Vegetation responses to an ecological water conveyance project in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin

Zhang, Shuhua; Ye, Zhaoxia; Chen, Yaning; Xu, Yongjian

doi:10.1002/eco.1866

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is a commonly used indicator for evaluating vegetation development. Landsat NDVI data have been widely used for studying changes in regional ecological environments [8,19,20,[41][42][43]. In general, NDVI values range between −1 and 1.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ecological Relationship of Groundwater–Soil–Vegetation in the Oasis–Desert Transition Zone of the Shiyang River Basin

Cao

Nie

Liu

et al. 2021

Water

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Groundwater is an important ecological water source in arid areas. Groundwater depth (GWD) is an important indicator that affects vegetation growth and soil salinization. Clarifying the coupling relationship between vegetation, groundwater, and soil in arid areas is beneficial to the prevention of environmental problems such as desertification and salinization. Existing studies lack research on the water–soil–vegetation relationship in typical areas, especially in shallow groundwater areas. In this study, the shallow groundwater area in Minqin, northwest China, was taken as study area, and vegetation surveys and soil samples collection were conducted. The relationships between vegetation fractional coverage (VFC) and GWD, soil salinity, soil moisture, and precipitation were comprehensively analyzed. The results showed low soil salinity in the riparian zone and high soil salinity in other shallow-buried areas with salinization problems. Soil salinity was negatively correlated with VFC (R = −0.4). When soil salinity >3 g/kg, VFC was less than 20%. Meanwhile, when GWD >10 m, VFC was usually less than 15%. In the areas with soil salinity <3 g/kg, when GWD was in the range of 4–10 m, VFC was positively correlated with soil moisture content (R = 0.99), and vegetation growth mainly depended on surface soil water, which was significantly affected by precipitation. When GWD was less than 4 m, VFC was negatively correlated with GWD (R = −0.78), and vegetation growth mainly relied on groundwater and soil water. There are obvious ecological differences in the shallow-buried areas in Minqin. Hence, it is reasonable to consider zoning and grading policies for ecological protection.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ecological Relationship of Groundwater–Soil–Vegetation in the Oasis–Desert Transition Zone of the Shiyang River Basin

Cao

Nie

Liu

et al. 2021

Water

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“…Similarly, in the Heihe River Basin in north‐western China, time lag responses to runoff varied in different regions. Regions where runoff was lower showed higher time lag responses, as well as the timing in runoff had different effects, along with spring flows that favoured germination versus autumn flows that favoured growth during the next year (Zhang, Ye, Chen, & Zu, ). In our study, most of the pulse flow infiltrated into the regional aquifer by the end of the 2014 growing season (Kennedy et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics

Gomez-Sapiens

Jarchow

Flessa

et al. 2020

Hydrological Processes

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Understanding the effectiveness of environmental flow deliveries along rivers requires monitoring vegetation. Monitoring data are often collected at multiple spatial scales. For riparian vegetation, optical remote sensing methods can estimate growth responses at the riparian corridor scale, and field-based measures can quantify species composition; however, the extent to which these different measures are duplicative or complementary is important to understand when planning monitoring programmes with limited resources. In this study, we analysed riparian vegetation growth in the delta of the Colorado River in response to an experimental pulse flow. Our goal was to compare ground-based measurements of vegetation structure and composition with satellite-based Landsat radiometric variables, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We made this comparison in 21 transects following the delivery of 131.8 million cubic meters (mcm) of water in the stream channel during the spring of 2014 as a pulse flow and 38.4 mcm as base flows. Vegetation cover increased 14% and NDVI increased 0.02 (15%) by October 2015, and both variables returned to pre-pulse flow values in October 2016. Observed changes in vegetation structure and composition did not persist after the second year. The highest increase in vegetation cover in October 2014 and October 2015 resulted from species that could respond rapidly to additional water such as reeds (Arundo donax and Phragmites australis), cattail (Typha domingensis), and herbaceous plants. Dominant shrubs, saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and arrowweed (Pluchea sericea), both indicative of nonrestored habitats showed variable increases in cover, and native trees (Salicaceae family) presented low increases (1%). The strong NDVIvegetation cover relationship indicates that NDVI is appropriate to detect changes at the riparian corridor scale but needs to be complemented with ground data to determine the contributions by different species to the observed trends. K E Y W O R D S Colorado River Delta, cover NDVI, environmental flow, riparian monitoring, vegetation structure

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“…Moreover, the area of floodplain forest has reached an overall area of 1.0 × 10 5 ha. The EWCP has become a national and global model of successful restoration for damaged natural environments in arid areas (Halik et al, ; Halik et al, ; Huang et al, ; Guo et al, ; Zhang et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monitoring over many years has shown that the annual precipitation of the study area ranged from 17.4 to 42.0 mm with a total potential annual evaporation of 2,600–3,200 mm. The flora of the study area can be divided into 14 families, 24 genera, and 40 species of vascular plants (Zhang, Ye, Chen, & Xu, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation of the floodplain forest ecosystem service value in the lower reaches of Tarim River, China

et al. 2017

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Ecosystem service and human activity assessment are essential for effective natural resources allocation; however, these were seldom researched in arid region. This study used the theory proposed by Millennium Ecosystem Assessment to analyse ecosystem services provided by the floodplain forest in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. Results showed the following: (a) In the research area, the ecosystem service values of approximately US$216.78 × 108 occurring from 1972 to 2015 showed a decreasing trend; (b) the total ecosystem service values for floodplain forest and water area for all land use and land cover types accounted for 87.43% of the total value in the research area, and water supply, biodiversity protection, and waste treatment accounted for 55% of the total function values—these were the highest service values; (c) this research showed that the estimated ecosystem service values of research area were inelastic to value coefficients. This study showed that future work should allow land use and Ecological Water Conveyance Project to follow with rigorous environmental impact analyses. These analyses will be crucial to maintain the stability and sustainable development in the lower reaches of the Tarim River and also can provide references for research in the arid regions of Northwest China and Central Asia.

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Vegetation responses to an ecological water conveyance project in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin

Cited by 23 publications

References 24 publications

The Ecological Relationship of Groundwater–Soil–Vegetation in the Oasis–Desert Transition Zone of the Shiyang River Basin

The Ecological Relationship of Groundwater–Soil–Vegetation in the Oasis–Desert Transition Zone of the Shiyang River Basin

Effect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics

Variation of the floodplain forest ecosystem service value in the lower reaches of Tarim River, China

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