Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change

Abstract Rivers provide crucial ecosystem services in water-stressed drylands. Australian dryland rivers are geomorphologically diverse, ranging from through-going, single channels to discontinuous, multi-channelled systems, yet we have limited understanding of their sensitivity to future hydroclima...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Z. T. Larkin, T. J. Ralph, S. Tooth, K. A. Fryirs, A. J. R. Carthey
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/02d43724ba1a4c128778b979fd39bcd6
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:02d43724ba1a4c128778b979fd39bcd6
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:02d43724ba1a4c128778b979fd39bcd62021-12-02T18:27:50ZIdentifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change10.1038/s41598-020-63622-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/02d43724ba1a4c128778b979fd39bcd62020-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63622-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Rivers provide crucial ecosystem services in water-stressed drylands. Australian dryland rivers are geomorphologically diverse, ranging from through-going, single channels to discontinuous, multi-channelled systems, yet we have limited understanding of their sensitivity to future hydroclimatic changes. Here, we characterise for the first time the geomorphology of 29 dryland rivers with catchments across a humid to arid gradient covering >1,800,000 km2 of continental eastern and central Australia. Statistical separation of five specific dominantly alluvial river types and quantification of their present-day catchment hydroclimates enables identification of potential thresholds of change. Projected aridity increases across eastern Australia by 2070 (RCP4.5) will result in ~80% of the dryland rivers crossing a threshold from one type to another, manifesting in major geomorphological changes. Dramatic cases will see currently through-going rivers (e.g. Murrumbidgee, Macintyre) experience step changes towards greater discontinuity, characterised by pronounced downstream declines in channel size and local termination. Expanding our approach to include other river styles (e.g. mixed bedrock-alluvial) would allow similar analyses of dryland rivers globally where hydroclimate is an important driver of change. Early identification of dryland river responses to future hydroclimatic change has far-reaching implications for the ~2 billion people that live in drylands and rely on riverine ecosystem services.Z. T. LarkinT. J. RalphS. ToothK. A. FryirsA. J. R. CartheyNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Z. T. Larkin T. J. Ralph S. Tooth K. A. Fryirs A. J. R. Carthey Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
description	Abstract Rivers provide crucial ecosystem services in water-stressed drylands. Australian dryland rivers are geomorphologically diverse, ranging from through-going, single channels to discontinuous, multi-channelled systems, yet we have limited understanding of their sensitivity to future hydroclimatic changes. Here, we characterise for the first time the geomorphology of 29 dryland rivers with catchments across a humid to arid gradient covering >1,800,000 km2 of continental eastern and central Australia. Statistical separation of five specific dominantly alluvial river types and quantification of their present-day catchment hydroclimates enables identification of potential thresholds of change. Projected aridity increases across eastern Australia by 2070 (RCP4.5) will result in ~80% of the dryland rivers crossing a threshold from one type to another, manifesting in major geomorphological changes. Dramatic cases will see currently through-going rivers (e.g. Murrumbidgee, Macintyre) experience step changes towards greater discontinuity, characterised by pronounced downstream declines in channel size and local termination. Expanding our approach to include other river styles (e.g. mixed bedrock-alluvial) would allow similar analyses of dryland rivers globally where hydroclimate is an important driver of change. Early identification of dryland river responses to future hydroclimatic change has far-reaching implications for the ~2 billion people that live in drylands and rely on riverine ecosystem services.
format	article
author	Z. T. Larkin T. J. Ralph S. Tooth K. A. Fryirs A. J. R. Carthey
author_facet	Z. T. Larkin T. J. Ralph S. Tooth K. A. Fryirs A. J. R. Carthey
author_sort	Z. T. Larkin
title	Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
title_short	Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
title_full	Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
title_fullStr	Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
title_full_unstemmed	Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
title_sort	identifying threshold responses of australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/02d43724ba1a4c128778b979fd39bcd6
work_keys_str_mv	AT ztlarkin identifyingthresholdresponsesofaustraliandrylandriverstofuturehydroclimaticchange AT tjralph identifyingthresholdresponsesofaustraliandrylandriverstofuturehydroclimaticchange AT stooth identifyingthresholdresponsesofaustraliandrylandriverstofuturehydroclimaticchange AT kafryirs identifyingthresholdresponsesofaustraliandrylandriverstofuturehydroclimaticchange AT ajrcarthey identifyingthresholdresponsesofaustraliandrylandriverstofuturehydroclimaticchange
_version_	1718377959014793216

Identifying threshold responses of Australian dryland rivers to future hydroclimatic change

Ejemplares similares