Vegetation dynamics and responses to climate change and human activities in Central Asia

Jiang, Liangliang; Guli·Jiapaer,; Bao, Anming; Guo, Hao; Ndayisaba, Felix

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.012

Cited by 482 publications

(303 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Precipitation in the arid regions of Central Asia, such as the Dzungaria Basin, has increased by 20% following global climate changes in recent decades (Li, Zhang, et al, ) and seems likely to increase by approximately 50 mm in the future (Takayabu et al, ; Zhao et al, ), and the precipitation regime has changed (Lioubimtseva & Henebry, ). The effects of changes in precipitation on ecosystem processes, such as vegetation dynamics (Petrie et al, ) and plant productivity (Li, Zhang, et al, ) in desert ecosystems have been a concern in recent years (Jiang et al, ; Muldavin, Moore, Collins, Wetherill, & Lightfoot, ; Thomey et al, ). Understanding the ecological responses of plants to changes in precipitation at the population and community levels is essential for predicting how vegetation will function in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated precipitation alters the community structure of spring ephemerals by changing dominant species density in Central Asia

Jia

Sun²,

Zhang

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Global climate change is one of the most pressing conservation challenges; in particular, changes in precipitation regimes have already substantially influenced terrestrial ecosystems. However, the mechanisms influencing precipitation changes on individual plants and the plant communities in desert grasslands have yet to be fully elucidated. We therefore examine the influence of increased precipitation on plant community compositions in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Xinjiang, northwestern China, from 2005 to 2009. We found that growth of all plant species and the community productivities increased markedly with enhanced water input. Cover of ephemeral synusia also significantly increased due to increased precipitation, implying that the role of the ephemeral community for stabilization of sand dunes was strengthened by increased precipitation. The response of plant community compositions to increased precipitation was primarily reflected as changes in plant density, while increased precipitation did not affect plant species richness and the diversity index. Dominant species drove the response of plant density to increasing precipitation during the five‐year study period. However, the relative responses of rare species were stronger than those of the dominant species, thereby potentially driving species turnover with long‐term increased precipitation. This finding improved our understanding of how increased precipitation drives the changes in plant community composition in desert grasslands and will help to better predict changes in the community composition of ephemerals under future global climate change scenarios.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated precipitation alters the community structure of spring ephemerals by changing dominant species density in Central Asia

Jia

Sun²,

Zhang

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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“…() and Jiang et al . () have reported that increases in precipitation and temperature depend strongly on the land cover types. Our results show that precipitation increases clearly associated with SG and VG land types rather than NV land type.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal characteristics of future changes in precipitation and temperature in Central Asia

Luo

Meng

Duan

et al. 2018

Intl Journal of Climatology

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The arid and semi‐arid areas in Central Asia have scarce water resources and fragile ecosystems that are especially sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Reliable information regarding future projections of change in climate is crucial for long‐term planning of water resources management and structural adjustment of agriculture in this region. However, the low‐density meteorological observation network brings great challenges for investigating the effects of climate variations. In this study, variations of precipitation and temperature in Central Asia were examined by a combination of gridded climate dataset of the Climate Research Unit and the latest general circulation models (GCMs) under a representative concentration pathway 4.5. Three downscaling methods, Delta, Advanced Delta, and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) methods, translate the coarse GCMs to local climatic variations for the period 2021–2060 relative to 1965–2004. Major results suggested that the Advanced Delta and BMA methods outperformed the Delta method in precipitation downscaling. Projected precipitation exhibited a general increasing trend at a rate of 4.63 mm/decade for entire Central Asia with strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity. While a declining trend was observed in the southwestern and central parts of Central Asia in summer. The projected temperature was revealed an obvious ascending at 0.37°C/decade, while the warming rate accelerated in higher latitude and mountainous areas. [Correction added on 03 December 2018, after first online publication: The preceding statement has been corrected in this version.] The surface land coverage had significant effects on the variations of precipitation and temperature, respectively. The driven factors of local climate were suggested by analysing the relationships between climate variations and large‐scale atmospheric circulation fields anomalies. The findings of this study aims to provide useful information to improve our understanding for future climate change and benefit local decision makers.

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“…To measure the response of vegetation to seasonal changes in climate, the correlation coefficient among the mean NDVI and seasonal precipitation and temperature was calculated (Figure ). The average NDVI showed different responses to seasonal precipitation and temperature changes (Jiang et al, ). In the growing season (summer and autumn) in the PRD, the increases in temperature and solar radiation correspond to the rapid growth and maturation of vegetation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the absolute θ slope value is lower than the standard errors of the average NDVIs, we define the change as limited. Furthermore, the standard significance level α = 0.05 was used as a cutoff to test the null hypothesis that there is no slope in the NDVI time‐series (Jiang, Guli, Bao, Guo, & Ndayisaba, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A significant increase in the normalized difference vegetation index during the rapid economic development in the Pearl River Delta of China

Mengmeng

Xia

2018

Land Degrad Dev

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Since 2000, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) has increased by more than eight‐fold. Experiences throughout the world indicate that the impacts of economic development on vegetation are particularly important. This study analyzed the variations in vegetation coverage in the PRD from 2000 to 2016. Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data were employed, whereas climate data, GDP, and population were also used as influencing factors. Topographic factors were introduced to explain the spatial vegetation patterns, and the impacts of human activities on vegetation were explored. The results revealed (a) the overall vegetation coverage in the PRD showed an increasing trend, and the overall average NDVI increased by 0.0033/a. (b) The spatial pattern did not change greatly, but the high and low NDVI values moved to low elevations and shallow topographic slopes where human activities were prevalent. This trend resulted in increased NDVI values in 38% of the area of the PRD (p < 0.01). (c) There was a positive correlation between NDVI and economic growth (GDP, population), with correlation coefficients greater than 0.8 (p < 0.01). NDVI is influenced by climate change and human activities (such as afforestation, resident lifestyles, and economic development policies). This study reveals that with good policies, both rapid economic development and vegetation coverage improvements can be simultaneously achieved in a region. The findings of this study are crucial for the sustainable development of the mega‐urban agglomerations of the PRD and Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Grand Bay.

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Vegetation dynamics and responses to climate change and human activities in Central Asia

Cited by 482 publications

References 55 publications

Elevated precipitation alters the community structure of spring ephemerals by changing dominant species density in Central Asia

Elevated precipitation alters the community structure of spring ephemerals by changing dominant species density in Central Asia

Spatiotemporal characteristics of future changes in precipitation and temperature in Central Asia

A significant increase in the normalized difference vegetation index during the rapid economic development in the Pearl River Delta of China

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