Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017
Oases are among the most productive and vulnerable ecosystems on drylands as well as central areas of human life and economic development. In China, oasis expansion and degradation are directly related to the survival and development of tens of millions of inhabitants who live within them, profoundl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac740b |
| _version_ | 1827869461735014400 |
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| author | Peng Chen Shuai Wang Yanxu Liu Yaping Wang Zidong Li Yijia Wang Haoyu Zhang Yaosheng Zhang |
| author_facet | Peng Chen Shuai Wang Yanxu Liu Yaping Wang Zidong Li Yijia Wang Haoyu Zhang Yaosheng Zhang |
| author_sort | Peng Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Oases are among the most productive and vulnerable ecosystems on drylands as well as central areas of human life and economic development. In China, oasis expansion and degradation are directly related to the survival and development of tens of millions of inhabitants who live within them, profoundly affecting human well-being. However, our understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of China’s oases has been limited. This creates a challenge to accurately assess the environmental impacts of oasis dynamics and sustainable oasis development. Here we analyzed Landsat images (5 TM, 7 ETM+, and 8 OIL, ∼61 900 images) over the period 1987–2017, and we produced annual maps of China’s oases (30 m spatial resolution) using trajectories and spectral-temporal segmentation algorithm (LandTrendr) and machine-learning methods (Random Forest). We found that oasis areas increased significantly between 1987 and 2017 (+8.82 Mha). Grasslands and croplands expanded the most, and reclamation of deserts and grasslands made cropland the largest gainer. At the provincial scale, oasis expansion in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai was mainly attributed to grassland restoration. In Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia, reclamation of croplands was also an important factor in addition to grassland restoration. With the expansion of the oasis ∼73.36% of areas showed decreasing trends of soil moisture, and even desertification in some areas. The overexpansion of oases might cause a great challenge to regional water security. Our dataset and results can provide a basis for identifying trade-off areas/regions between development benefits and environmental impacts, helping policymakers to identify high-priority areas for intervention and reasonably plan land-use spatial structure in oasis areas for sustainable development of oases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:44:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e955c24c70e7428f8b85153b7c909c0c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:44:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-e955c24c70e7428f8b85153b7c909c0c2023-08-09T15:32:28ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117606404410.1088/1748-9326/ac740bSpatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017Peng Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7736-9979Shuai Wang1Yanxu Liu2Yaping Wang3Zidong Li4Yijia Wang5Haoyu Zhang6Yaosheng Zhang7State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaOases are among the most productive and vulnerable ecosystems on drylands as well as central areas of human life and economic development. In China, oasis expansion and degradation are directly related to the survival and development of tens of millions of inhabitants who live within them, profoundly affecting human well-being. However, our understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of China’s oases has been limited. This creates a challenge to accurately assess the environmental impacts of oasis dynamics and sustainable oasis development. Here we analyzed Landsat images (5 TM, 7 ETM+, and 8 OIL, ∼61 900 images) over the period 1987–2017, and we produced annual maps of China’s oases (30 m spatial resolution) using trajectories and spectral-temporal segmentation algorithm (LandTrendr) and machine-learning methods (Random Forest). We found that oasis areas increased significantly between 1987 and 2017 (+8.82 Mha). Grasslands and croplands expanded the most, and reclamation of deserts and grasslands made cropland the largest gainer. At the provincial scale, oasis expansion in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai was mainly attributed to grassland restoration. In Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia, reclamation of croplands was also an important factor in addition to grassland restoration. With the expansion of the oasis ∼73.36% of areas showed decreasing trends of soil moisture, and even desertification in some areas. The overexpansion of oases might cause a great challenge to regional water security. Our dataset and results can provide a basis for identifying trade-off areas/regions between development benefits and environmental impacts, helping policymakers to identify high-priority areas for intervention and reasonably plan land-use spatial structure in oasis areas for sustainable development of oases.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac740bspatiotemporal processesdriving factorsland cover/changeLandTrendrLandsat |
| spellingShingle | Peng Chen Shuai Wang Yanxu Liu Yaping Wang Zidong Li Yijia Wang Haoyu Zhang Yaosheng Zhang Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017 Environmental Research Letters spatiotemporal processes driving factors land cover/change LandTrendr Landsat |
| title | Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017 |
| title_full | Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017 |
| title_fullStr | Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017 |
| title_short | Spatio-temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in China’s drylands between 1987 and 2017 |
| title_sort | spatio temporal patterns of oasis dynamics in china s drylands between 1987 and 2017 |
| topic | spatiotemporal processes driving factors land cover/change LandTrendr Landsat |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac740b |
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