Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Impacts Of Agricultural Expansion (1910s-2010s) On Water Cycle In The Songneng Plain, Northeast China, Lijuan Zhang, Cuizhen Wang, Xiaxiang Li, Hongwen Zhang, Wenliang Li, Lanqi Jiang

Faculty Publications

Agricultural expansion is one of the primary land use changes on the Earth’s surface. The Songnen Plain in Northeast China is renowned for its Black Soil and is one of the most important agricultural regions of this country. In the last century, its population increased 20-fold and excessive areas of grassland were cultivated. Based on a series of decadal land use/land cover data sets in the plain (1910s–2010s), this study simulated the water balance in each decade using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and assessed the water effects of centurial agricultural expansion. Six variables were simulated to explain …