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Based on hydrological and climatic data and land use/cover change data covering the period from 1957 to 2009, this paper investigates the hydrological responses to climate change and to human activities in the arid Tarim River basin (TRB). The results show that the surface runoff of three headstreams (Aksu River, Yarkant River and Hotan River) of the Tarim River exhibited a significant increasing trend since 1960s and entered an even higher-runoff stage in 1994. In the contrary, the surface runoff of Tarim mainstream displayed a persistent decreasing trend since 1960s. The increasing trend of surface runoff in the headstreams can be attributed to the combined effects of both temperature and precipitation changes during the past five decades. But, the decreasing trend of surface runoff in the mainstream and the observed alterations of the temporal and spatial distribution patterns were mainly due to the adverse impacts of human activities. Specifically, increasingly intensified water consumption for irrigation and the associated massive constructions of water conservancy projects were responsible for the decreasing trend of runoff in the mainstream. And, the decreasing trend has been severely jeopardizing the ecological security in the lower reaches. It is now unequivocally clear that water-use conflicts among different sectors and water-use competitions between upper and lower reaches are approaching to dangerous levels in TRB that is thus crying for implementing an integrated river basin management scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Understanding the water salinisation mechanism is the basis for regional salt management. Mineral dissolution, evaporation and transpiration are the main factors controlling natural water salinity in arid inland basins; however, the two are difficult to differentiate. Because deuterium excess decreases during evaporation and is unrelated to the isotopic composition of the initial water, it is a potential tool for determining the contribution of the evapoconcentration of a given water body using the relationship between deuterium excess and salinity rather than between δ18O (or δ2H) and salinity. In this paper, the relationship between the residual water fraction and deuterium excess was derived from the Rayleigh distillation equation. The contribution of evapoconcentration and mineral dissolution and/or transpiration for a given water body can be determined by comparing the residual water fraction and salinity between the initial water and the evapoconcentrated water. The extremely arid Tarim River Basin in NW China is taken as an example to demonstrate deuterium excess and salinity evolution from the source stream to river water, lake/reservoir water and groundwater. The results show that mineral dissolution contributes most of the salinity (67–77%) for Boston Lake and the Kongque and Tarim rivers relative to the source stream. Mineral dissolution and/or transpiration contribute greater salinity (73–99.6%) to the groundwater recharged by the river water in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River. The study provides a method for determining the salinisation mechanism and is important for salt movement and management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the Tarim River Basin, the desert riparian forest vegetation is under high-temperature and aridity stress. However, the vegetation can grow continuously because of deep rooting that can reach groundwater, which can thus redistribute water into the upper soil profile. This paper describes patterns of hydraulic lift by Populus euphratica Oliv. and discusses its ecological effects. Our results show that the tap root sap velocity of P. euphratica Oliv. is positive during the day and night. However, a reverse sap flow was observed in the lateral roots during the night. The soil water content of the subsoil was higher than that of the topsoil at depths of 0–120cm. When the sap flow of the lateral roots was reversed at night, the soil water content clearly increased. In particular, at depths of 60–120cm, the soil water content at 4:00 was 28–38% greater than that at 16:00. The vapor pressure deficit was a factor that predominantly affected the root sap velocity, and the smaller vapor pressure deficit often facilitated a reverse sap flow in the lateral roots. Our findings demonstrate the hydraulic lift characteristics and ecological effects that occur in the desert riparian forest in extremely arid regions of middle Asia [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Evapotranspiration (ET) and its controlling mechanism over the desert riparian forests in arid regions are the important scientific basis for the water resources managements of the lower reaches of the inland rivers of China. Nearly three years of continuous measurements of surface ET, soil water content at different depths and groundwater table over a typical Tamarix spp. stand and a typical Populus euphratica stand were conducted in the lower reach of the Tarim River. The ET seasonal trends in the growing season were controlled by plant phenology, and ET in non-growing season was weak. The diurnal variations of ET resulting from the comprehensive effects of all atmospheric factors were significantly related with reference ET. The spatial pattern of ET was determined by vegetation LAI, more vegetation coverage, more ET amount. Groundwater is the water source of surface ET, and the soil water in shallow layers hardly took part in the water exchange in the groundwater-soil-plant-air system. The temporal processes of ET over the Tamarix stand and the Populus stand were similar, but the water consumption of the well-grown Populus euphratica was higher than that of the well-grown Tamarix spp. Further analysis indicates that plant transpiration accounts for most of the surface ET, with soil evaporation weak and negligible; groundwater table is a crucial factor influencing ET over the desert riparian forests, groundwater influences the processes and amounts of ET by controlling the growth and spatial distribution of desert riparian forests; quantifying the water stress of desert riparian forests using groundwater table is more appropriate, rather than soil water content. Based on the understanding of ET and water movements in the groundwater-soil-plant-air system, a generalized framework expressing the water cycling and its key controlling mechanism in the lower reaches of the inland rivers of China is described, and a simple model to estimate water requirements of the desert riparian forests is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological water conveyance project (EWCP) in the lower reaches of the Tarim River provided a valuable opportunity to study hydro-ecological processes of desert riparian vegetation. Ecological effects of the EWCP were assessed at large spatial and temporal scales based on 13 years of monitoring data. This study analyzed the trends in hydrological processes and the ecological effects of the EWCP. The EWCP resulted in increased groundwater storage-expressed as a general rise in the groundwater table-and improved soil moisture conditions. The change of water conditions also directly affected vegetative cover and the phenology of herbs, trees, and shrubs. Vegetative cover of herbs was most closely correlated to groundwater depth at the last year-end ( R = 0.81), and trees and shrubs were most closely correlated to annual average groundwater depth ( R = 0.79 and 0.66, respectively). The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) responded to groundwater depth on a 1-year time lag. Although the EWCP improved the NDVI, the study area is still sparsely vegetated. The main limitation of the EWCP is that it can only preserve the survival of existing vegetation, but it does not effectively promote the reproduction and regeneration of natural vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral resources exploitation significantly affects the spatial structure and evolutive trend of urbanization in arid areas. In this study, the spatial autocorrelation method and the spatial computation model were used to investigate the spatial impacts of mineral resources excavation and processing on comprehensive level of urbanization in the Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, China for the years of 2000, 2006 and 2008. The results are as follows: 1) There was a spatial correlation of the development of mineral resources industry and the comprehensive level of urbanization in 2006 and 2008, with the spatial concentration trend rising significantly in 2006 and decreasing in 2008. 2) The patterns of local spatial concentration of mineral resources industry and of the comprehensive level of urbanization were relatively stable, and the two patterns showed signs of spatial correlationship. The higher was the degree of the concentration of mineral resources industry, the stronger was its impact on the spatial clustering of urbanization. 3) In 2000, mineral resources excavation and processing had a significant positive impact on the comprehensive level of urbanization in the region but not in its adjacent regions. However, in 2008, mineral resources excavation and processing significantly raised the comprehensive level of urbanization not only in the region but also in its neighboring regions. This research demonstrates that the development of mineral resources industry can strongly affect the trends and spatial patterns of urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drought and salt tolerance of two pioneer species, Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima, were studied by monitoring the stem and leaf water potentials under various soil moisture and salinity at depths of 0-180 cm. The plants are naturally distributed in arid environment in the lower reaches of the Tarim River in Xinjiang, China. The results showed that P. euphratica can withhold water by prolonging dewatering and adapt to the dry desert weather by reducing water consumption. The lowest soil moisture that would unfavorably influence its growth was found to be 7% soil moisture. T. ramosissima was found to have low water potential and high transpiration efficiency. It is capable of absorbing water from the soil by keeping a low water potential, so there is no critical limit of soil moisture for T. ramosissima. In terms of salt resistance, P. euphratica was found to secrete salt from its body by discharging salty water through portals in its trunks and leaves. A soil salinity of 20% was the minimum concentration at which the salt secretion mechanism of P. euphratica was activated. T. ramosissima secreted salt by storing the accumulated salt in the vacuoles of its salt secretion glands for separation. Thus, it has no minimum soil salinity limit. T. ramosissima was found to have better resistance to drought and salt stress than P. euphratica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The river corridor areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River are dominated by the traditional green corridors along the river section from the Qara Reservoir in Yuli County to the Taitema Lake in Ruoqiang County, which plays an important role in the social and economic development in the Tarim River Watershed with a extremely significant ecological functions. The buffer zones perpendicular to the watercourse were defined along both riversides at a 5-km interval beginning from the watercourse (10 km wider) using the method of the buffer zone analysis. The landscape pattern indexes of each buffer zone were calculated, and the indexes of the main landscape patterns were analyzed so as to reveal the radiative effect and the characteristics of the river corridors on landscape and patch levels. The results show that the radiative width is generally 30 km in the study area, and can be up to 50-70 km in sub- region FG1 because the study area is located in two drainage basins, with an ecological interstitial zone between them. The landscapes of woodlands and wetlands are generally distributed within the 10 km buffer zone (it means that the buffer zone is 5 km away from the watercourse; the same hereafter) along both riversides: Moreover, the closer the buffer zone is to the watercourse, the higher the patch density and the largest patch index are. In the ecological and environmental regeneration for the study area, the extent of ecological effect of the river corridors must be fully considered, and the projects must be scientifically and rationally planned and designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]