Both climate and socioeconomic drivers contribute to vegetation greening of the Loess Plateau

Naeem, Shahid; Zhang, Yongqiang; Zhang, Xuanze; Tian, Jing; Abbas, Sawaid; Luo, Lili; Meresa, Hadush

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2021.03.007

Cited by 60 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The finding is consistent with the results of [29]. It was also found that compared with other factors, temperature has relatively small explanatory power in terms of the spatial distribution and its change in the NDVI on the LP, which agrees with the findings and results of [39].…”

Section: Connections and Distinctions With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 91%

“…(2) Climatic factors: In this study, it was found that among all factors, precipitation has the greatest influence on vegetation growth in the semi-arid area of the LP, consistent with the findings of [39][40][41]. In the semi-humid area, precipitation is not the decisive factor controlling vegetation growth because of the relatively good water conditions.…”

Section: Connections and Distinctions With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 83%

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Spatial–Temporal Evolution of Vegetation NDVI in Association with Climatic, Environmental and Anthropogenic Factors in the Loess Plateau, China during 2000–2015: Quantitative Analysis Based on Geographical Detector Model

Dong

Yin

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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In the Loess Plateau (LP) of China, the vegetation degradation and soil erosion problems have been shown to be curbed after the implementation of the Grain for Green program. In this study, the LP is divided into the northwestern semi-arid area and the southeastern semi-humid area using the 400 mm isohyet. The spatial–temporal evolution of the vegetation NDVI during 2000–2015 are analyzed, and the driving forces (including factors of climate, environment, and human activities) of the evolution are quantitatively identified using the geographical detector model (GDM). The results showed that the annual mean NDVI in the entire LP was 0.529, and it decreased from the semi-humid area (0.619) to the semi-arid area (0.346). The mean value of the coefficient of variation of the NDVI was 0.1406, and it increased from the semi-humid area (0.1165) to the semi-arid area (0.1926). The annual NDVI growth rate in the entire LP was 0.0079, with the NDVI growing faster in the semi-humid area (0.0093) than in the semi-arid area (0.0049). The largest increments of the NDVI were from grassland, farmland, and woodland. The GDM results revealed that changes in the spatial distribution of the NDVI could be primarily explained by the climatic and environmental factors in the semi-arid area, such as precipitation, soil type, and vegetation type, while the changes were mainly explained by the anthropogenic factors in the semi-humid area, such as the GDP density, land-use type, and population density. The interactive analysis showed that interactions between factors strengthened the impacts on the vegetation change compared with an individual factor. Furthermore, the ranges/types of factors suitable for vegetation growth were determined. The conclusions of this study have important implications for the formulation and implementation of ecological conservation and restoration strategies in different regions of the LP.

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Section: Connections and Distinctions With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Connections and Distinctions With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 83%

Spatial–Temporal Evolution of Vegetation NDVI in Association with Climatic, Environmental and Anthropogenic Factors in the Loess Plateau, China during 2000–2015: Quantitative Analysis Based on Geographical Detector Model

Dong

Yin

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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“…In general, the cultivated area, GDP of primary industry, and population promoted the greening of vegetation, while the livestock number, agricultural population, and animal husbandry population aggravated the degradation of vegetation (Figure 8). Population dynamics have an important impact on vegetation changes [28]. On the one hand, in the process of accelerating industrialization and urbanization, surplus rural laborers are migrating to cities in search of job opportunities and higher incomes.…”

Section: Relationship Between Anthropogenic Activities and Vegetation Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, existing studies mostly analyzed human activities as a whole [15,19,20], and lacked analysis of the contribution of different types of human activities to vegetation change. The contribution of different types of human activities to vegetation dynamics varies from place to place [10,27,28]. For instance, urbanization has led to the degradation of vegetation in most urban centers and surrounding areas in central and eastern China [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, urbanization has led to the degradation of vegetation in most urban centers and surrounding areas in central and eastern China [10]. In the Pearl River Delta of China, economic growth (population and GDP) and vegetation cover have achieved a win-win situation [29], while in the eastern part of the Loess Plateau, GDP dominates the degradation of NDVI [28]. The expansion of cultivated land has promoted the greening of vegetation in Xinjiang [30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Anthropogenic Impacts on Remotely Sensed Vegetation Dynamics in Xinjiang, China

Guan

Yao

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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The dynamics of the ecosystem represented by vegetation under the influence of human activities have become an important issue in the study of the regional ecological environment. Xinjiang is one of the most ecologically fragile areas in the world, and vegetation changes have received extensive attention. Xinjiang is one of the most ecologically fragile areas in the world, and vegetation changes have received extensive attention. However, the spatiotemporal patterns and evolutionary trends of anthropogenic impacts on vegetation dynamics in Xinjiang are still unclear. In this study, the anthropogenic impacts on vegetation dynamics were quantitatively assessed by combining the improved normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) prediction model and the residual analysis method in Xinjiang, China. The human driving factors were analyzed with the support of a stepwise multiple regression model for vegetation changes at the county scale. Based on trend analysis and the Hurst exponent, the spatiotemporal characteristics and evolutionary trends of the impact of human activities on vegetation change were discussed. The results show that (1) the NDVI values in Xinjiang showed a gradually increasing trend at a rate of 0.005/10 years from 1982 to 2018, and the vegetation dynamics mainly showed significant improvements (57.09% of the vegetated areas), especially for crops. (2) The anthropogenic effects of vegetation changes in Xinjiang mainly included positive impact increases (43.22% of the vegetated areas) from 2000 to 2018. Human activities promoted the increase in the NDVI of various vegetation types. Both the positive and negative impacts of human activities increased over the study period, and the growth rate of the positive influence (0.08%/10 years) was higher than that of the negative influence (0.04%/10 years). (3) The cultivated area, GDP of primary industry, and population are the main anthropogenic factors causing the increase in NDVI, which dominate the vegetation greening in 30.34%, 29.22%, and 28.09% of the counties in Xinjiang, respectively. The animal husbandry population, agricultural population, and livestock number are the main anthropogenic factors causing the decrease in NDVI, which dominate the vegetation degradation in 23.60%, 21.35%, and 17.98% of the counties in Xinjiang, respectively. (4) The evolutionary trend of the anthropogenic impact on vegetation dynamics in Xinjiang will be dominated by anti-persistence (53.84% of the vegetated areas), thereby mainly showing that the positive impacts continued to increase (22.56% of the vegetated areas), especially for crops, shrubs, grasslands, and alpine vegetation. Our results are helpful in understanding the characteristics and evolutionary trends of vegetation changes in arid areas caused by human activities and are of significance as a reference for policymakers to appropriately adjust policy guidance in a timely manner to promote the protection and sustainable development of fragile ecosystems.

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Ecological restoration success on the Loess Plateau of China: A qualitative and quantitative exploration based on rephotography

Liu,

Gao,

Chen

et al. 2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Ecological restoration programs such as the “Grain for Green Project” (GFGP) have significantly reduced soil erosion and increased vegetation cover on the Loess Plateau (LP) of China over the last decades. The LP has become the paragon of ecological restoration and soil and water conservation across the world and has been highlighted by numerous reports in the literature. However, there is a lack of “seeing is believing” evidence (that is, a picture is worth a thousand words) depicting the effectiveness of the ecological restoration on the LP. Rephotography (repeat photography) was used in this study to compare historical and current photographs of the same locations to explore the landscape changes associated with ecological restoration. Twenty‐nine photo pairs between 1925 and 2021 were compiled and combined with satellite imagery and the deduced Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) between 1986 and 2021. This allowed the establishment of a rephotography library reflecting the achievements of ecological remediation and reconstruction on the LP. This in turn provides intuitive and detailed evidence for the ecological environment construction of the LP and resonates with the notion of “lucid waters and lush mountains being invaluable assets”. In addition to presenting a great opportunity to investigate landscape change over time, which is difficult to discern using other approaches, the study provides a scientific reference and a basis for government decision‐making. The potential use of rephotography for calibrating remote sensed data was also discussed. Good agreement was found between the NDVI derived from rephotography of large areas and NDVI derived from satellite imageries, which may facilitate the accurate reconstruction of time series NDVI.

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Both climate and socioeconomic drivers contribute to vegetation greening of the Loess Plateau

Cited by 60 publications

References 9 publications

Spatial–Temporal Evolution of Vegetation NDVI in Association with Climatic, Environmental and Anthropogenic Factors in the Loess Plateau, China during 2000–2015: Quantitative Analysis Based on Geographical Detector Model

Spatial–Temporal Evolution of Vegetation NDVI in Association with Climatic, Environmental and Anthropogenic Factors in the Loess Plateau, China during 2000–2015: Quantitative Analysis Based on Geographical Detector Model

Assessing the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Anthropogenic Impacts on Remotely Sensed Vegetation Dynamics in Xinjiang, China

Ecological restoration success on the Loess Plateau of China: A qualitative and quantitative exploration based on rephotography

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