Modeling the influence of climate and forest type on the streamflow regime of a historically snow-dominated watershed
Abstract
Future changes in climate are expected to alter streamflow regimes with consequences for flood, drought and land use management. In addition, climate change is expected to cause shifts in vegetation distribution and composition. For example, the southern extent of the Canadian boreal forest is predicted to shift from conifer-dominated to deciduous and mixed forest types. Climate and forest vegetation strongly influence watershed hydrology and changes to both these controls are expected to modify streamflow regimes. We assessed the individual and combined impacts of forest cover and climate change on the streamflow regime of the Batchawana watershed in central Ontario, Canada. The Batchawana is a snow-dominated, 1200 km2 watershed located in the transition zone from deciduous- to conifer-dominated forests. A semi-distributed hydrologic model was set up and calibrated using historical observations. Plausible climate change and forest cover scenarios were simulated using the model to evaluate their influence on streamflow. The modeling results suggest that changes in climate have the most profound influence on streamflow; however, climate-induced changes in forest type also impact hydrologic response, particularly with regards to snow accumulation and melt. This study highlights important interactions between climate and vegetation and their influence on hydrology.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMH098...07M
- Keywords:
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- 1804 Catchment;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1807 Climate impacts;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1813 Eco-hydrology;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1847 Modeling;
- HYDROLOGY