NDVI-Based Greening of Alpine Steppe and Its Relationships with Climatic Change and Grazing Intensity in the Southwestern Tibetan Plateau

Yan Li, Jie Gong, Yunxia Zhang and Bingli Gao
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Yan Li: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jie Gong: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yunxia Zhang: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Bingli Gao: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Alpine vegetation on the Southwestern Tibetan Plateau (SWTP) is sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and human activities. Climate warming and human actions (mainly ecological restoration, social-economic development, and grazing) have already caused the degradation of alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) to some extent. However, it remains unclear how human activities (mainly grazing) have regulated vegetation variation under climate change and ecological restoration since 2000. This study used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and social statistic data to explore the spatiotemporal changes and the relationship between the NDVI and climatic change, human activities, and grazing intensity. The results revealed that the NDVI increased by 0.006/10a from 2000 to 2020. Significant greening, mainly distributed in Rikaze, with partial browning, has been found in the SWTP. The correlation analysis results showed that precipitation is the most critical factor affecting the spatial distribution of NDVI, and the NDVI is correlated positively with temperature and precipitation in most parts of the SWTP. We found that climate change and human activities co-affected the vegetation change in the SWTP, and human activities leading to vegetation greening since 2000. The NDVI and grazing intensity were mainly negatively correlated, and the grazing caused vegetation degradation to some extent. This study provides practical support for grassland use, grazing management, ecological restoration, and regional sustainable development for the TP and similar alpine areas.

Keywords: NDVI; Tibetan Plateau; climate change; human activities; grazing intensity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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