title: Simulation of the reduction of runoff and sediment load resulting from the Gain for Green Program in the Jialingjiang catchment, upper region of the Yangtze River, China.
abstract: A distributed catchment hydrologic model (Hydrological Simulation Program--FORTRAN; HSPF) with improved sediment production processes was used to evaluate the effect of restoration of cultivated land to forest on the reduction of runoff and sediment load in the Jialingjiang basin, which forms part of the Yangtze River basin, China. The simulation results showed that restoration to forest reduced sediment production even in the case of minimum restoration at a threshold catchment slope of 25°, as advocated in the "Gain for Green Program " planned by the Chinese government, even though reduction of the peak flow rate in the river channel was small. The increase in forest area resulting from lowering of the threshold catchment slope reduced sediment production further.
authors.affiliation: Center for Regional Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. Electronic address: shayashi@nies.go.jp.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. Electronic address: murakami@nies.go.jp.
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. Electronic address: joexu@nies.go.jp.
authors.forename: Kai-Qin
authors.initials: KQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, 5522 Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-8520, Japan. Electronic address: masawata@sfc.keio.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D065928:Forests; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D045483:Rivers; D014872:Water Movements
keywords: Flood protection; HSPF; Hydrologic modeling; Sediment yield; Yangtze River