Land use change

14 important questions on Land use change

What is land use change?

Human intervention by changing the land to use it for a different purpose.

Which processes are effected by land use change?

- All components of evaporation.
- Soil infiltration and water retention capacity.
- Local temperature and rainfall when change occurs over large areas.

Which processes are effected by land use change?

- All components of evaporation.
- Soil infiltration and water retention capacity.
- Local temperature and rainfall when change occurs over large areas.
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What are three ways to estimate the effects of land use change?

- Evaporation estimates
- Model simulation
- Paired catchment experiment

What is a limitation on the Penman-Monteith approach?

Catchment runoff response to rainfall is also influenced by geology, topography and soil type, in addition vegetation/evaporation characteristics.

What are the advantages of using a model simulation to determent the land cover use?

- No field experiment needed.
- Multiple scenario's can be modeled after proper parametrization.

What are the limitations of using a model simulation to determent the land cover use?

- Parameter uncertainty
- Equifinality

How does a paired catchment approach work?

Excludes differences between catchments that do not result from the land use change.

What are to cons of the paired catchment approach?

- Very time consuming
- Black box method

What are four causes of increased water yield after forest cutting?

1. Reduced interception loss
2. Reduced transpiration
3. Wetter soils produce more storm runoff
4. Disturbed soils tend to generate more runoff

Does deforestation lead to an increase or a reduction in dry-season flow if there is soil degradation?

If there is soil degradation, deforestation leads to a reduction in dry-season flow due to loss of infiltration capacity and therefore more run-off during wet season.

What do you need to know about forests and annual streamflow.


Forests have greater leaf area, deeper roots, lower albedo and
higher aerodynamic roughness than shrubs, crops or pastures:
hence under normal conditions forest water use is (much) higher
than that of shorter vegetation.

Catchment response to rainfall (stormflow) is typically increased upon forest clearing because? (2 things)

1. Soils are wetter and thus have less capacity to accommodate additional rain.
2. Decrease in topsoil infiltration capacity likely to lead to increase in overland flow.

Why are floods not much affected by the presence or absence of forests?

Because the effects of land cover become smaller as rainfall and soil wetness increase.

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