Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities

The Qinghai-Tibet (QT) Plateau Engineering Corridor is located in the hinterland of the QT Plateau, which is highly sensitive to global climate change. Climate change causes permafrost degradation, which subsequently affects vegetation growth. This study focused on the vegetation dynamics and their...

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Published in:Remote Sensing
Main Authors: Yi Song, Long Jin, Haibo Wang
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018
Subjects:
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010095
https://doaj.org/article/d7fa78170e08487bb42461598c4fb2fc
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d7fa78170e08487bb42461598c4fb2fc 2023-05-15T17:57:05+02:00 Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities Yi Song Long Jin Haibo Wang 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010095 https://doaj.org/article/d7fa78170e08487bb42461598c4fb2fc EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/1/95 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs10010095 https://doaj.org/article/d7fa78170e08487bb42461598c4fb2fc Remote Sensing, Vol 10, Iss 1, p 95 (2018) permafrost degradation human activities vegetation change scale effect Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Science Q article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010095 2022-12-31T15:16:14Z The Qinghai-Tibet (QT) Plateau Engineering Corridor is located in the hinterland of the QT Plateau, which is highly sensitive to global climate change. Climate change causes permafrost degradation, which subsequently affects vegetation growth. This study focused on the vegetation dynamics and their relationships with climate change and human activities in the region surrounding the QT Plateau Engineering Corridor. The vegetation changes were inferred by applying trend analysis, the Mann-Kendall trend test and abrupt change analysis. Six key regions, each containing 40 nested quadrats that ranged in size from 500 × 500 m to 20 × 20 km, were selected to determine the spatial scales of the impacts from different factors. Cumulative growing season integrated enhanced vegetation index (CGSIEVI) values were calculated for each of the nested quadrats of different sizes to indicate the overall vegetation state over the entire year at different spatial scales. The impacts from human activities, a sudden increase in precipitation and permafrost degradation were quantified at different spatial scales using the CGSIEVI values and meteorological data based on the double mass curve method. Three conclusions were derived. First, the vegetation displayed a significant increasing trend over 23.6% of the study area. The areas displaying increases were mainly distributed in the Hoh Xil. Of the area where the vegetation displayed a significant decreasing trend, 72.4% was made up of alpine meadows. Second, more vegetation, especially the alpine meadows, has begun to degenerate or experience more rapid degradation since 2007 due to permafrost degradation and overgrazing. Finally, an active layer depth of 3 m to 3.2 m represents a limiting depth for alpine meadows. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Corridor The ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) Corridor, The ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) Kendall ENVELOPE(-59.828,-59.828,-63.497,-63.497) Remote Sensing 10 2 95
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic permafrost degradation
human activities
vegetation change
scale effect
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor
Science
Q
spellingShingle permafrost degradation
human activities
vegetation change
scale effect
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor
Science
Q
Yi Song
Long Jin
Haibo Wang
Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities
topic_facet permafrost degradation
human activities
vegetation change
scale effect
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor
Science
Q
description The Qinghai-Tibet (QT) Plateau Engineering Corridor is located in the hinterland of the QT Plateau, which is highly sensitive to global climate change. Climate change causes permafrost degradation, which subsequently affects vegetation growth. This study focused on the vegetation dynamics and their relationships with climate change and human activities in the region surrounding the QT Plateau Engineering Corridor. The vegetation changes were inferred by applying trend analysis, the Mann-Kendall trend test and abrupt change analysis. Six key regions, each containing 40 nested quadrats that ranged in size from 500 × 500 m to 20 × 20 km, were selected to determine the spatial scales of the impacts from different factors. Cumulative growing season integrated enhanced vegetation index (CGSIEVI) values were calculated for each of the nested quadrats of different sizes to indicate the overall vegetation state over the entire year at different spatial scales. The impacts from human activities, a sudden increase in precipitation and permafrost degradation were quantified at different spatial scales using the CGSIEVI values and meteorological data based on the double mass curve method. Three conclusions were derived. First, the vegetation displayed a significant increasing trend over 23.6% of the study area. The areas displaying increases were mainly distributed in the Hoh Xil. Of the area where the vegetation displayed a significant decreasing trend, 72.4% was made up of alpine meadows. Second, more vegetation, especially the alpine meadows, has begun to degenerate or experience more rapid degradation since 2007 due to permafrost degradation and overgrazing. Finally, an active layer depth of 3 m to 3.2 m represents a limiting depth for alpine meadows.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Yi Song
Long Jin
Haibo Wang
author_facet Yi Song
Long Jin
Haibo Wang
author_sort Yi Song
title Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities
title_short Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities
title_full Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities
title_fullStr Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities
title_full_unstemmed Vegetation Changes along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor Since 2000 Induced by Climate Change and Human Activities
title_sort vegetation changes along the qinghai-tibet plateau engineering corridor since 2000 induced by climate change and human activities
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2018
url https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010095
https://doaj.org/article/d7fa78170e08487bb42461598c4fb2fc
long_lat ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582)
ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582)
ENVELOPE(-59.828,-59.828,-63.497,-63.497)
geographic Corridor The
Corridor, The
Kendall
geographic_facet Corridor The
Corridor, The
Kendall
genre permafrost
genre_facet permafrost
op_source Remote Sensing, Vol 10, Iss 1, p 95 (2018)
op_relation http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/1/95
https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292
2072-4292
doi:10.3390/rs10010095
https://doaj.org/article/d7fa78170e08487bb42461598c4fb2fc
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010095
container_title Remote Sensing
container_volume 10
container_issue 2
container_start_page 95
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