Positive effects of ecological restoration policies on the vegetation dynamics in a typical ecologically vulnerable area of China

Zhou, Yuanyuan; Fu, Dongjie; Lu, Chunxia; Xu, Ximeng; Tang, Qiuhong

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.106087

Cited by 38 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…In particular, changes in land use have increased uncertainty in the assessment of the impact of climate change. Most previous studies have not distinguished between the effects of human activities and climate change on vegetation, and few studies have explored the contribution of climate independent of meso-scale and large-scale landcover changes [27]. Human disturbance or the heterogeneity of the landscape environment has resulted in differences in the composition of vegetation types among different spatial scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of NDVI of Natural Vegetation to Climate Changes and Drought in China

Wang

Cao

et al. 2021

Land

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Temporal and spatial changes in vegetation and their influencing factors are of great significance for the assessment of climate change and sustainable development of ecosystems. This study applied the Asymmetric Gaussians (AG) fitting method, Mann-Kendall test, and correlation analysis to the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling System (GIMMS) third-generation Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and gridded climate and drought data for 1982–2015. The temporal and spatial changes to NDVI for natural grassland and forest during the growing season were analyzed. Relationships among NDVI, climate change, and droughts were also analyzed to reveal the influence of vegetation change. The results showed that: (1) Land use/cover change (LUCC) in China was mainly represented by increases in agricultural land (Agrl) and urban and rural land (Uril), and decreases in unutilized land (Bald), grassland, forest, and permanent glacier and snow (Snga). The increase in agricultural land was mainly distributed in the western northwest arid area (WNW) and northern North China (NNC), whereas regions with severe human activities such as southern South China (SNC), western South China (WSC), and eastern South China (ESC) showed significant decreases in agricultural land due to conversion to urban and rural land. (2) The start of the growing season (SOS) was advanced in WNW, SNC, WSC, and ESC, and the end of growing season (EOS) was delayed in WNW, NNC, and SNC. The growing season length (GSL) of natural vegetation in China has been extended by eight days over the last 34 years. However, the phenology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (TP) was opposite to that of the other regions and the GSL showed an insignificant decreasing trend. (3) The NDVI increased significantly, particularly in the SNC, WSC, ESC, and the grassland of the WNW. Precipitation was found to mainly control the growth of vegetation in the arid and semi-arid regions of northwest China (WNW and ENW), and precipitation had a much greater impact on grassland than on forests. Temperature had an impact on the growth of vegetation throughout China, particularly in SNC, ESC, and WSC. (4) The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) showed a downward trend, indicating an aridification trend in China, particularly in ENW, NNC, and WNW. Similar to precipitation, the main areas affected by drought were WNW and ENW and grassland was found to be more sensitive to drought than forest. The results of this study are of great significance for predicting the response of ecosystem productivity to climate change under future climate change scenarios.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of NDVI of Natural Vegetation to Climate Changes and Drought in China

Wang

Cao

et al. 2021

Land

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“…In this regard, an ecological security pattern [ 56 ] can be constructed through the intervention of forest protection and restoration policies. Improving the protected area systems can be a key approach to limiting human logging and other activities to prevent the ecosystem from losing its resilience [ 57 ]. More importantly, the QTP plays an indispensable role in water supply for social economic activities, while the feedback from human activities has increased the QTP’s risk of vulnerability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Variability of Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability in the Largest Water Tower Region Globally

Sun

Lü

2021

IJERPH

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Forests are critical ecosystems for environmental regulation and ecological security maintenance, especially at high altitudes that exhibit sensitivity to climate change and human activities. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—the world’s largest water tower region—has been breeding many large rivers in Asia where forests play important roles in water regulation and water quality improvement. However, the vulnerability of these forest ecosystems at the regional scale is still largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this research is to quantitatively assess the temporal–spatial variability of forest vulnerability on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to illustrate the capacity of forests to withstand disturbances. Geographic information system (GIS) and the spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) were used to develop a forest vulnerable index (FVI) to assess the vulnerability of forest ecosystems. This research incorporates 15 factors covering the natural context, environmental disturbances, and socioeconomic impact. Results indicate that the measure of vulnerability was unevenly distributed spatially across the study area, and the whole trend has intensified since 2000. The three factors that contribute the most to the vulnerability of natural contexts, environmental disturbances, and human impacts are slope aspect, landslides, and the distance to the farmland, respectively. The vulnerability is higher in forest areas with lower altitudes, steeper slopes, and southerly directions. These evaluation results can be helpful for forest management in high altitude water tower regions in the forms of forest conservation or restoration planning and implementation towards sustainable development goals.

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“…Climate change has an important impact on vegetation restoration, especially in ecologically vulnerable areas (Zhou et al, 2021). Moisture, temperature, and wind velocity are important factors in land restoration in different locations around the world (Fensholt & Rasmussen, 2011; Wang, Hua, et al, 2017; Xu & Wang, 2019).…”

Section: Study Area and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the long‐term effects of artificial and natural vegetation restoration strategies: A case‐study of Wuqi and its adjacent counties in northern China

Zhang

2021

Land Degrad Dev

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The significant increase in vegetation coverage in northern China over the past two decades has attracted worldwide attention. Revegetation has been completed via artificial and natural restoration techniques, and the relative performance of each needs to be further explored. Although some studies have focused on the comparison between artificial and natural methods in vegetation restoration from a micro‐perspective, there is a lack of evidence at the regional scale. This study considers Wuqi County and its adjacent areas of the Loess Plateau in northern China as our study area. First, natural and artificial restoration areas were identified. Then, the restoration sustainability of different restoration strategies and the adjustment effect of climate factors in the relationship between vegetation restoration strategy choice and vegetation restoration sustainability were analyzed. We found that the vegetation restoration strategies employed varied between local jurisdictions. In areas dominated by artificial restoration, vegetation coverage increased over a short period, but the growth rate diminished in the long term. In comparison, in areas mainly dominated by natural restoration, although the growth rate of revegetation was not very high in the short term, it was stable in the long term. In addition, the impact of vegetation restoration strategies on vegetation restoration sustainability exhibited spatial heterogeneity, and the temperature, humidity, and wind speed further affected strategy outcomes. This study provides a new perspective for vegetation restoration strategy evaluation and is expected to serve as a reference for the optimization of relevant ecological policies in the future.

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Positive effects of ecological restoration policies on the vegetation dynamics in a typical ecologically vulnerable area of China

Cited by 38 publications

References 47 publications

Response of NDVI of Natural Vegetation to Climate Changes and Drought in China

Response of NDVI of Natural Vegetation to Climate Changes and Drought in China

Quantifying the Variability of Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability in the Largest Water Tower Region Globally

Comparing the long‐term effects of artificial and natural vegetation restoration strategies: A case‐study of Wuqi and its adjacent counties in northern China

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