Vegetation Landscape Changes and Driving Factors of Typical Karst Region in the Anthropocene

Abstract

Vegetation degeneration has become a serious ecological problem for karst regions in the Anthropocene. According to the deficiency of long serial and high-resolution analysis of karst vegetation, this paper reconstructed the variation of vegetation landscape changes from 1987 to 2020 in a typical karst region of China. Using Landsat time series data, the dynamic changes and driving factors of natural karst vegetation were identified at the landscape scale. On the premise of considering the time-lag effect, the main climatic factors that influence vegetation growth were presented at the interannual timescale. Then, the approach of residual analysis was adopted to distinguish the dominant factors affecting vegetation growth. Results of trend analysis revealed that 21.5% of the forestland showed an overall significant decline in vegetation growth, while only 1.5% showed an increase in vegetation growth during the study period. Precipitation and radiation were the dominant meteorological factors influencing vegetation at the interannual timescale, as opposed to temperature. More than 70% of the natural vegetation growth was dominated by climatic factors. The area percentage of negative human impact has increased gradually since 2009 and reached 18.5% in 2020, indicating the currently serious situation of vegetation protection; fortunately, in recent years, human disturbances on vegetation have been mitigated in karst areas with the promotion of ecological conservation and restoration projects.

Karst Landscape Governance in the Guilin World Heritage Site, China

“…Karst heritage sites are complex systems that requires multi-level, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder nexus governance. Karst heritage landscape conservation plays two roles: one is to prevent and mitigate damage to local karst landscape systems and resources (e.g., water and groundwater supplies, tourist attractions), and the other is to maintain and/or improve ecosystem services affected by human activities in karst terrains [49]. To this end, karst heritage conservation should be accompanied by the strengthening of regulatory implementation, as well as promoting public awareness and partnerships.…”

Response of Vegetation Dynamics in the Three-North Region of China to Climate and Human Activities from 1982 to 2018

“…The residual analysis method is commonly used to calculate the relative contributions of climate changes and human activities [40,41]. At first, a multiple linear regression equation is constructed based on climate factors to predict the NDVIs only affected by climate change.…”

Spatiotemporal Variations of Vegetation and Its Response to Climate Change and Human Activities in Arid Areas—A Case Study of the Shule River Basin, Northwestern China*

“…The response of vegetation conditions to temperature and precipitation is often nonlinear [41]. The residual analysis method calculates the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to attribute better the observed vegetation changes to climate change and human activities [60,64].…”

“…The succession of vegetation cover is influenced by climate, natural environmental factors, and human activities [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. In recent years, various human activities, such as urban expansion and resource development, have profoundly disturbed the regional ecological environment, posing a serious threat to its stability [26][27][28][29].…”