Climate warming positively affects hydrological connectivity of typical inland river in arid Central Asia

作者：Chuanxiu Liu, Yaning Chen, Wenjing Huang, Gonghuan Fang, Zhi Li, Zhu Chenggang, Yongchang Liu · 发表于：npj Climate and Atmospheric Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s41612-024-00800-4 · 被引用次数：38 · 研究领域：Transboundary Water Resource Management、Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies、Flood Risk Assessment and Management

Hydrological connectivity is crucial for understanding water-ecosystem dynamics, as it serves as a key link between different landscape units. However, the variability of hydrological connectivity in Central Asia remains unexplored, which poses challenges to a comprehensive understanding of ecohydrological processes. This study investigates the spatiotemporal patterns and driving mechanisms of hydrological connectivity in the Tarim River Basin (TRB), Central Asia, from 1990 to 2020, employing a novel approach that integrates remote sensing and reanalysis data. The results indicate an increasing trend in the hydrological connectivity index (HCI), with approximately 60% of the TRB exhibiting significant increases. Climate change exerts the greatest direct (0.59) and total (0.64) effects on HCI, with potential evapotranspiration (19.2%) and temperature (12.6%) being the dominant factors. In mountainous regions, climate change (0.65) is the primary driver, while human activities have a greater impact in the plains (−0.27). These findings offer a new framework for studying ecohydrological processes in arid regions.