Impacts of National Highway G214 on Vegetation in the Source Area of Yellow and Yangtze Rivers on the Southern Qinghai Plateau, West China

Abstract

Engineering corridors on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau have substantially modified the regional ecosystem functions and environment, resulting in changes in the alpine ecosystem. In addition, the building and operation of these engineering corridors have led to rapid permafrost degradation, which in turn has impacted local vegetation along these corridors. This study investigated vegetation changes and their driving factors by the methods of coefficient of variation, correlation analysis, and GeoDetector in a 30 km wide buffer zone at each side along the National Highway G214 (G214) at the northern and southern flanks of the Bayan Har Mountains in part of the source area of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers on the southern Qinghai Plateau, West China. The following results were obtained: (1) The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Growing Season (NDVIgs) rose slightly in 2010–2019, with an average annual change rate of 0.006/a. Patterns of NDVIgs along the G214 exhibited “low at the northern flank and high at the southern flank of the Bayan Har Mountains”. (2) Spatially, average NDVIgs increased from the first buffer zone at the distance of 0–10 km from the highway centerline to the second buffer zone at 20–30 km perpendicularly away from the G214. Furthermore, the first buffer zone had the lowest coefficient of variation, possibly due to a low vegetation recovery as a result of the greatest influence of the G214 on NDVIgs at 0–10 km. (3) Furthermore, annual precipitation (AP) was the dominant factor for significantly (p < 0.01) and positively influencing the variations in NDVIgs (R = 0.75, p < 0.01). Additionally, NDVIgs was more strongly influenced by the two combined factors than any single one, with the highest q-value (0.74) for the interactive influences of AP and annual average air temperature (AAAT) and followed by that of the AP and mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) at the depth of zero annual amplitude (15 m). Evidently, the construction and operation of the G214 have directly and indirectly affected vegetation through changing environmental variables, with significant impacts on NDVIgs extended at least 20 km outwards from the highway. This study helps better understand the environmental impacts along the engineering corridors in elevational permafrost regions at mid and low latitudes and their management.