Ecosystem Resilience Trends and Its Influencing Factors in China’s Three-River Headwater Region: A Comprehensive Analysis Using CSD Indicators (1982–2023)

Zishan Wang, Wenli Huang () and Xiaobin Guan
Additional contact information
Zishan Wang: College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Wenli Huang: School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
Xiaobin Guan: School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Ecosystem resilience, the ability of an ecosystem to recover from disturbances, is a critical indicator of environmental health and stability, particularly under the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic pressures. This study focuses on the Three-River Headwater Region (TRHR), a critical ecological area for East and Southeast Asia, often referred to as the “Water Tower of China”. We used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a proxy for vegetation growth and productivity and calculated Critical Slowing Down (CSD) indicators to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of grassland ecosystem resilience in the TRHR from 1984 to 2021. Our research revealed a sustained improvement in ecosystem resilience in the TRHR starting in the late 1990s, with a reversal in this trend observed after 2011. Spatially, ecosystem resilience was higher in areas with greater precipitation and higher vegetation productivity. Temporally, changes in grazing intensity were most strongly correlated with resilience dynamics, with explanatory power far exceeding that of NDVI, temperature, and precipitation. Our study underscores the importance of incorporating ecosystem resilience into assessments of ecosystem function changes and the effectiveness of ecological conservation measures, providing valuable insights for similar research in other regions of the world.

Keywords: ecosystem resilience; alpine meadow; Three-River Headwater Region; critical slowing down; ecological management; tipping point; grazing; NDVI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/8/1224/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/8/1224/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:8:p:1224-:d:1451575

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().