In response to widespread deforestation, North Korea has restored forests through national policy over the past 10 years. Here, the entire process of forest degradation and restoration was evaluated through satellite-based vegetation monitoring, and its effects were also investigated. The vegetation dynamics of North Korea were characterized from 1986 to 2021 using the Landsat satellite 5–7, after which we evaluated the effect of vegetation shifts through changes in surface temperature since the 2000s. Vegetation greenness decreased significantly from the 1980s to the 2000s but increased in recent decades due to forest restoration. During the deforestation period, vegetation in all areas of North Korea tended to decrease, which was particularly noticeable in the provinces of Pyongannam-do and Hamgyongnam-do. During the forest restoration period, increases in vegetation greenness were evident in most regions except for some high-mountainous and developing regions, and the most prominent increase was seen in Pyongyang and Pyongannam-do. According to satellite-based analyses, the land surface temperature exhibited a clear upward trend (average slope = 0.13). However, large regional differences were identified when the analysis was shortened to encompass only the last 10 years. Particularly, the correlation between the area where vegetation improved and the area where the surface temperature decreased was high (−0.32). Moreover, the observed atmospheric temperature increased due to global warming, but only the surface temperature exhibited a decreasing trend, which could be understood by the effect of vegetation restoration. Our results suggest that forest restoration can affect various sectors beyond the thermal environment due to its role as an enhancer of ecosystem services.
North Korea is a representative country that should restore its forest ecosystem, which is vital for responding to climate change. In this study, we assessed the extent to which afforestation can reduce the climate change impact on water resources by adding an afforestation scenario to the variables used to estimate the forest water yield. We applied the InVEST seasonal water yield model and constructed a data ensemble of the SSP5–8.5 scenario for this simulation. In the projection of future forest water supply according to the SSP5–8.5 scenario, baseflow and local recharge decreased by approximately 25%, and quickflow increased by approximately 47%, compared to the baseline period. Under the three reforestation scenarios, the future water supply from the forests showed significant positive changes. The baseflow increased by approximately 4%, 15%, and 28% in the reforestation scenario of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3, respectively. In a Level 3 scenario, most of the baseflow and local recharge, which had decreased owing to the impact of climate change, was recovered. The baseflow in Level 3 was 26,882 million m3 y−1, which was approximately 98% of that in the baseline period. The Taedong River and Chongchon River, which are the major granary areas in North Korea, were directly affected by the climate change. However, it was confirmed that the water supply in these areas can be increased through forest restoration. These results indicate the deterministic role of forest restoration in increasing the water supply.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.