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Sustainable Management of River Oases Along the Tarim River in North-Western China Table 1

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Sustainable Management of River Oases Along the Tarim River in North-Western China Table 1 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., 5, 1221–1273, 2014 www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/5/1221/2014/ doi:10.5194/esdd-5-1221-2014 ESDD © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. 5, 1221–1273, 2014 This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Earth System Sustainable Dynamics (ESD). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in ESD if available. management of river oases along the Sustainable management of river oases Tarim River in North-Western China along the Tarim River in North-Western C. Rumbaur et al. China under conditions of climate change Title Page C. Rumbaur1, N. Thevs2, M. Disse1, M. Ahlheim3, A. Brieden4, B. Cyffka5, 3 6 7 8 9 5 R. Doluschitz , D. Duethmann , T. Feike , O. Frör , P. Gärtner , Ü. Halik , Abstract Introduction J. Hill10, M. Hinnenthal4, P. Keilholz1, B. Kleinschmit9, V. Krysanova11, M. Kuba5, Conclusions References S. Mader10, C. Menz11, H. Othmanli3, S. Pelz3, M. Schroeder6, T. F. Siew12, V. Stender6, K. Stahr3, F. M. Thomas10, M. Welp13, M. Wortmann11, X. Zhao3, Tables Figures X. Chen14, T. Jiang15, C. Zhao14, X. Zhang14, J. Luo16, H. Yimit17, and R. Yu14 J I 1Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany 2 Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany J I 3University of Hohenheim, Hohenheim, Germany Back Close 4Universität der Bundeswehr München, Munich, Germany 5 Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany Full Screen / Esc 6GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany 7 Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Kleinmachnow, Germany Printer-friendly Version 8University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany 9Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany Interactive Discussion 1221 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | 10Trier University, Trier, Germany 11Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany ESDD 12Johann-Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany 5, 1221–1273, 2014 13Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Eberswalde, Germany 14Xinjiang Institute of Geography and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China 15National Climate Center, Beijing, China Sustainable 16Research Center for China’s Borderland History and Geography, Chinese Academy of management of river Social Sciences, Beijing, China oases along the 17 Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, China Tarim River in Received: 31 August 2014 – Accepted: 12 September 2014 – Published: 13 October 2014 North-Western China Correspondence to: C. Rumbaur ([email protected]) C. Rumbaur et al. and N. Thevs ([email protected]) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. Title Page Abstract Introduction Conclusions References Tables Figures J I J I Back Close Full Screen / Esc Printer-friendly Version Interactive Discussion 1222 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Abstract ESDD The Tarim River Basin, located in Xinjiang, NW China, is the largest endorheic river basin of China and one of the largest in whole Central Asia. Due to the extremely arid 5, 1221–1273, 2014 climate with an annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, the water supply along the 5 Aksu and Tarim River solely depends on river water. This applies for anthropogenic Sustainable activities (e.g. agriculture) as well as for the natural ecosystems so that both compete management of river for water. The on-going increase of water consumption by agriculture and other human oases along the activities in this region has been enhancing the competition for water between human Tarim River in needs and nature. Against this background, 11 German and 6 Chinese universities and North-Western China 10 research institutes formed the consortium SuMaRiO (www.sumario.de), which aims at gaining a holistic picture of the availability of water resources in the Tarim River Basin C. Rumbaur et al. and the impacts on anthropogenic activities and natural ecosystems caused by the wa- ter distribution within the Tarim River Basin. The discharge of the Aksu River, which is the major tributary to the Tarim, has been increasing over the past 6 decades due to Title Page 15 enhanced glacier melt. Alone from 1989 to 2011, the area under agriculture more than Abstract Introduction doubled. Thereby, cotton became the major crop and there was a shift from small-scale farming to large-scale intensive farming. The major natural ecosystems along the Aksu Conclusions References and Tarim River are riparian ecosystems: Riparian (Tugai) forests, shrub vegetation, Tables Figures reed beds, and other grassland. Within the SuMaRiO Cluster the focus was laid on 20 the Tugai forests, with Populus euphratica as dominant tree, because the most pro- J I ductive and species-rich natural ecosystems can be found among those forests. On sites with groundwater distance of less than 7.5 m the annual increments correlated J I with river runoffs of the previous year. But, the further downstream along the Tarim Back Close River, the more the natural river dynamics ceased, which impacts on the recruitment Full Screen / Esc 25 of Populus euphratica. Household surveys revealed that there is a considerable will- ingness to pay for conservation of those riparian forests with the mitigation of dust and sandstorms considered as the most important ecosystem service. This interdisci- Printer-friendly Version plinary project will result in a decision support tool (DST), build on the participation of Interactive Discussion 1223 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | regional stakeholders and models based on results and field experiments. This DST finally shall assist stakeholders in balancing the water competition acknowledging the ESDD major external effects of any water allocation. 5, 1221–1273, 2014 1 Introduction Sustainable management of river 5 The Tarim River Basin is located in Xinjiang, Northwest China. It is bordered by the oases along the mountain ranges Tian Shan in the north, Kunlun in the south, and Pamir in the west. Tarim River in The Taklamakan Desert dominates the basin with the Tarim River flowing along its North-Western China northern rim. The Tarim River forms at Alar City through the confluence of the Yarkant River from the west, Hotan River from the south, and Aksu River from the north (Fig. 1). C. Rumbaur et al. 10 The latter river contributes about 80 % to the Tarim River’s discharge. Due to the extremely arid climate with an annual precipitation of below 100 mm, the water supply along the Aksu and Tarim River solely depends on river water. This applies Title Page for anthropogenic activities (e.g. agriculture) as well as for the natural ecosystems so that both compete for water. Only during the past decade fossil groundwater has been Abstract Introduction 15 exploited in significant amounts. The region is inhabited since several hundreds of Conclusions References years and some of the oldest oases of Asia are located in the Tarim River Basin. During the past six decades the Chinese Government has been promoting the development Tables Figures of the western provinces of China. The demographic development and socio-economic change has led to a rapid change of land use systems in the Tarim River Basin over J I 20 the last decades and has substantially affected the quantity and quality of arable soil, J I surface water, and groundwater. These changes in soil and water affect the natural vegetation as well as the crop production (Bohnet et al., 1998, 1999; Hoppe et al., Back Close 2006). Full Screen / Esc The on-going settlement in this region has been enhancing the competition for wa- 25 ter between human needs and nature. Furthermore, there is a classical upstream- Printer-friendly Version downstream conflict along the Tarim and its tributaries similar to other river basins of Interactive Discussion 1224 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Central Asia (Chriacy-Wantrup, 1985; Giese et al., 1998, cf. http://www.cawa-project. net/). ESDD Based on the above mentioned issues, it is necessary to gain a holistic picture of 5, 1221–1273, 2014 the availability of water resources in the Tarim River Basin and of the impacts on an- 5 thropogenic activities and natural ecosystems caused by the water distribution within the Tarim River Basin. The impacts must include economic impacts as well as external Sustainable and indirect effects. management of river Against this background, a consortium of 11 German and 6 Chinese universities and oases along the research institutes formed the consortium SuMaRiO (www.sumario.de). This consor- Tarim River in 10 tium was formed in 2011 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Re- North-Western China search of Germany. After the data collection phase has been finished this year, we aim at compiling the results from the fields of climate modeling, cryology, hydrology, agri- C. Rumbaur et al. cultural sciences, ecology, and social sciences, in order to present a comprehensive understanding of the effects of different water distribution schemes on anthropogenic Title Page 15 activities and on the natural ecosystems. The effects on the natural ecosystems are captured through the investigation and evaluation of their ecosystem services (MEA, Abstract Introduction 2005) provided. Conclusions References Tables Figures 2 Methods and study sites The SuMaRiO Cluster aims at contributing to a sustainable
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