Subsurface Hydrological Responses to Land Cover and Land Use Changes

Since human beings first appeared on the earth, we have changed land cover and land use for our own purposes, such as conveniences and high productivity. As a result of the land cover and land use changes, many serious environmental problems occur on the earth. Studying meteorological and hydrological effects of vegetation and land cover/use changes helps us to understand the environmental changes and problems happening near the earth surface, because the vegetation distributes the solar energy and water on the earth surface into atmosphere and geosphere. Subsurface hydrological responses to land cover and land use changes have drawn only regional environmental concerns, although global change caused by biosphere change has been studied in various scientific fields. The changes in land cover and land use alter water, solute and heat cycles in basins and elements of those balances, including evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge rate, discharge rates into rivers or ocean and soil moisture content, which are directly or indirectly related to the global environmental issues. Therefore, the changes in biosphere may substantially alter the subsurface hydrological system. For instance, increased groundwater recharge rates following clearing forest into grasses might be one consequence resulting in rising water tables and salinization.

Springer Book Archives

I Introduction.- 1. Subsurface Water Responses to Land Cover/Use Changes: An Overview.- II Change of Water Balance.- 2. Land Management Impacts on Evaporation from Shallow, Saline Water Tables.- 3. Role of Soil Water in the Regional Hydrological Process in Sri Lanka.- 4. Using Heat Pulse and Deuterium Tracing Techniques to Estimate Tree Water Use.- 5. Response of Simulated Upflow from Shallow Water Tables to Variations in Model Parameter Values.- III Change of Solute and Heat Balances.- 6. Anthropogenic Impacts on the Distribution of Playa Lake Salinity.- 7. Hydrology and Geochemistry of Coal Spoil and Final Voids.- 8. Comparison of the pH Determining Factor of the Streamwater in World Forest Watershed.- 9. Streamflow and Salinity Response to Agricultural Clearing at the Warren River Basin, Western Australia.- 10. Changes in Surface and Subsurface Temperatures after Clearing Forest in Western Australia.- IV Modeling and Remote Sensing.- 11. Hydrogeological Characterisation of Catchments Using Hydrogeomorphic Analysis of Regional Spatial Data (HARSD): Characterisation of Axe Creek Catchment, Victoria, Australia.- 12. Hydrological/Environmental Impacts of Tree Harvesting within Flatwood Pine Forests upon Local Wetlands.- 13. Simulated Impacts of Climate Change on Groundwater Recharge in the Subtropics of Queensland, Australia.- 14. Remotely Sensed Vegetation Data for Hydrological Applications: Calibrating Airborne and Satellite Data with Biomass.- Author Index.