When and where did the Loess Plateau turn “green”? Analysis of the tendency and breakpoints of the normalized difference vegetation index

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Cao ◽  
Yurui Li ◽  
Yansui Liu ◽  
Yufu Chen ◽  
Yongsheng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
The Loess Plateau

scholarly journals Contributions of Vegetation Greening and Climate Change to Evapotranspiration Trend after Large-Scale Vegetation Restoration on the Loess Plateau, China

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 1755
Author(s):  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Chenfeng Cui ◽  
Qin Dai
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Development Trend ◽  
Future Trend ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
The Loess Plateau

Since the early 2000s, the vegetation cover of the Loess Plateau (LP) has increased significantly, which has been fully recorded. However, the effects on relevant eco-hydrological processes are still unclear. Here, we made an investigation on the changes of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) during 2000–2018 and connected them with vegetation greening and climate change in the LP, based on the remote sensing data with correlation and attribution analysis. Results identified that the average annual ETa on the LP exhibited an obvious increasing trend with the value of 9.11 mm yr−1, and the annual ETa trend was dominated by the changes of ETa in the third quarter (July, August, and September). The future trend of ETa was predicted by the Hurst exponent. Partial correlation analysis indicated that annual ETa variations in 87.8% regions of the LP were controlled by vegetation greening. Multiple regression analysis suggested that the relative contributions of potential evapotranspiration (ETp), precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), to the trend of ETa were 5.7%, −26.3%, and 61.4%, separately. Vegetation greening has a close relationship with the Grain for Green (GFG) project and acts as an essential driver for the long-term development trend of water consumption on the LP. In this research, the potential conflicts of water demanding between the natural ecosystem and social-economic system in the LP were highlighted, which were caused by the fast vegetation expansion.

scholarly journals Does Anthropogenic Land Use Change Play a Role in Changes of Precipitation Frequency and Intensity over the Loess Plateau of China?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengjia Liu ◽  
Yansui Liu
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Precipitation Frequency ◽  
Intensity Changes ◽  
Vegetation Cover Change

Human transformation of landscapes is pervasive and accelerating across the Earth. However, existing studies have not provided a comprehensive picture of how precipitation frequency and intensity respond to vegetation cover change. Therefore, this study took the Loess Plateau as a typical example, and used satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data and daily gridded climatic variables to assess the responses of precipitation dynamics to human-induced vegetation cover change. Results showed that the total precipitation amount exhibited little change at the regional scale, showing an upward but statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) trend of 7.6 mm/decade in the period 1982–2015. However, the frequency of precipitation with different intensities showed large variations over most of the Loess Plateau. The number of rainy days (light, moderate, heavy, very heavy and severe precipitation) increased in response to increased vegetation cover, especially in the central-eastern Loess Plateau. Anthropogenic land cover change is largely responsible for precipitation intensity changes. Additionally, this study also observed high spatially explicit heterogeneity in different precipitation intensities in response to vegetation cover change across the Loess Plateau. These findings provide some reference information for our understanding of precipitation frequency and intensity changes in response to regional vegetation cover change in the Loess Plateau.

scholarly journals Temporal Stability of Vegetation Cover across the Loess Plateau Based on GIMMS during 1982–2013

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 315
Author(s):  
Chunyan Zhang ◽  
Shan Guo ◽  
Yanning Guan ◽  
Danlu Cai ◽  
Xiaolin Bian
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Reference Period ◽  
The Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau, covering approximately 640,000 km2, has experienced the most severe soil erosion in the world. A greening tendency has been noticed since implementing the Grain to Green Program (GTGP), which may prevent further soil erosion. Therefore, understanding the underpinning basis of greening stability and persistence is important for sustainable improvement. Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) datasets for 1982–2013 were used to investigate the temporal stability and persistent time (PT) of vegetation over the Loess Plateau, utilizing the coefficient of variation (CV) and the estimation of tendencies of vegetation greening starting from the selected reference conditions. Two periods from 1982 to 1999 (as the reference period) and 2000 to 2013 were selected by considering the GTGP since 1999. The results indicate that: (1) A significant increase in vegetation cover occurred in the low NDVI area (NDVI < 0.3), with a high fluctuation from 2000 to 2013 compared with the reference period. Moreover, the fluctuation in vegetation is more related to precipitation variation since 1999. (2) Most areas recovered in the greening trend of the first period starting in 2009, occurring in 28.7% (2628 of 9148) of the total area. (3) The revegetated areas have a low PT and a high CVvi, that is, the revegetated areas need a long time to recover from disturbances. Therefore, we identify the sensitive areas with PT = 4; further management needs to be implemented for sustainable development in these areas. These results provide a method to quantify the stability and persistence of the complex interactions between vegetation greenness and environmental changes, particularly in fragile areas.

scholarly journals Does Vegetation Restoration Change Regional Ecohydrological Condition at the Loess Plateau in China?

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Xiongwen Chen ◽  
Jianzhi Niu
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Derived Data

The Loess Plateau is a severely eroded and very venerable area in the northwestern China. Large scale vegetation restoration has been conducted in this region during the recent decades, its effect on the regional ecohydrology is under concern. In this study, long term satellite and derived data were used to analyze regional hydrological condition at the major part of the Loess Plateau (35°-37°N and 105°-110° E). The results indicate that there was an increase in the regional normalized difference vegetation index, evapotranspiration, rainfall intensity, soil water storage (surface 1m layer) and runoff. It was also observed that the total annual precipitation did not change significantly.The possible mechanisms may be related to the complicated processes of vegetation on ecohydrology. Our results and approach may be useful to evaluate the benefits of ecological restoration and further vegetation restoration at the Loess Plateau and other regions.

scholarly journals Detecting the Quantitative Hydrological Response to Changes in Climate and Human Activities at Temporal and Spatial Scales in a Typical Gully Region of the Loess Plateau, China

Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Peng Guo ◽  
Jiqiang Lyu ◽  
Weining Yuan ◽  
Xiawan Zhou ◽  
Shuhong Mo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Shaanxi Province ◽  
Hydrological Response ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

This study examined the Chabagou River watershed in the gully region of the Loess Plateau in China’s Shaanxi Province, and was based on measured precipitation and runoff data in the basin over a 52-year period (1959–2010), land-use types, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and other data. Statistical models and distributed hydrological models were used to explore the influences of climate change and human activity on the hydrological response and on the temporal and spatial evolution of the basin. It was found that precipitation and runoff in the gully region presented a downward trend during the 52-year period. Since the 1970s, the hydrological response to human activities has become the main source of regional hydrological evolution. Evapotranspiration from the large silt dam in the study area has increased. The depth of soil water decreased at first, then it increased by amount that exceeded the evaporation increase observed in the second and third change periods. The water and soil conservation measures had a beneficial effect on the ecology of the watershed. These results provide a reference for water resource management and soil and water conservation in the study area.

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