changes in land use. On a monthly scale, precipitation increased significantly in October, April, and July, and decreased in March, and temperature increased in January and February and decreased in April. Nevertheless, discharge has decreased significantly in most months in the past 50 years. Land-use and plant-cover changes are the only nonclimatic factor that can explain the loss of around 30% of the average annual discharge.