The changing water cycle: Burabay National Nature Park, Northern Kazakhstan
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Date
2017
Authors
Yapiyev, Vadim
Sagintayev, Zhanay
Verhoef, Anne
Kassymbekova, Anara
Baigaliyeva, Marzhan
Zhumabayev, Dauren
Malgazhdar, Daniyar
Abudanash, Damira
Ongdas, Nurlan
Jumassultanova, Saltanat
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wires Water
Abstract
Water resources in Central Asia are scarce, so complicated issues arise from this. Kazakhstan is a Central Asian landlocked country, which has mostly closed drainage
basins, characterized by endorheic lakes that do not drain to the oceans. These endorheic lakes are very sensitive to climate change and anthropogenic influences.
Very few studies have been conducted on the hydrological cycle of the small endorheic lakes. This work reviews the endorheic lakes within Burabay National Nature Park (BNNP), Northern Kazakhstan. BNNP is a small ecozone consisting of terminal lakes watersheds covered by mixed forests and grasslands. These endorheic lakes have been drying out during the last one hundred years or so with the water level decrease accelerated in the past few decades. According to historical observations (1935–2014), on the one hand precipitation amounts did not significantly change, while on the other hand, air temperature steadily increased. The lake level decrease is most probably caused by a water budget deficit, with evaporation exceeding the precipitation inputs in the long term. The direct anthropogenic impact (water abstraction) plays a minor role in the deterioration of water levels, with most significant impacts through localized land-use changes such as road and building construction in the catchments. The future of the park’s sensitive ecosystems in a changing climate is uncertain; therefore, BNNP requires modern ecohydrological monitoring methods and analysis tools to improve our
understanding of its hydrological cycle variability, and to enable us to develop adequate adaptation and mitigation measures. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Description
Keywords
water resources, Central Asia, Burabay National Nature Park (BNNP), Northern Kazakhstan
Citation
Yapiyev Vadim et al.(>9), 2017, The changing water cycle: Burabay National Nature Park, Northern Kazakhstan, Wires Water