Simulating the Effect of Climate Change on Vegetation Zone Distribution on the Loess Plateau, Northwest China

Li, Guoqing; Wen, Zhu; Guo, Ke; Du, Sheng

doi:10.3390/f6062092

Cited by 15 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the transformation rules shown in Table 2 G. Li, Wen, Guo, & Du, 2015), which is consistent with our results.…”

Section: How Uncertain Are the Methods And Results?supporting

confidence: 92%

Incorporation of potential natural vegetation into revegetation programmes for sustainable land management

Peng

2018

Land Degrad Dev

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Knowledge of potential natural vegetation (PNV) is imperative when implementing revegetation to mitigate land degradation and promote sustainable land management. To date, however, PNV has received relatively little attention. One challenge is determining which type of PNV is the best‐fit ecosystem under investigation. The objective of this study was to develop a revegetation program and evaluate its potential efficacy at correcting existing land use patterns. The PNV pattern was generated using a physically based ecosystem model called Lund–Potsdam–Jena General Ecosystem Simulator. The Loess Plateau of China was selected as the study area because it has undergone substantial degradation and revegetation. The results showed that from 1981 to 2014, forest and steppe accounted for 29.8% and 68.2% of the entire area, respectively. Comparisons between observed and simulated land use patterns indicated that current forestland and grassland distributions must be changed. Only 55.2 ± 1.4% of the existing forestland aligned with the PNV model. A more appropriate vegetation type for the remaining forestland would be grass. It was found that 78.4 ± 1.3% of the existing grassland was consistent with the PNV whereas the remainder should be forested. Comparisons between simulated PNV and existing farmland indicated that the steeper zones could be converted to forestland or grassland. They account for 40.6% and 58.7% of the steeper farmland area, respectively. The framework developed herein and the results derived therefrom may assist other regions facing similar land degradation issues in the development of revegetation programs and the promotion of sustainable land management.

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“…Nevertheless, the transformation rules shown in Table 2 G. Li, Wen, Guo, & Du, 2015), which is consistent with our results.…”

Section: How Uncertain Are the Methods And Results?supporting

confidence: 92%

Incorporation of potential natural vegetation into revegetation programmes for sustainable land management

Peng

2018

Land Degrad Dev

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“…The potential distribution area of shrubs can almost cover all the study areas, and the potential distribution area of forests is located in the southern part of the study area. The results of the study were similar to those of previous works [57]. Since 1999, large areas of trees have been planted in this area, which is contrary to our proposed regional vegetation restoration plan [11].…”

Section: Habitat Suitability Of Native Species Based On Potential Vegsupporting

confidence: 86%

Integrating Habitat Suitability and the Near-Nature Restoration Priorities into Revegetation Plans Based on Potential Vegetation Distribution

Zheng

Wen

Liu

et al. 2021

Forests

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Selecting optimal revegetation patterns and filtering priority areas can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of revegetation planning, particularly in areas with severe vegetation damage. However, few people include optimal revegetation patterns and priority restoration areas into revegetation plans. The Near-Nature restoration pays attention to “based on nature” ideas, guiding the degraded ecosystems to reorganize and achieving sustainable restoration through self-regulation. In this study, we conducted a field survey of the native vegetation communities in the Yanhe River catchment, and the data obtained were used to construct the potential distribution suitability of the habitat and screen the priority areas through the combination of MaxEnt and prioritizr models. We drew a heat map of species richness by simulating the potential distribution of 60 native species. The results showed that the potentially suitable habitats for forest cover were distributed in the southern part of the Yanhe River catchment; the potentially suitable habitats for herbaceous plant species were located in the center and the northwest parts of the study area; the potentially suitable habitats for shrub plant species in this area were larger than that of the forest, and herbaceous plants species were distributed in many zones of the study area. This study demonstrated that shrubs and herbaceous plant species in parts of the Loess Plateau should be considered as the pioneer plants of revegetation in future revegetation plans. Moreover, we also mapped the priority area of the Near-Nature restoration based on the richness of the potential native species. The procedure followed in this study could provide guidance for revegetation planning and manual management in the regions where vegetation damage occurs.

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“…The transect is a typical loess hilly region, with average annual precipitation, from 250 mm in the northwest, to 550 mm in the southeast. Due to its broad precipitation gradient, this region encompasses three vegetation zones from northwest to southeast (typical steppe zone, forest-steppe zone, and forest zone) [26]. The sampling sites were selected based on the precipitation gradient ( Figure 1), which covered all of the primary regional climate conditions and afforested vegetation types.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Joint Effects of Precipitation Gradient and Afforestation on Soil Moisture across the Loess Plateau of China

Zhang

Wei

Chen

et al. 2019

Forests

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Understanding the dependence of soil moisture changes following afforestation on the precipitation gradient and afforested vegetation types is crucial for improving ongoing afforestation projects, and to guide future restoration strategies in water-limited regions. For this study, we characterized afforestation-induced changes in soil moisture at depths of 0–3.0 m across a precipitation gradient in the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China. A paired experiment was conducted across 15 sites, where native grasslands served as the baseline hydrology. The results showed that korshinsk peashrub (Caragana korshinskii Kom.), sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) afforestation caused an overall strong decline in soil moisture content at depths of below 2.2 m. The degree of soil moisture decline at the regional scale did not vary between different afforested vegetation types but was contingent on precipitation. With decreasing precipitation gradients, afforestation increased the cost of deep soil moisture. Precipitation restrictions began to appear at mean annual precipitation (MAP) = 520 mm, and were intensified at MAP = 380 mm, which could be employed to divide the Loess Plateau into different ecological regions. Because of this, different strategies should be assigned in future restoration practices to these ecological regions to align with localized precipitation conditions. It will likely be prudent to encourage afforestation in areas with MAP of more than 520 mm, while advocating alternative grassland restoration in areas with MAP of less than 380 mm.

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Simulating the Effect of Climate Change on Vegetation Zone Distribution on the Loess Plateau, Northwest China

Cited by 15 publications

References 46 publications

Incorporation of potential natural vegetation into revegetation programmes for sustainable land management

Incorporation of potential natural vegetation into revegetation programmes for sustainable land management

Integrating Habitat Suitability and the Near-Nature Restoration Priorities into Revegetation Plans Based on Potential Vegetation Distribution

The Joint Effects of Precipitation Gradient and Afforestation on Soil Moisture across the Loess Plateau of China

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