Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone
The spatial pattern of vegetation can reflect the impacts of the environment on plants and the response of plants to the environment, which can promote a deep understanding of the potential driving mechanisms of vegetation evolution and community maintenance. A sand-binding vegetation system without...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22005398 |
| _version_ | 1828746618092912640 |
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| author | Ying Zheng Qiyue Yang Heng Ren Dejin Wang Changming Zhao Wenzhi Zhao |
| author_facet | Ying Zheng Qiyue Yang Heng Ren Dejin Wang Changming Zhao Wenzhi Zhao |
| author_sort | Ying Zheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The spatial pattern of vegetation can reflect the impacts of the environment on plants and the response of plants to the environment, which can promote a deep understanding of the potential driving mechanisms of vegetation evolution and community maintenance. A sand-binding vegetation system without irrigation has been implemented in the oasis–desert transitional zone since the 1970 s, where the annual precipitation has been approximately 120 mm. While the mobile dunes have been effectively stabilized, a patchy pattern of sand-binding vegetation has been observed. However, we do not understand why the pattern of sand-binding vegetation changed from the initial uniform distribution to the current patchy pattern. In this study, low-altitude UAV remote sensing technology and imaging-based quantification techniques were used to explore the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the spatial patterns of sand-binding vegetation over 50 years. The spatial pattern of Haloxylon ammodendron changed gradually from a uniform distribution to an aggregated distribution, and the degree of patch fragmentation of H. ammodendron at the landscape scale gradually increased with the age of the sand-binding vegetation. The artificial sand-binding vegetation composed of H. ammodendron showed discontinuous change in which the system state reached a transition point after 30 years and changed to another state after 40 years. There were no significant correlations between the landscape indices and soil water content in the shallow layers (0–10 cm, 10–50 cm), while the soil water content in the 50–100 cm layers was significantly negatively correlated with the class area, percentage of landscape, largest patch index, percentage of like adjacencies and aggregation index and was positively correlated with the normalized landscape shape index. The soil water content in the 100–200 cm layers was positively correlated with the number of patches and patch density. Competition intensity at the individual level had a more significant effect on the area-type indices, and competition intensity at the population level had a more significant effect on the clustering-type indices. Finally, we found that the soil water content in deep layers and competition are the main drivers of the H. ammodendron spatial pattern change from a uniform pattern to a patchy pattern. These findings enrich theory on the self-organization of vegetation in arid and semiarid environments and have important theoretical and practical significance for the establishment and management of artificial vegetation in arid areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:28:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-104f89c99f5b43d48445f5b938689be1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:28:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-104f89c99f5b43d48445f5b938689be12022-12-22T02:12:10ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2022-08-01141109068Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zoneYing Zheng0Qiyue Yang1Heng Ren2Dejin Wang3Changming Zhao4Wenzhi Zhao5State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, No. 222, Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Yuzhong Mountain Ecosystems Observation and Research Station, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, ChinaNorthwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Basin Ecohydrology, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, ChinaNorthwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Basin Ecohydrology, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming, Yunnan 650500, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, No. 222, Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Yuzhong Mountain Ecosystems Observation and Research Station, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Corresponding authors at: Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Basin Ecohydrology, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China (W. Zhao). State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, No. 222, Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China (C. Zhao).Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Basin Ecohydrology, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Corresponding authors at: Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Basin Ecohydrology, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China (W. Zhao). State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, No. 222, Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China (C. Zhao).The spatial pattern of vegetation can reflect the impacts of the environment on plants and the response of plants to the environment, which can promote a deep understanding of the potential driving mechanisms of vegetation evolution and community maintenance. A sand-binding vegetation system without irrigation has been implemented in the oasis–desert transitional zone since the 1970 s, where the annual precipitation has been approximately 120 mm. While the mobile dunes have been effectively stabilized, a patchy pattern of sand-binding vegetation has been observed. However, we do not understand why the pattern of sand-binding vegetation changed from the initial uniform distribution to the current patchy pattern. In this study, low-altitude UAV remote sensing technology and imaging-based quantification techniques were used to explore the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the spatial patterns of sand-binding vegetation over 50 years. The spatial pattern of Haloxylon ammodendron changed gradually from a uniform distribution to an aggregated distribution, and the degree of patch fragmentation of H. ammodendron at the landscape scale gradually increased with the age of the sand-binding vegetation. The artificial sand-binding vegetation composed of H. ammodendron showed discontinuous change in which the system state reached a transition point after 30 years and changed to another state after 40 years. There were no significant correlations between the landscape indices and soil water content in the shallow layers (0–10 cm, 10–50 cm), while the soil water content in the 50–100 cm layers was significantly negatively correlated with the class area, percentage of landscape, largest patch index, percentage of like adjacencies and aggregation index and was positively correlated with the normalized landscape shape index. The soil water content in the 100–200 cm layers was positively correlated with the number of patches and patch density. Competition intensity at the individual level had a more significant effect on the area-type indices, and competition intensity at the population level had a more significant effect on the clustering-type indices. Finally, we found that the soil water content in deep layers and competition are the main drivers of the H. ammodendron spatial pattern change from a uniform pattern to a patchy pattern. These findings enrich theory on the self-organization of vegetation in arid and semiarid environments and have important theoretical and practical significance for the establishment and management of artificial vegetation in arid areas.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22005398Oasis–desert transitional zoneArtificial sand-binding vegetationSpatial pattern variationLandscape indicesUAV imagery |
| spellingShingle | Ying Zheng Qiyue Yang Heng Ren Dejin Wang Changming Zhao Wenzhi Zhao Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone Ecological Indicators Oasis–desert transitional zone Artificial sand-binding vegetation Spatial pattern variation Landscape indices UAV imagery |
| title | Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone |
| title_full | Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone |
| title_fullStr | Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone |
| title_short | Spatial pattern variation of artificial sand-binding vegetation based on UAV imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis–desert transitional zone |
| title_sort | spatial pattern variation of artificial sand binding vegetation based on uav imagery and its influencing factors in an oasis desert transitional zone |
| topic | Oasis–desert transitional zone Artificial sand-binding vegetation Spatial pattern variation Landscape indices UAV imagery |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22005398 |
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