China’s Grain for Green Program

Delang, Claudio O.; Yuan, Zengqiang

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-11505-4

Cited by 107 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…We used statistical data from the Grain to Green Project (GGP) (considered the most ambitious environmental engineering initiative globally 16 (2000-2001), the GGP encompassed 27 counties of the three provinces and was expanded to cover the entire study area in the following years. The primary aim of the GGP in southwest China was to combat ongoing soil erosion and rocky desertification and to promote vegetation cover by converting farmlands located on slopes > 25° into ecological (used for timber production) and economical (orchards or plantations with trees for medical use) forests 24 . The programme provided resources in the form of grain, cash and free seedlings as incentives for rural households to re-establish forest, shrub and/or grassland on marginal and sloped farmland and shrubland 24 .…”

Section: Dynamic Vegetation Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary aim of the GGP in southwest China was to combat ongoing soil erosion and rocky desertification and to promote vegetation cover by converting farmlands located on slopes > 25° into ecological (used for timber production) and economical (orchards or plantations with trees for medical use) forests 24 . The programme provided resources in the form of grain, cash and free seedlings as incentives for rural households to re-establish forest, shrub and/or grassland on marginal and sloped farmland and shrubland 24 . The primary selection criterion for areas eligible for restoration projects was the slope of the landscape, but also the soil fertility and the state of erosion or susceptibility to erode 24,55 .…”

Section: Dynamic Vegetation Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This area hosts 220 million people 20,21 and has been selected as a major target of restoration projects. Descriptions as early as the seventeenth century reported the rocky karst mountains as an area of sparse forest or vegetation cover 22 , and accelerating desertification has been reported during the past half century, caused by the increasing intensity of human exploitation of natural resources [21][22][23][24] . As a result, approximately 0.13 million km 2 of karst areas previously covered by vegetation and soil were turned into a rocky landscape.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, approximately 0.13 million km 2 of karst areas previously covered by vegetation and soil were turned into a rocky landscape. To combat this severe form of land degradation and to relieve poverty, more than 130 billion yuan (~19 billion USD) have been invested in mitigation initiatives since the end of the 1990s 24 . The largest programme implemented, the Grain to Green Project, offers grain, cash and free seedlings as compensation for rural households to re-establish forests, shrub and/or grassland 24 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To combat this severe form of land degradation and to relieve poverty, more than 130 billion yuan (~19 billion USD) have been invested in mitigation initiatives since the end of the 1990s 24 . The largest programme implemented, the Grain to Green Project, offers grain, cash and free seedlings as compensation for rural households to re-establish forests, shrub and/or grassland 24 . The costs of ecological engineering projects as a climate change mitigation measure are however only justified if ecosystem properties can be affected at large scales.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Increased vegetation growth and carbon stock in China karst via ecological engineering

et al. 2018

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T he impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on Earth's vegetation and ecosystems have been in the spotlight of science in the past decades [1][2][3][4][5][6] . With increasing climate variability and more frequent occurrences of extreme events expected in the future 7 , research has targeted the sensitivity of ecosystems 8,9 . At the same time, recent studies have shown globally increasing leaf area index (LAI; a proxy for green vegetation cover) 10 , and aboveground biomass carbon (ABC) 11 , also known as the greening Earth 10,12 . Dynamic vegetation models and Earth observation studies reveal climatic and atmospheric changes as the main drivers of large scale increases in LAI 10,13 . On the contrary, the anthropogenic footprint is usually found to cause land degradation and deforestation 13,14 , and only a few studies find a direct positive effect of management on vegetation cover and biomass trends 2,11,15 . Although ecological conservation projects aim at increasing biodiversity, carbon sequestration and vegetation cover 16,17 , the success of such conservation efforts is not easily quantifiable, and the spatial footprint of projects is not always commensurable with contemporary satellite-and modelling-based monitoring methods. Adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change should be anchored in knowledge on how ecosystems respond to climatic and anthropogenic disturbances, but at present it is not known whether conservation projects impact on the ability of vegetation to alleviate the effects of climate change at large scales.China's ecological restoration projects (for example, the Natural Forest Protection Project, the Grain to Green Project, and the Karst Rocky Desertification Restoration Project) are considered 'megaengineering' activities and the most ambitious afforestation and conservation projects in human history [16][17][18][19] . The highly sensitive and vulnerable karst ecosystem in southwest China is one of the largest exposed carbonate rock areas (more than 0.54 million km 2 ) in the world. This area hosts 220 million people 20,21 and has been selected as a major target of restoration projects. Descriptions as early as the seventeenth century reported the rocky karst mountains as an area of sparse forest or vegetation cover 22 , and accelerating desertification has been reported during the past half century, caused by the increasing intensity of human exploitation of natural resources [21][22][23][24] . As a result, approximately 0.13 million km 2 of karst areas previously covered by vegetation and soil were turned into a rocky landscape. To combat this severe form of land degradation and to relieve poverty, more than 130 billion yuan (~19 billion USD) have been invested in mitigation initiatives since the end of the 1990s 24 . The largest programme implemented, the Grain to Green Project, offers grain, cash and free seedlings as compensation for rural households to re-establish forests, shrub and/or grassland 24 . The costs of ecological engineering projects as a clima...

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Section: Dynamic Vegetation Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dynamic Vegetation Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increased vegetation growth and carbon stock in China karst via ecological engineering

et al. 2018

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The carbon sequestration potential of China's grasslands

et al. 2018

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With the consequences of anthropogenic activities such as overgrazing and cropland expansion, grasslands in China suffer severe degradation since the 1980s. The national grassland restoration policy enacted at the beginning of the 21th century has the potential to increase plant growth and productivity and hence regional carbon (C) sequestration. Here, we assessed plant and soil organic C (SOC) stocks for both degraded and restored/non-degraded plots at 802 sites in Northern and Northwest China using pairwise field sampling and quantified the C sequestration potential (CSP) of China's grasslands. A geostatistical model was performed to upscale the field measurements to national scale. Averaged across the 802 paired grassland sites, the mean plant biomass C and SOC density in the top 1 m depth were 0.44 AE 0.17 and 8.82 AE 1.78 kg C/m 2 , respectively. Compared to the degraded grasslands, the restored grasslands had an average of 0.11 AE 0.17 (29.2%) and 1.02 AE 1.28 kg C/m 2 (12.3%) greater plant biomass C and SOC density, respectively. The geostatistical model produced a total CSP of 17.3 AE 2.3 Pg C in China's grasslands, with 94% in soils. If the CSP estimated in this study could be achieved, the current grassland SOC stock would increase by 61%, offsetting 11 yr (2000-2010) of national fossil CO 2 emissions.

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Changes in soil nitrogen stocks following vegetation restoration in a typical karst catchment

Liu

Zhang

et al. 2018

Land Degrad Dev

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Soil nitrogen (N) accumulation enhances carbon (C) sequestration and subsequently the restoration of degraded ecosystems, but the changes in soil N properties after vegetation restoration in such ecosystems are poorly understood. We collected data from 358 fixed points in the karst catchment in China to determine the trends, magnitude, and mechanisms of soil N sequestration after 10 years of revegetation. The revegetation types were tillage fields that were abandoned or were converted to pasture, planted forest, or converted to mixed pasture and forest and pasture lands that were abandoned (P_Aban) or converted to mixed pasture and forest (P_Mix). The changes in soil N density (g m−2) over time were insignificant, and only P_Aban, P_ Mix, and the overall catchment experienced significant increases in soil N concentration (g kg−1). Structural equation modeling indicated that bedrock exposure affected the change in soil N concentration (∆NC) and the soil N sequestration value (∆ND) via affecting the change in soil C concentration, by directly affecting bulk density, soil depth, and Ca2+. The soil C:N ratio increased significantly, and the increase in soil N was slower than that of C, suggesting a decoupling of soil C and N accumulation in the initial stage of revegetation. ∆ND was significantly related to the change in soil C:N ratio, indicating that the coupling between soil C and N may be constrained by insufficient soil N sequestration during revegetation. These findings suggest that the restoration of degraded karst ecosystems requires an increase in soil N input early during vegetation restoration.

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China’s Grain for Green Program

Cited by 107 publications

References 66 publications

Increased vegetation growth and carbon stock in China karst via ecological engineering

Increased vegetation growth and carbon stock in China karst via ecological engineering

The carbon sequestration potential of China's grasslands

Changes in soil nitrogen stocks following vegetation restoration in a typical karst catchment

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