Expanding rubber plantations in southern China: evidence for hydrological impacts

cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen
cg.contributor.crpIntegrated Systems for the Humid Tropics
cg.coverage.regionSouth-eastern Asia
cg.creator.identifierGuillaume Lacombe: 0000-0002-3882-2697
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/w11040651en
cg.issn2073-4441en
cg.issue4en
cg.journalWateren
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.volume11en
dc.contributor.authorMa, X.en
dc.contributor.authorLacombe, Guillaumeen
dc.contributor.authorHarrison, R.en
dc.contributor.authorXu, J.en
dc.contributor.authorNoordwijk, M. vanen
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-16T07:33:02Zen
dc.date.available2019-05-16T07:33:02Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/101282
dc.titleExpanding rubber plantations in southern China: evidence for hydrological impactsen
dcterms.abstractWhile there is increasing evidence concerning the detrimental effects of expanding rubber plantations on biodiversity and local water balances, their implications on regional hydrology remain uncertain. We studied a mesoscale watershed (100 km2) in the Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The influence of land-cover change on streamflow recorded since 1992 was isolated from that of rainfall variability using cross-simulation matrices produced with the monthly lumped conceptual water balance model GR2M. Our results indicate a statistically significant reduction in wet and dry season streamflow from 1992 to 2002, followed by an insignificant increase until 2006. Analysis of satellite images from 1992, 2002, 2007, and 2010 shows a gradual increase in the areal percentage of rubber tree plantations at the watershed scale. However, there were marked heterogeneities in land conversions (between forest, farmland, grassland, and rubber tree plantations), and in their distribution across elevations and slopes, among the studied periods. Possible effects of this heterogeneity on hydrological processes, controlled mainly by infiltration and evapotranspiration, are discussed in light of the hydrological changes observed over the study period. We suggest pathways to improve the eco-hydrological functionalities of rubber tree plantations, particularly those enhancing dry-season base flow, and recommend how to monitor them.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.available2019-03-29
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMa, X.; Lacombe, Guillaume; Harrison, R.; Xu, J.; van Noordwijk, M. 2019. Expanding rubber plantations in southern China: evidence for hydrological impacts. 11(4): 1-15. doi: 10.3390/w11040651en
dcterms.extent1-15en
dcterms.issued2019-03-29
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherMDPIen
dcterms.subjectrubber industryen
dcterms.subjecthydrological factorsen
dcterms.subjectagroforestryen
dcterms.subjectcatchment areasen
dcterms.subjecthumid tropicsen
dcterms.subjectimpact assessmenten
dcterms.subjectland cover changeen
dcterms.subjectwater balanceen
dcterms.subjectwatershed managementen
dcterms.subjectrainfallen
dcterms.subjectfarmlanden
dcterms.subjectgrasslandsen
dcterms.subjectslopeen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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