A revised range of variability approach considering the periodicity of hydrological indicators

Comprehensively assessing the hydrological alteration of river flows is a prerequisite for the scientific management, protection, and restoration of rivers. The range of variability approach (RVA), which is based on indicators of hydrological alteration (IHAs), is a widely used method to evaluate hydrological alteration. However, the RVA only considers the frequency of each IHA, neglecting the equally important temporal order of these IHAs. The order of IHA event can be reflected by its periodicity. On the basis of the RVA, in this study, we propose a revised RVA that considers both the frequency and periodicity of IHAs. In the revised RVA, first, the periodic time of each IHA is identified; next, the periodicity alteration (P) of river flow is calculated by comparing the periodic times of the pre-impact-period and post-impact-period IHAs; finally, P and the frequency alteration(D) in traditional RVA are incorporated into a single index (H) to reflect the overall hydrological alteration. A case study of the Xi Dayang (XDY) Reservoir and rearranged flow suggests that the traditional RVA underestimates hydrological alterations because it neglects the alteration of periodicity. Compared with the traditional RVA and its alternatives, the revised RVA could give a more comprehensive representation of hydrological alteration caused by human and nature impacts. Thus, better protection of an ecosystem could be obtained by applying this method in the evaluation and management of water resources. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.