Mapping land degradation by comparison of vegetation production to spatially derived estimates of potential production

Wessels, Konrad J; Prince, Stephen D.; Reshef, I. Becker

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2008.05.011

Cited by 110 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…This method takes non-degraded rangeland as a reference through the comparison of characteristic parameters observed directly (such as biomass, vegetation coverage, edible forage, NDVI, NPP, soil physical and chemical properties indices) to analyze the degradation/restoration of rangeland (Numata et al, 2007;Liu and Zha, 2004;Röder et al, 2008); (3) Monitoring rangeland degradation based on time series analysis of remote sensing. In recent years, these methods have caught widespread attention, and mainly include rainfall use efficiency (RUE) (Wessels et al, 2006;Prince et al, 2004;Paruelo et al, 1999;Holm et al, 2003;Gao et al, 2005;Bai et al, 2008a) and residual trends (RESTREND) (Evans and Geerken, 2004;Wessels et al, 2007;Xu et al, 2010;Cao, 2006;Eckert et al, 2015); (4) Local NPP (the actual Net Primary Productivity) Scaling (Wessels et al, 2007;Wessels et al, 2008;Prince et al, 2009). …”

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confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, reference value of non-degraded rangeland is difficult to obtain. Local NPP Scaling (LNS) (Wessels et al, 2007;Wessels et al, 2008) takes spatial reference as the alternative of temporal reference and the 90th percentile of NPP in a productivity unit with the same productivity level is used as a non-degraded rangeland reference value. To establish this, the effects of difference in terrain types, soil types and climate fluctuation have to be considered.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wang

Xia

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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Abstract-the "Three-River Headwaters" region (TRHR) rangeland ecosystem is extremely sensitive and fragile, and in recent years has undergone continuous degradation. The vast area and severe nature conditions inhibit data acquisition and field experiments, resulting in different understandings about the spatial characteristics and dynamics of rangeland degradation in the region. Therefore, reliable monitoring method of rangeland degradation is urgently needed for the rangeland protection and management. In this paper, a novel rangeland degradation monitoring scheme based on Local NPP Scaling (LNS) was suggested;A suitable partition program of rangeland productivity unit was set up by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wang

Xia

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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“…The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the extent and severity of degradation of vegetation productivity in the extensive rangelands, in excess of 10 000 km 2 , of the Burdekin Dry Tropics (BDT) in Queensland, Australia. The local NPP scaling (LNS) method (Prince, 2004;Prince et al, 2009;Wessels et al, 2008) was used to address the problem of identification of reference sites. LNS starts with classification of the region into land capability classes (LCCs) in which the biogeophysical environment is, as near as possible, the same, so assessments are made with areas of the same type and potential.…”

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confidence: 99%

Degradation of net primary production in a semiarid rangeland

Jackson

Prince

2016

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Anthropogenic land degradation affects many biogeophysical processes, including reductions of net primary production (NPP). Degradation occurs at scales from small fields to continental and global. While measurement and monitoring of NPP in small areas is routine in some studies, for scales larger than 1 km 2 , and certainly global, there is no regular monitoring and certainly no attempt to measure degradation. Quantitative and repeatable techniques to assess the extent of deleterious effects and monitor changes are needed to evaluate its effects on, for example, economic yields of primary products such as crops, lumber, and forage, and as a measure of land surface properties which are currently missing from dynamic global vegetation models, assessments of carbon sequestration, and land surface models of heat, water, and carbon exchanges. This study employed the local NPP scaling (LNS) approach to identify patterns of anthropogenic degradation of NPP in the Burdekin Dry Tropics (BDT) region of Queensland, Australia, from 2000 to 2013. The method starts with land classification based on the environmental factors presumed to control (NPP) to group pixels having similar potential NPP. Then, satellite remotely sensing data were used to compare actual NPP with its potential. The difference in units of mass of carbon and percentage loss were the measure of degradation. The entire BDT (7.45 × 10 6 km 2 ) was investigated at a spatial resolution of 250 × 250 m. The average annual reduction in NPP due to anthropogenic land degradation in the entire BDT was −2.14 MgC m −2 yr −1 , or 17 % of the non-degraded potential, and the total reduction was −214 MgC yr −1 . Extreme average annual losses of 524.8 gC m −2 yr −1 were detected. Approximately 20 % of the BDT was classified as "degraded". Varying severities and rates of degradation were found among the river basins, of which the Belyando and Suttor were highest. Interannual, negative trends in reductions of NPP occurred in 7 % of the entire region, indicating ongoing degradation. There was evidence of areas that were in a permanently degraded condition. The findings provide strong evidence and quantitative data for reductions in NPP related to anthropogenic land degradation in the BDT.

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“…The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines desertification as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities" (UNEP, 1992;Wessels et al, 2008); and sandy desertification is likely to be controlled by climate change, especially by wind regimes and by geomorphological processes, even though human impacts have undeniably exacerbated their effects (Wang et al, 2006(Wang et al, , 2007(Wang et al, , 2008. Due to tillage and trampling of animals and under aeolian processes the main processes of sandy desertification in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau include surface coarsening of soil texture and nutrient loess, which result in the grassland and farmland degradation, and dune reactivation (Wu, 2009).…”

Section: Human Activities and Their Effects On Sandy Desertification mentioning

confidence: 99%

Aeolian processes and their effect on sandy desertification of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: A wind tunnel experiment

Wang

Lang

Yan

et al. 2016

Soil and Tillage Research

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A B S T R A C TTo determine the contribution of aeolian processes to sandy desertification, we applied different wind velocities to soils from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that were subjected to the human activities such as wholesale destruction of vegetation. We then employed field investigations, soil sampling in the field, wind tunnel experiments, particle size analyses, and nutrient analyses. After the ground surfaces were crushed to simulate land degradation, the aeolian transport in this region varied from 0.00 to 43.49 g m À2 s À1 and was dependent on the particle size composition, and variation in the intensity of aeolian processes. During the aeolian processes our wind tunnel results show differences between the nutrient contents of the transported materials and those of the surface soils, and the loss of total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC) and total phosphorus (TP) varied between 0.00 and 8.81, 0.10 and 122.27, 0.00 and 1.14 g m À2, respectively. In addition, variations in wind velocities did not result in significant differences in the particle size fractions of the transported materials. On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, although an increase in human activity may trigger sandy desertification, the occurrence of sandy desertification was not significant in the early 21st century, and hence it is likely to be controlled by climate even though human impacts have undeniably exacerbated its effects.

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Mapping land degradation by comparison of vegetation production to spatially derived estimates of potential production

Cited by 110 publications

References 29 publications

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Degradation of net primary production in a semiarid rangeland

Aeolian processes and their effect on sandy desertification of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: A wind tunnel experiment

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