Spatiotemporal Variation of Vegetation Coverage and Its Response to Climate Factors and Human Activities in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas: Case Study of the Otindag Sandy Land in China

Hao Wang, Fei Yao, Huasheng Zhu and Yuanyuan Zhao
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Hao Wang: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Fei Yao: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Huasheng Zhu: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Yuanyuan Zhao: Key Laboratory of State Forestry Administration on Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: Vegetation coverage is a key variable in terrestrial ecosystem monitoring and climate change research and is closely related to soil erosion and land desertification. In this article, we aimed to resolve two key scientific issues: (1) quantifying the spatial-temporal vegetation dynamics in the Otindag Sandy Land (OSL); and (2) identifying the relative importance of climate factors and human activities in impacting vegetation dynamics. Based on correlation analysis, simple regression analysis, and the partial derivative formula method, we examined the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation coverage in the OSL, belonging to the arid and semiarid region of northern China, and their interaction with climate-human factors. The results showed that the vegetation coverage of the area showed a downward trend with a rate of −0.0006/a during 2001–2017, and gradually decreased from east to west. Precipitation was the main climate factor controlling the overall distribution pattern of vegetation coverage, while the human factors had a more severe impact on the vegetation coverage than the climate factors in such a short period, and the overall impact was negative. Among the human factors, population pressure, urbanization, industrialization, pastoral production activities, and residents’ lifestyles had a negative impact. However, ecological restoration polices alleviated the contradiction between human development and vegetation deterioration. The results of this article provide a scientific basis for restoring grassland systems in arid and semi-arid areas

Keywords: fractional vegetation cover (FVC); human activities; climate factors; spatiotemporal patterns; otindag sandy land (OSL) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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