The impacts of climate change and human activities on grassland productivity in Qinghai Province, China

Abstract

Qinghai Province, which is the source of three major rivers (i.e., Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lancang River) in East Asia, has experienced severe grassland degradation in past decades. The aim of this work was to analyze the impacts of climate change and human activities on grassland ecosystem at different spatial and temporal scales. For this purpose, the regression and residual analysis were used based on the data from remote sensing data and meteorological stations. The results show that the effect of climate change was much greater in the areas exhibiting vigorous vegetation growth. The grassland degradation was strongly correlated with the climate factors in the study area except Haixi Prefecture. Temporal and spatial heterogeneity in the quality of grassland were also detected, which was probably mainly because of the effects of human activities. In the 1980s, human activities and grassland vegetation growth were in equilibrium, which means the influence of human activities was in balance with that of climate change. However, in the 1990s, significant grassland degradation linked to human activities was observed, primarily in the Three-River Headwaters Region. Since the 21^st century, this adverse trend continued in the Qinghai Lake area and near the northern provincial boundaries, opposite to what were observed in the eastern part of study. These results are consistent with the currently status of grassland degradation in Qinghai Province, which could serve as a basis for the local grassland management and restoration programs.

Keywords

climate change / human activities / grassland degradation / spatial distribution / residual analysis

References

[1] Anyamba A, Tucker C J (2005). Analysis of Sahelian vegetation dynamics using NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data from 1981 to 2003. J Arid Environ, 63(3): 596–614

[2] Bakr N, Weindorf D C, Bahnassy M H, El-Badawi M M (2012). Multi-temporal assessment of land sensitivity to desertification in a fragile gro-ecosystem: environmental indicators. Ecol Indic, 15(1): 271–280

[3] Beck P S A, Atzberger C, Høgda K A, Johansen B, Skidmore A K (2006). Improved monitoring of vegetation dynamics at very high latitudes: a new method using MODIS NDVI. Remote Sens Environ, 100(3): 321–334

[4] Cao X, Gu Z H, Chen J, Liu J, Shi P J (2006). Analysis of human induced steppe degradation based on remote sensing in XilinGole, Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 30(2): 268–277 (in Chinese)

[5] Chen J, Jonsson P, Tamura M, Gu Z H, Matsushita B, Eklundh L (2004). A simple method for reconstructing a high-quality NDVI time-series data set based on the Savitzky-Golay filter. Remote Sens Environ, 91(3–4): 332–344

[6] Cui Q H, Jiang Z G, Liu J K, Su J P (2007). A review of the cause of range land degradation on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Pratacultural Science, 24(5): 20–26

[7] Elhag M, Walker S (2009). Impact of climate variability on vegetative cover in the Butana area of Sudan. Afr J Ecol, 47(S1): 11–16

[8] Evans J, Geerken R (2004). Discrimination between climate and human-induced dryland degradation. Journal of Arid Environments, 57(4): 535–554

[9] Feoli E, Giacomich P, Mignozzi K, Ozturk M, Scimone M (2003). Monitoring desertification risk with an index integrating climatic and remotely-sensed data: an example from the coastal area of Turkey. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 14(1): 10–21

[10] Feoli E, Vuerich L G, Zerihun W (2002). Evaluation of environmental degradation in northern Ethiopia using GIS to integrate vegetation, geomorphological erosion, and socioeconomic factors. Agric Ecosyst Environ, 91(1–3): 313–325

[11] Ferrara A, Salvati L, Sateriano A, Nolè A (2012). Performance evaluation and cost assessment of a key indicator system to monitor desertification vulnerability. Ecol Indic, 23: 123–129

[12] Fu Y, Zhang G S, Li L, Yan L D, Luo S Z, Wang Q C (2007). Ecological environment evolution characteristics and situation analysis in Qinghai plateau. Journal of Qinghai Meteorology, 2: 4–10 (in Chinese)

[13] Henderson-Sellers A, Irannejad P, McGuffic K (2008). Future desertification and climate change: the need for land-surface system evaluation improvement. Global Planet Change, 64(3–4): 129–138

[14] Hill J, Stellmes M, Udellhoven T, Röder A, Sommer S (2008). Mediterranean desertification and land degradation mapping related land use change syndromes based on satellite observations. Global Planet Change, 64(3–4): 146–157

[15] Hoffman M T, Todd S (2000). National review of land degradation in South Africa: the influence of biophysical and socio-economic factors. J South Afr Stud, 26(4): 743–758

[16] Huang L, Liu J Y, Shao Q Q (2009). Alpine grassland degradation in the source region of Yangtze River in the past 30 years — Zhidoi County as a case study. Resources Science, 31(5): 884–895

[17] Jing H, Xu J L, Gu Y S (2006). A new solution to degeneration of the grassland ecosystem in Sanjiangyuan district induced by human activities. Ecol Environ, 15(5): 1042–1045

[18] Kosmas C, Danalatos N G, Gerontidis S (2000). The effect of land parameters on vegetation performance and degree of erosion under Mediterranean conditions. Catena, 40(1): 3–17

[19] Latorre J G, García-Latorre J, Sanchez-Picón A (2001). Dealing with aridity: socio-economic structures and environmental changes in an arid Mediterranean region. Land Use Policy, 18(1): 53–64

[20] Li H (2011). Research on the measures of grassland environment construction of Sanjiangyuan. Dissertation for master degree. Tianjin: Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (in Chinese)

[21] Li S Y, Sun X Q (2009). Research about analysisofthe causeof ecological degradation of the Pastoral areas in Qinghai—With the case study of the grassland degradation in the Three Rivers. Qinghai Prataculture, 18(2): 19–23

[22] Liu J Y, Xu X L, Shao Q Q (2008). Grassland degradation in the “Three-River Headwaters” region, Qinghai Province. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 18(3): 259–273

[23] Liu R T, Zhao H L, Zhao X Y (2011). Desertification impact on macro-invertebrate diversity in grassland soil in Horqin, northern China. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 10: 1401–1409

[24] Loumou A, Giourga C, Dimitrakopoulos P, Koukoulas S (2000). Tourism contribution to agro-ecosystems conservation: the case of Lesbos Island, Greece. Environ Manage, 26(4): 363–370

[25] Meadows M E, Hoffman M T (2002). The nature, extend and causes of land degradation in South Africa: legacy of the past, lessons for the future. Area, 34(4): 428–437

[26] Nicholson S (2005). On the question of the ‘‘recovery’’ of the rains in the West African Sahel. J Arid Environ, 63(3): 615–641

[27] Nicholson S E, Tucker C J, Ba M B (1998). Desertification, drought, and surface vegetation: an example from the West African Sahel. Bull Am Meteorol Soc, 79(5): 815–829

[28] Olivia S, Gibson J, Rozelle S, Huang J K, Deng X Z (2011). Mapping poverty in rural China: how much does the environment matter? Environ Dev Econ, 16(2): 129–153

[29] Oñate J J, Peco B (2005). Policy impact on desertification: stakeholders’ perceptions in southeast Spain. Land Use Policy, 22(2): 103–114

[30] Ouyang W, Hao F H, Skidmore A K, Groen T A, Toxopeus A G, Wang T (2012). Integration of multi-sensor data to assess grassland dynamics in a Yellow River sub-watershed. Ecol Indic, 18: 163–170

[31] Pan Y Z, Gong D Y, Deng L, Li J, Gao J (2004). Smart distance searching-based and DEM-informed interpolation of surface air temperature in China. Acta Geogr Sin, 59: 366–374

[32] Prince S D (1987). Measurement of canopy interception of solar radiation by stands of trees in sparsely woodeds avanna. Int J Remote Sens, 8(12): 1747–1766

[33] Prince S D, Goward S N (1995). Global primary production: a remote sensing approach. J Biogeogr, 22(4/5): 815–835

[34] Reynolds J F, Stafford-Smith D M (2002). Global Desertification: Do Humans Create Deserts? Berlin: Dahlem University Press, 1–22

[35] Rubio J L, Bochet E (1998). Desertification indicators as diagnosis criteria for desertification risk assessment in Europe. J Arid Environ, 39(2): 113–120

[36] Running S W, Baldocchi D, Turner D P, Gower S T, Bakwin P S, Hibbard K A (1999). A global terrestrial monitoring network scaling tower fluxes with ecosystem modeling and EOS satellite data. Remote Sens Environ, 70: 108–127

[37] Salvati L, Zitti M (2005). Land degradation in the Mediterranean basin: linking bio-physical and economic factors into an ecological perspective. Biota, 5: 67–77

[38] Salvati L, Zitti M (2008). Regional convergence of environmental variables: empirical evidences from land degradation. Ecol Econ, 68(1–2): 162–168

[39] Salvati L, Zitti M (2009). Assessing the impact of ecological and economic factors on land degradation vulnerability through multiway analysis. Ecol Indic, 9(2): 357–363

[40] Salvati L, Zitti M, Ceccarelli T (2008). Integrating economic and environmental indicators in the assessment of desertification risk: a case study. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 6: 129–138

[41] Tanrivermis H (2003). Agricultural land use change and sustainable use of land resources in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. J Arid Environ, 54(3): 553–564

[42] Townshend J R G, Justice C O, Skole D, Malingreau J P, Cihlar J, Teillet P, Sadowski F, Ruttenberg S (1994). The 1 km resolution global data set: needs of the International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme. Int J Remote Sens, 17: 231–255

[43] Tucker C J (1979). Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation. Remote Sens Environ, 8(2): 127–150

[44] Tucker C J, Dregne H E, Newcomb W W (1991). Expansion and contraction of the sahara desert from 1980 to 1990. Science, 253(5017): 299–300

[45] UNCCD (1994). United Nations Convention to combat desertification in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa. A/AC.241/27, Paris

[46] UNCED (1992). Managing fragile ecosystems: Combating desertification and drought. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

[47] Wang G X, Cheng G D (2001). Characteristics of grassland and ecological changes of vegetations in the source regions of Yangtze and Yellow River. J Desert Res, 21(2): 101–107

[48] Wang J, Hao C C (2004). The third phase of grassland ecological construction project survey efficiency significantly in Hualong County. Qinghai Pratacultre, 13(1): 51–59 (in Chinese)

[49] Wessels K J, Prince S D, Malherbe J, Small J, Frost P E, VanZyl D (2007). Can human-induced land degradation be distinguished from the effects of rainfall variability? A case study in South Africa. J Arid Environ, 68(2): 271–297

[50] Xu D Y, Kang X W, Liu Z L, Zhuang D F, Pan J J (2009). Climate change and human activities in the process of desertification in Ordos region relative action research. Sci China Ser D, 39(4): 516–528

[51] Yang X, Ding Z, Fan X, Zhou Z, Ma N (2007). Processes and mechanisms of desertification in northern China during the last 30 years, with a special reference to the Hunshandake Sandy Land, eastern Inner Mongolia. Catena, 71(1): 2–12

[52] Zhang G L, Xu X L, Zhou C P, Zhang H B, Ouyang H (2011). Responses of grassland vegetation to climatic variations on different temporal scales in Hulun Buir Grassland in the past 30 years. J Geogr Sci, 21(4): 634–650

[53] Zhao X Q, Zhang Y S, Zhou X M (2000). Theory and practice for sustainable development of animal husbandry on the alpine meadow pasture. Resources Science, 22(4): 50–61

[54] Zhao X Q, Zhou H K (2005). Eco-environmental degradation, vegetation regeneration and sustainable development in the headwaters of Three Rivers on Tibetan Plateau. Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20(6): 471–476

[55] Zheng Y R, Xie Z X, Robert C, Jiang L H, Shimizu H (2006). Did climate drive ecosystem change and induce desertification in Otindag sandy land, China over the past 40 years? J Arid Environ, 64(3): 523–541

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg