Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling
The Horqin temperate steppe is the largest grassland in northern China. With the combined disturbance of multiple potential drivers, the native herbaceous vegetation has degraded with different intensity, and woody plants have transformed into the dominant vegetation in this area. On the one hand, w...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22012626 |
| _version_ | 1797942120964685824 |
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| author | Qian Chen Xiaohui Yang SeMyung Kwon Yiran Li Jiankang Liu Kebin Zhang |
| author_facet | Qian Chen Xiaohui Yang SeMyung Kwon Yiran Li Jiankang Liu Kebin Zhang |
| author_sort | Qian Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Horqin temperate steppe is the largest grassland in northern China. With the combined disturbance of multiple potential drivers, the native herbaceous vegetation has degraded with different intensity, and woody plants have transformed into the dominant vegetation in this area. On the one hand, woody plants play an important role in sand control, food/timber product provision, etc. On the other hand, this transformation process significantly affects the steppe ecosystem structure and function. It is necessary to clarify the patterns and determinants of woody plant cover changes. In view of the lack of high spatio-temporal resolution remote sensing data for woody cover. Here, based on high-resolution satellite images and the random forest model, the study reports the annual mean woody plant cover of the Horqin temperate steppe is 17.55 % over the past 35 years, and the significant increase area is approximately 43.7 % of the total area. Analysis of the boosted regression tree model showed potential drivers were mainly attributed to climate change (i.e., mean annual temperature, mean annual wind speed, and annual precipitation) and grazing intensity, with the cumulative contribution approaching 70 %. Furthermore, large-scale and high-density afforestation could also be responsible for the increase in woody plant cover. Against the background of frequent climate extremes, maintaining and improving steppe productivity, avoiding regional climate deterioration caused by blind afforestation, and developing a reasonable grazing management policy is the urgently needed to ensure the relative ecological stability of semi-arid temperate steppes and to achieve relatively sustainable development of the regional agro-pastoral economy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:02:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-391c0d92d52b43129aa08b683a3b018e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:02:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-391c0d92d52b43129aa08b683a3b018e2023-01-27T04:19:10ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2023-02-01146109789Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modelingQian Chen0Xiaohui Yang1SeMyung Kwon2Yiran Li3Jiankang Liu4Kebin Zhang5School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, ChinaInstitute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, ChinaInstitute of Ecological Restoration, Kongju National University, 54 Daehak-ro, Yesan-eup, Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do 32439, Republic of KoreaSchool of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, ChinaBreeding Base for State Key Lab. of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration in Northwestern China, School of Ecology and Environment, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, ChinaSchool of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China; Corresponding author.The Horqin temperate steppe is the largest grassland in northern China. With the combined disturbance of multiple potential drivers, the native herbaceous vegetation has degraded with different intensity, and woody plants have transformed into the dominant vegetation in this area. On the one hand, woody plants play an important role in sand control, food/timber product provision, etc. On the other hand, this transformation process significantly affects the steppe ecosystem structure and function. It is necessary to clarify the patterns and determinants of woody plant cover changes. In view of the lack of high spatio-temporal resolution remote sensing data for woody cover. Here, based on high-resolution satellite images and the random forest model, the study reports the annual mean woody plant cover of the Horqin temperate steppe is 17.55 % over the past 35 years, and the significant increase area is approximately 43.7 % of the total area. Analysis of the boosted regression tree model showed potential drivers were mainly attributed to climate change (i.e., mean annual temperature, mean annual wind speed, and annual precipitation) and grazing intensity, with the cumulative contribution approaching 70 %. Furthermore, large-scale and high-density afforestation could also be responsible for the increase in woody plant cover. Against the background of frequent climate extremes, maintaining and improving steppe productivity, avoiding regional climate deterioration caused by blind afforestation, and developing a reasonable grazing management policy is the urgently needed to ensure the relative ecological stability of semi-arid temperate steppes and to achieve relatively sustainable development of the regional agro-pastoral economy.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22012626Semi-arid steppeWoody plant coverDriver analysisRandom forestBoosted regression tree |
| spellingShingle | Qian Chen Xiaohui Yang SeMyung Kwon Yiran Li Jiankang Liu Kebin Zhang Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling Ecological Indicators Semi-arid steppe Woody plant cover Driver analysis Random forest Boosted regression tree |
| title | Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling |
| title_full | Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling |
| title_fullStr | Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling |
| title_short | Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin temperate steppe, northeast China: Remote sensing-based computation and modeling |
| title_sort | woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the horqin temperate steppe northeast china remote sensing based computation and modeling |
| topic | Semi-arid steppe Woody plant cover Driver analysis Random forest Boosted regression tree |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22012626 |
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