Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations
Plant growth and its changes over space and time are effective indicators for signifying ecosystem health. However, large uncertainties remain in characterizing and attributing vegetation changes in the ecologically fragile South China Karst region, since most existing studies were conducted at a co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1043389/full |
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| author | Jie Pei Jie Pei Li Wang Huabing Huang Huabing Huang Lei Wang Wang Li Xiaoyue Wang Hui Yang Hui Yang Jianhua Cao Jianhua Cao Huajun Fang Huajun Fang Zheng Niu |
| author_facet | Jie Pei Jie Pei Li Wang Huabing Huang Huabing Huang Lei Wang Wang Li Xiaoyue Wang Hui Yang Hui Yang Jianhua Cao Jianhua Cao Huajun Fang Huajun Fang Zheng Niu |
| author_sort | Jie Pei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plant growth and its changes over space and time are effective indicators for signifying ecosystem health. However, large uncertainties remain in characterizing and attributing vegetation changes in the ecologically fragile South China Karst region, since most existing studies were conducted at a coarse spatial resolution or covered limited time spans. Considering the highly fragmented landscapes in the region, this hinders their capability in detecting fine information of vegetation dynamics taking place at local scales and comprehending the influence of climate change usually over relatively long temporal ranges. Here, we explored the spatiotemporal variations in vegetation greenness for the entire South China Karst region (1.9 million km2) at a resolution of 30m for the notably increased time span (1987-2018) using three decadal Landsat images and the cloud-based Google Earth Engine. Moreover, we spatially attributed the vegetation changes and quantified the relative contribution of driving factors. Our results revealed a widespread vegetation recovery in the South China Karst (74.80%) during the past three decades. Notably, the area of vegetation recovery tripled following the implementation of ecological engineering compared with the reference period (1987-1999). Meanwhile, the vegetation restoration trend was strongly sustainable beyond 2018 as demonstrated by the Hurst exponent. Furthermore, climate change contributed only one-fifth to vegetation restoration, whereas major vegetation recovery was highly attributable to afforestation projects, implying that anthropogenic influences accelerated vegetation greenness gains in karst areas since the start of the new millennium during which ecological engineering was continually established. Our study provides additional insights into ecological restoration and conservation in the highly heterogeneous karst landscapes and other similar ecologically fragile areas worldwide. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:01:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-713d1ede4f234f5eb10320e0df1e3064 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:01:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-713d1ede4f234f5eb10320e0df1e30642022-12-22T03:22:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2022-10-011310.3389/fpls.2022.10433891043389Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observationsJie Pei0Jie Pei1Li Wang2Huabing Huang3Huabing Huang4Lei Wang5Wang Li6Xiaoyue Wang7Hui Yang8Hui Yang9Jianhua Cao10Jianhua Cao11Huajun Fang12Huajun Fang13Zheng Niu14School of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, ChinaKey Laboratory of Natural Resources Monitoring in Tropical and Subtropical Area of South China, Ministry of Natural Resources, Zhuhai, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, ChinaKey Laboratory of Natural Resources Monitoring in Tropical and Subtropical Area of South China, Ministry of Natural Resources, Zhuhai, ChinaInternational Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS), Karst Dynamics Laboratory, Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) & Guangxi, Guilin, ChinaInternational Research Centre on Karst, Under the Auspices of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Guilin, ChinaInstitute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS), Karst Dynamics Laboratory, Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) & Guangxi, Guilin, ChinaInternational Research Centre on Karst, Under the Auspices of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Guilin, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaThe Zhongke-Ji’an Institute for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Ji’an, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaPlant growth and its changes over space and time are effective indicators for signifying ecosystem health. However, large uncertainties remain in characterizing and attributing vegetation changes in the ecologically fragile South China Karst region, since most existing studies were conducted at a coarse spatial resolution or covered limited time spans. Considering the highly fragmented landscapes in the region, this hinders their capability in detecting fine information of vegetation dynamics taking place at local scales and comprehending the influence of climate change usually over relatively long temporal ranges. Here, we explored the spatiotemporal variations in vegetation greenness for the entire South China Karst region (1.9 million km2) at a resolution of 30m for the notably increased time span (1987-2018) using three decadal Landsat images and the cloud-based Google Earth Engine. Moreover, we spatially attributed the vegetation changes and quantified the relative contribution of driving factors. Our results revealed a widespread vegetation recovery in the South China Karst (74.80%) during the past three decades. Notably, the area of vegetation recovery tripled following the implementation of ecological engineering compared with the reference period (1987-1999). Meanwhile, the vegetation restoration trend was strongly sustainable beyond 2018 as demonstrated by the Hurst exponent. Furthermore, climate change contributed only one-fifth to vegetation restoration, whereas major vegetation recovery was highly attributable to afforestation projects, implying that anthropogenic influences accelerated vegetation greenness gains in karst areas since the start of the new millennium during which ecological engineering was continually established. Our study provides additional insights into ecological restoration and conservation in the highly heterogeneous karst landscapes and other similar ecologically fragile areas worldwide.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1043389/fullvegetation greennessspatial-temporal evolutionafforestationclimate changeecological fragile areas |
| spellingShingle | Jie Pei Jie Pei Li Wang Huabing Huang Huabing Huang Lei Wang Wang Li Xiaoyue Wang Hui Yang Hui Yang Jianhua Cao Jianhua Cao Huajun Fang Huajun Fang Zheng Niu Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations Frontiers in Plant Science vegetation greenness spatial-temporal evolution afforestation climate change ecological fragile areas |
| title | Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations |
| title_full | Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations |
| title_fullStr | Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations |
| title_short | Characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile South China Karst: Evidence from three decadal Landsat observations |
| title_sort | characterization and attribution of vegetation dynamics in the ecologically fragile south china karst evidence from three decadal landsat observations |
| topic | vegetation greenness spatial-temporal evolution afforestation climate change ecological fragile areas |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1043389/full |
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