[go: up one dir, main page]
Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Quantitative assessment of the ecological effects of land use/cover change in the arid region of Northwest China

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In light of ongoing changes in how humans interact with the environment, it is of great importance to quantitatively assess the impact of land use and cover change (LUCC) on ecosystems. Using a variety of methods, we analyzed land-use patterns and ecosystem service values (ESV) in 1990, 2000, and 2010; normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1982 to 2010 in the arid region of Northwest China; and quantitatively assessed the effects of LUCC on changes in NDVI and ESV. The results indicate the following: (1) From 1990 to 2010, the rate of increase in the amount of cropland and urban land was highest at 19.13% and 18.25%, respectively, followed by the rate for water cover (5.10%) and forest land (3.55%), while grassland experienced a reduction of 2.25%. (2) From 1990 to 2010, the total ESV increased by 1.82%. Changes in the amount of water cover and cropland were responsible for an increase in ESV of 1.42% and 1.10%, respectively, while the change in the amount of grassland was responsible for a decrease of 1.09%. Based on this, it seems likely that climate variability is a substantial cause of change in ESV. (3) From 1982 to 2010, NDVI showed an overall increase, first increasing significantly between 1982 and 2002 and then decreasing somewhat from 2002 to 2010. From 1990 to 2010, the contribution rate of LUCC to change in total NDVI was 26.74%, indicating that the contribution rate of climate variability to NDVI change was up to 73.26%. Therefore, over those 20 years, climate warming and humidification had an important impact on the development of ecosystems in the arid region of Northwest China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Barbier, E. B., Hacker, S. D., Kennedy, C., Koch, E. W., Stier, A. C., & Silliman, B. R. (2011). The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services. Ecological Monographs, 81(2), 169–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bi, W., Weng, B., Yuan, Z., Ye, M., Zhang, C., Zhao, Y., Yan, D., & Xu, T. (2018). Evolution characteristics of surface water quality due to climate change and LUCC under scenario simulations: a case study in the Luanhe River basin. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(8), 1724.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao, X., Chen, X., Bao, A., & Wang, Q. (2011). Response of vegetation to temperature and precipitation in Xinjiang during the period of 1998-2009. Journal of Arid Land, 3(2), 94–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y. H., Li, X. B., & Shi, P. J. (2001). Variation in ndvi driven by climate factors across China, 1983-1992. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica, 25(6), 716–720 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y., Li, W., Fang, G., & Li, Z. (2017). Hydrological modeling in glacierized catchments of Central Asia–status and challenges. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(2), 669–684.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y., Li, Z., Fan, Y., Wang, H., & Deng, H. (2015). Progress and prospects of climate change impacts on hydrology in the arid region of Northwest China. Environmental Research, 139, 11–19.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza, R., d’Arge, R., De Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., et al. (1997). The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387(6630), 253–260.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P., Van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., Farber, S., & Turner, R. K. (2014). Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change, 26, 152–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deng, H., & Chen, Y. (2017). Influences of recent climate change and human activities on water storage variations in Central Asia. Journal of Hydrology, 544, 46–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fei, L., Shuwen, Z., Jiuchun, Y., Kun, B., Qing, W., Junmei, T., & Liping, C. (2016). The effects of population density changes on ecosystem services value: a case study in Western Jilin, China. Ecological Indicators, 61, 328–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu, Q., Li, B., Hou, Y., Bi, X., & Zhang, X. (2017). Effects of land use and climate change on ecosystem services in Central Asia’s arid regions: a case study in Altay Prefecture, China. Science of the Total Environment, 607, 633–646.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Z. Q., & Liu, J. Y. (2000). The study on driving factors and models of NDVI change based on remote sensing and GIS in China. Climatic and Environmental Research, 5(2), 155–164 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo, N., Zhu, Y. J., Wang, J. M., & Deng, C. P. (2008). The relationship between NDVI and climate elements for 22 years in different vegetation areas of Northwest China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 32(2), 319–327 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, J. C., Huang, Y., Zhang, H., & Wu, X. (2019). Characterization of elevation and land cover dependent trends of NDVI variations in the Hexi region, Northwest China. Journal of Environmental Management, 232, 1037–1048.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao, R., Yu, D., Liu, Y., Liu, Y., Qiao, J., Wang, X., & Du, J. (2017). Impacts of changes in climate and landscape pattern on ecosystem services. Science of the Total Environment, 579, 718–728.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He, Y., Warner, T., McNeil, B., & Lee, E. (2018). Reducing uncertainties in applying remotely sensed land use and land cover maps in land-atmosphere interaction: identifying change in space and time. Remote Sensing, 10(4), 506.

    Google Scholar 

  • He, Z., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., & Jiang, H. (2014). Spatio-temporal variation in the value of ecosystem services and its response to LUCC in Ebinur lake basin. Journal of Anhui Agriculture science, 42(08), 2452–2456 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • He, Y., Lee, E., & Warner, T. A. (2017). A time series of annual land use and land cover maps of China from 1982 to 2013 generated using AVHRR GIMMS NDVI3g data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 199, 201–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermance, J. F., Augustine, D. J., & Derner, J. D. (2015). Quantifying characteristic growth dynamics in a semi-arid grassland ecosystem by predicting short-term NDVI phenology from daily rainfall: a simple four parameter coupled-reservoir model. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 36(22), 5637–5663.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Y., Bao, A., Wang, S. F., Wang, Y., & Duan, Y. B. (2013). Eco-environmental change in the lower Tarim River under the influence of intermittent water transport. Acta Geographica Sinica, 268(9), 1251–1262 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, C., Li, D., Wang, D., & Zhang, L. (2016). Quantification and assessment of changes in ecosystem service in the Three-River Headwaters Region, China as a result of climate variability and land cover change. Ecological Indicators, 66, 199–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, B., Chen, Y., Chipman, J. W., Shi, X., & Chen, Z. (2018). Why does the runoff in Hotan River show a slight decreased trend in northwestern China?. Atmospheric Science Letters, 19(1), e800.

  • Li, B., Chen, Y., Chen, Z., Xiong, H., & Lian, L. (2016a). Why does precipitation in Northwest China show a significant increasing trend from 1960 to 2010? Atmospheric Research, 167, 275–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z., Chen, Y., Li, W., Deng, H., & Fang, G. (2015). Potential impacts of climate change on vegetation dynamics in Central Asia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 120(24), 12345–12356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z., Chen, Y., Wang, Y., & Fang, G. (2016b). Dynamic changes in terrestrial net primary production and their effects on evapotranspiration. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20(6), 2169–2178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z., Wu, R., & Ma, Y. (2016c). Impact of climate change and human activities on vegetation productivity in the Three-River Headwaters. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 38(3), 804–810 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z., Wu, W., Liu, X., Fath, B. D., Sun, H., Liu, X., Xiao, X., & Cao, J. (2017). Land use/cover change and regional climate change in an arid grassland ecosystem of Inner Mongolia, China. Ecological Modelling, 353, 86–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Liu, M., Tian, H., Zhuang, D., Zhang, Z., Zhang, W., et al. (2005). Spatial and temporal patterns of China’s cropland during 1990–2000: an analysis based on Landsat TM data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 98(4), 442–456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Zhang, Z., Xu, X., Kuang, W., Zhou, W., Zhang, S., Li, R., Yan, C., Yu, D., Wu, S., & Jiang, N. (2010). Spatial patterns and driving forces of land use change in China during the early 21st century. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 20(4), 483–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, X., Zhou, Y., Hou, X., Li, J., Liu, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2015). Vegetation change based on land use/cover in arid oasis: a case study of the Eighth Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture, 23(2), 246–256 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Maimaitiaili, A., Aji, X., Matniyaz, A., & Kondoh, A. (2018). Monitoring and analysing land use/cover changes in an arid region based on multi-satellite data: the Kashgar region, Northwest China. Land, 7(1), 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piao, S., Ciais, P., Huang, Y., Shen, Z., Peng, S., Li, J., et al. (2010). The impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in China. Nature, 467(7311), 43–51.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, Y., Li, B., Chen, Z., Chen, Y., & Lian, L. (2018). Spatio-temporal variations of nonlinear trends of precipitation over an arid region of Northwest China according to the extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition method. International Journal of Climatology, 38(5), 2239–2249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quan, B. (2010). The introduction to land use and land cover change. Beijing: China Science and Technology Press (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Salazar, A., Baldi, G., Hirota, M., Syktus, J., & McAlpine, C. (2015). Land use and land cover change impacts on the regional climate of non-Amazonian South America: a review. Global and Planetary Change, 128, 103–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, K., Liu, D., Wang, Z., Zhang, B., Jin, C., Li, F., & Liu, H. (2008). Land use change in Sanjiang Plain and its driving forces analysis since 1954. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 63(1), 93–104 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Su, C., & Fu, B. (2013). Evolution of ecosystem services in the Chinese Loess Plateau under climatic and land use changes. Global and Planetary Change, 101, 119–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H., & Ma, M. (2016). Impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the ecological restoration of wetlands in the arid regions of China. Energies, 9(3), 166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y. J., & Qin, D. H. (2017). Influence of climate change and human activity on water resources in arid region of Northwest China: an overview. Advances in Climate Change Research, 8(4), 268–278 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, L. N., Yang, S. T., Liu, X. Y., Luo, Y., Zhou, X., & Zhao, H. (2014). Response analysis of land use change to the degree of human activities in Beiluo River basin since 1976. Acta Geographica Sinica, 69(1), 54–63 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie, G., Lu, C., Leng, Y., Zheng, D., & Li, S. (2003). Ecological assets valuation of the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Natural Resources, 02, 189–196 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Y., Wu, S., Lu, Z., Yan, X., & Ma, Y. (2003). Value of oasis ecosystem services in the lower reach of Tarim River Basin. Arid Land Geography, 03, 208–216 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Y., Yang, J., & Chen, Y. (2016). NDVI-based vegetation responses to climate change in an arid area of China. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 126(1–2), 213–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, J., Chen, Y., Zhao, Y., Mao, W., Xu, X., Liu, Y., & Yang, Q. (2018a). Response of vegetation NDVI to climatic extremes in the arid region of Central Asia: a case study in Xinjiang, China. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 131(3–4), 1503–1515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, J., Zhao, Y., Chen, Y., Yu, X., & Zhang, R. (2018b). Multi-scale assessments of droughts: a case study in Xinjiang, China. Science of the Total Environment, 630, 444–452.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Y. T., Zheng, D., Zhang, X. Q., & Liu, Y. (2013). The spatial coupling of land use changes and its environmental effects on Hotan oasis during 1980-2010. Acta Geographica Sinica, 68(6), 813–824 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, P., Xia, J., Zhang, Y., Zhan, C., & Qiao, Y. (2018). Comprehensive assessment of drought risk in the arid region of Northwest China based on the global palmer drought severity index gridded data. Science of the Total Environment, 627, 951–962.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, X., Liu, S., Yang, T., Xu, X., Kang, C., Tang, J., Wei, H., Ghebrezgabher, M. G., & Li, Z. (2016). Spatial-temporal dynamics of desert vegetation and its responses to climatic variations over the last three decades: a case study of Hexi region in Northwest China. Journal of Arid Land, 8(4), 556–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin, F., Deng, X., Jin, Q., Yuan, Y., & Zhao, C. (2014). The impacts of climate change and human activities on grassland productivity in Qinghai province, China. Frontiers of Earth Science, 8(1), 93–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, P. (2003). Advances in plant ecophysiological studies on re-vegetation of degraded ecosystems. Chinese Academy of Sciences, 14(11), 2031–2036.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Q., Luo, G., Li, L., Zhang, M., Lv, N., & Wang, X. (2016). Modern oasis evolution analysis based on land-use and land-cover change: a case study in Sangong River Basin on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains. Acta Geographica Sinica, 71(7), 1157–1171(in Chinese).

  • Zhang, Y. C., Yu, J. J., Qiao, M. Y., & Yang, H. W. (2011). Effects of eco-water transfer on changes of vegetation in the lower Heihe River basin. Shuili Xuebao(Journal of Hydraulic Engineering), 42(7), 757–765 (in Chinese).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, L., Nan, Z., Yu, W., Zhao, Y., & Xu, Y. (2018). Comparison of baseline period choices for separating climate and land use/land cover change impacts on watershed hydrology using distributed hydrological models. Science of the Total Environment, 622, 1016–1028.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Song, C., Zhang, K., Cheng, X., Band, L. E., & Zhang, Q. (2014). Effects of land use/land cover and climate changes on terrestrial net primary productivity in the Yangtze River basin, China, from 2001 to 2010. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 119(6), 1092–1109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, Y., Han, J., Huang, Y., Fassnacht, S. R., Xie, S., Lv, E., & Chen, M. (2018). Vegetation response to climate conditions based on NDVI simulations using stepwise cluster analysis for the Three-River Headwaters Region of China. Ecological Indicators, 92, 18–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, H., & Li, Y. (2011). An empirical analysis of the causes of farmland expansion in Northwest China. Progress in Geography, 30(5), 615–620 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501211). We are grateful to Dr. Frederick W. Kutz and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on improving the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao, 276826, Shandong, China

    Baofu Li & Yuqing Jiang

  2. Department of Geography, Dartmouth College, 6017 Fairchild, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA

    Xun Shi

  3. The State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Yaning Chen

Authors
  1. Baofu Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xun Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yaning Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yuqing Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Baofu Li.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, B., Shi, X., Chen, Y. et al. Quantitative assessment of the ecological effects of land use/cover change in the arid region of Northwest China. Environ Monit Assess 191, 704 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7911-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7911-4

Keywords