Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau
Restoration is the natural and intervention-assisted set of processes designed to promote and facilitate the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. However, it can also have an adverse effect on the environment. Thus, assessing an ecological restoration project’s imp...
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PeerJ Inc.
2022-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/13658.pdf |
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| author | Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba Yves Uwiragiye Hongzhi Miao Zhiqin Li Jianbin Zhou |
| author_facet | Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba Yves Uwiragiye Hongzhi Miao Zhiqin Li Jianbin Zhou |
| author_sort | Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Restoration is the natural and intervention-assisted set of processes designed to promote and facilitate the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. However, it can also have an adverse effect on the environment. Thus, assessing an ecological restoration project’s impact is crucial to determining its success and optimum management strategies. We performed a meta-analysis concerning the environmental outcomes during the years 2000–2015 resulting from the “Grain for Green” Project (GFGP) implementation in the Loess Plateau (LP). Data were gathered from 40 peer-reviewed English-language articles chosen from a pool of 332 articles. The results showed that, on average, GFGP increased forest coverage by 35.7% (95% CI [24.15–47.52%]), and grassland by 1.05% (95% CI [0.8–1.28%]). At the same time, GFGP has a positive impact on soil carbon (C) sequestration, net ecosystem production (NEP), and net primary production (NPP), from the years 2000 to 2015 by an average of 36% (95% CI [28.96–43.18%]), 22.7% (95% CI [9.10–36.79%]), and 13.5% (95% CI [9.44–17.354%]), respectively. Soil erosion, sediment load, runoff coefficient, and water yield were reduced by 13.3% (95% CI [0.27–25.76%]), 21.5% (95% CI [1.50–39.99%]), 22.4% (95% CI [5.28–40.45%]) and 43.3% (95% CI [27.03–82.86%]), respectively, from the years 2000 to 2015. Our results indicate that water supply decreased with the increase of vegetation coverage. Therefore, to balance the needs for green space, GFGP policies and strategies should recover, enhance, and sustain more resilient ecosystems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:49:46Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:49:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-f226df7cc01f4d348c338b7a87e726752023-12-03T10:30:23ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592022-07-0110e1365810.7717/peerj.13658Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess PlateauMbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba0Yves Uwiragiye1Hongzhi Miao2Zhiqin Li3Jianbin Zhou4College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, ChinaRestoration is the natural and intervention-assisted set of processes designed to promote and facilitate the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. However, it can also have an adverse effect on the environment. Thus, assessing an ecological restoration project’s impact is crucial to determining its success and optimum management strategies. We performed a meta-analysis concerning the environmental outcomes during the years 2000–2015 resulting from the “Grain for Green” Project (GFGP) implementation in the Loess Plateau (LP). Data were gathered from 40 peer-reviewed English-language articles chosen from a pool of 332 articles. The results showed that, on average, GFGP increased forest coverage by 35.7% (95% CI [24.15–47.52%]), and grassland by 1.05% (95% CI [0.8–1.28%]). At the same time, GFGP has a positive impact on soil carbon (C) sequestration, net ecosystem production (NEP), and net primary production (NPP), from the years 2000 to 2015 by an average of 36% (95% CI [28.96–43.18%]), 22.7% (95% CI [9.10–36.79%]), and 13.5% (95% CI [9.44–17.354%]), respectively. Soil erosion, sediment load, runoff coefficient, and water yield were reduced by 13.3% (95% CI [0.27–25.76%]), 21.5% (95% CI [1.50–39.99%]), 22.4% (95% CI [5.28–40.45%]) and 43.3% (95% CI [27.03–82.86%]), respectively, from the years 2000 to 2015. Our results indicate that water supply decreased with the increase of vegetation coverage. Therefore, to balance the needs for green space, GFGP policies and strategies should recover, enhance, and sustain more resilient ecosystems.https://peerj.com/articles/13658.pdfEcological restorationEnvironmental outcomesLoess plateauGrain for green projectMeta-analysisWater shortage |
| spellingShingle | Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba Yves Uwiragiye Hongzhi Miao Zhiqin Li Jianbin Zhou Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau PeerJ Ecological restoration Environmental outcomes Loess plateau Grain for green project Meta-analysis Water shortage |
| title | Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau |
| title_full | Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau |
| title_short | Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau |
| title_sort | ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the loess plateau |
| topic | Ecological restoration Environmental outcomes Loess plateau Grain for green project Meta-analysis Water shortage |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/13658.pdf |
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