scholarly journals Different Causal Factors Occur between Land Use/Cover and Vegetation Classification Systems but Not between Vegetation Classification Levels in the Highly Disturbed Jing-Jin-Ji Region of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4201
Author(s):  
Sangui Yi ◽  
Jihua Zhou ◽  
Liming Lai ◽  
Qinglin Sun ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
...  

Land use/cover and vegetation patterns are influenced by many ecological factors. However, the effect of various factors on different classification systems and different levels of the same system is unclear. We conducted a redundancy analysis with 10 landscape metrics and ecological factors in four periods (1986–2005/2007, 1991–2005/2007, 1996–2005/2007, 2001–2005/2007) to explore their effects on the land use/cover system, vegetation group and vegetation type, and formation and subformation levels of the vegetation classification system in the Jing-Jin-Ji region. Soil, temperature and precipitation from 1986–2005, 1991–2005, and 2001–2005 were the important causal factors, and anthropogenic disturbance and atmospheric factors in 1996–2005 were causal factors at the land use/cover level. The total explained variance from 1996–2005 and 2001–2005 was higher than that from 1986–2005 and 1991–2005 at the land use/cover level. Causal factors and the variance explained by causal factors at the vegetation group, vegetation type, and formation and subformation levels were similar but different in the land use/cover system. Geography, soil and anthropogenic disturbance were the most important causal factors at the three vegetation levels, and the total explained variance from 2001–2007 was higher than that from 1986–2007, 1991–2007, and 1996–2007 at the three vegetation levels. In environmental research, natural resource management and urban or rural planning, geographic factors should be considered at the vegetation group, vegetation type and formation and subformation levels while atmospheric and temperature factors should be considered at the land use/cover level.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1009-1024
Author(s):  
Changcheng Liu ◽  
Thomas R Wentworth ◽  
Xianguo Qiao ◽  
Ke Guo ◽  
Dongjie Hou

Abstract Aims The latest China Vegetation Classification System (China-VCS) for natural/semi-natural vegetation has eight hierarchical levels: Association < Association-group < Subformation < Formation < Formation-group < Vegetation-subtype < Vegetation-type < Vegetation-type-group. The classification is based on dominant species and their growth forms and has been completed at the formation level. The principal challenge today in Chinese vegetation classification is to develop the China-VCS at levels below the formation in a way that is consistent with current international standards. We explored the following question: how can existing vegetation plot data help develop the China-VCS and improve its compatibility with other international classification systems? Methods We compiled 401 plots having plant cover and/or aboveground biomass measurements collected in six Stipa steppe formations and divided them into those with cover data (299 plots) and/or biomass data (283 plots). We applied a combination of hierarchical clustering and ordination to partition the cover and biomass data sets into formations and constituent associations. We then used supervised noise clustering to improve the classification and to identify the core plots representing each association. Diagnostic species were also identified at both association and formation levels. Finally, we compared the classification results based on cover and biomass data sets and combined these results into a comprehensive classification framework for the six formations. Important Findings Our results using cover data were comparable with those using biomass data at both formation and association levels. Three Stipa formations were classified into associations based on cover data, two based on biomass data and one based on both biomass and cover data. Twenty-seven associations were defined and proposed within the six formations, using cover or biomass data as consistent classification sections (CCSs). Both dominant species in the dominant stratum and diagnostic species from multiple strata of the core plots were used to characterize vegetation types at both formation and association levels, improving the compatibility of our classification with the International Vegetation Classification. Temperature and precipitation were found to be important climatic factors determining the distribution pattern and species composition of Stipa-dominated vegetation. We propose a framework for plot-based vegetation classification in the China-VCS, using our work with Stipa-dominated steppe vegetation as an example. We applied the concept of CCS to make optimal use of available data representing both plant cover and biomass. This study offers a model for developing the China-VCS to the association level in a way that is consistent with current international standards.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3070
Author(s):  
Patrycja Szarek-Iwaniuk

Urbanization processes are some of the key drivers of spatial changes which shape and influence land use and land cover. The aim of sustainable land use policies is to preserve and manage existing resources for present and future generations. Increasing access to information about land use and land cover has led to the emergence of new sources of data and various classification systems for evaluating land use and spatial changes. A single globally recognized land use classification system has not been developed to date, and various sources of land-use/land-cover data exist around the world. As a result, data from different systems may be difficult to interpret and evaluate in comparative analyses. The aims of this study were to compare land-use/land-cover data and selected land use classification systems, and to determine the influence of selected classification systems and spatial datasets on analyses of land-use structure in the examined area. The results of the study provide information about the existing land-use/land-cover databases, revealing that spatial databases and land use and land cover classification systems contain many equivalent land-use types, but also differ in various respects, such as the level of detail, data validity, availability, number of land-use types, and the applied nomenclature.


2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1213-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Castillo-Santiago ◽  
A. Hellier ◽  
R. Tipper ◽  
B. H. J. de Jong

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1501-1516 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Boisier ◽  
N. de Noblet-Ducoudré ◽  
P. Ciais

Abstract. Regional cooling resulting from increases in surface albedo has been identified in several studies as the main biogeophysical effect of past land use-induced land cover changes (LCC) on climate. However, the amplitude of this effect remains quite uncertain due to, among other factors, (a) uncertainties in the extent of historical LCC and, (b) differences in the way various models simulate surface albedo and more specifically its dependency on vegetation type and snow cover. We derived monthly albedo climatologies for croplands and four other land cover types from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations. We then reconstructed the changes in surface albedo between preindustrial times and present-day by combining these climatologies with the land cover maps of 1870 and 1992 used by seven land surface models (LSMs) in the context of the LUCID ("Land Use and Climate: identification of robust Impacts") intercomparison project. These reconstructions show surface albedo increases larger than 10% (absolute) in winter, and larger than 2% in summer between 1870 and 1992 over areas that experienced intense deforestation in the northern temperate regions. The historical surface albedo changes estimated with MODIS data were then compared to those simulated by the various climate models participating in LUCID. The inter-model mean albedo response to LCC shows a similar spatial and seasonal pattern to the one resulting from the MODIS-based reconstructions, that is, larger albedo increases in winter than in summer, driven by the presence of snow. However, individual models show significant differences between the simulated albedo changes and the corresponding reconstructions, despite the fact that land cover change maps are the same. Our analyses suggest that the primary reason for those discrepancies is how LSMs parameterize albedo. Another reason, of secondary importance, results from differences in their simulated snow extent. Our methodology is a useful tool not only to infer observations-based historical changes in land surface variables impacted by LCC, but also to point out deficiencies of the models. We therefore suggest that it could be more widely developed and used in conjunction with other tools in order to evaluate LSMs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 631-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís Renato Silva Taveira ◽  
Michele Duarte de Menezes ◽  
Anita Fernanda dos Santos Teixeira ◽  
Nilton Curi

ABSTRACT Land use capability is one of the most widespread technical-interpretative classification systems, however, regional adaptations may be necessary because different attributes may affect it. For these adaptations, the Minas Gerais soil map was used as the starting point for this study. The criteria to define the land use capability were adapted to management levels with small (level A) and medium (level B) application of capital and modern technology (level C). The aim of the present study was to map land use capability for Minas Gerais state, Brazil, following the criteria adapted to different levels of management and measure the accuracy of the resulting maps. The system of land use capability is widely used by INCRA in evaluations of rural properties. Erosion criterion was replaced by erodibility. The information was handled in a geographic information system. For validation, soil profiles from regional pedological surveys were sampled, classified, and its land use capability was compared to the land use capability shown on the map according to the different management levels. In spite of the small scale of the soil map, the maps of land use capability exhibited adequate accuracy: 73% (management level A), 71% (B), and 50% (C). Therefore, it can be applied in initial phases of regional planning studies, in which the level of details required is reduced (for example, in ecological-economic zoning). More detailed analyses still depend on detailed field surveys, as advocated by the system of land use capability.


Oryx ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Brown ◽  
Kevin R. Wormington ◽  
Philip Brown

AbstractReintroduction of rare and threatened species often fails to yield quantifiable conservation benefits because insufficient attention is focused on the species’ habitat requirements and biology. We demonstrate the value of such data in informing a recovery plan for Alectryon ramiflorus S.Reyn. (Sapindaceae), a tree species endemic to a region on the southern coast of Queensland, Australia. When the species was categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 1997 the total known population consisted of only 26 adult plants, in five disjunct populations in remnant patches of native vegetation. Analysis of vegetation type, soil chemistry and composition data comparing remnant patches with and without A. ramiflorus revealed that the species is not restricted to a specific soil type but prefers sites with relatively fertile soil and a more complex vegetation structure. The species is cryptically dioecious, displays asynchronous flowering between individuals, and requires insect-vectored pollination. The low rate of seedling production recorded within individual patches was attributed to the scarcity of trees of both genders, asynchronous flowering of individual trees and, in smaller patches, a sparse population of pollinating insect species. Successful reintroduction of A. ramiflorus will require consideration of these aspects of demographic success. The findings highlight the importance to species recovery plans of the knowledge of habitat requirements, interspecific relationships and critical dependencies, as well as species reproductive biology.


1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 929 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Sun ◽  
R. J. Hnatiuk ◽  
V. J. Neldner

This paper provides a detailed review of the major vegetation classification and mapping systems used by the management agencies with primary responsibilities for forested land in Australia. It focuses on the clarification of vegetation units and methodologies used. The paper also provides a comparison of the different nomenclatures against a simplified standard to show how the different systems relate to each other. In Australia, different systems for classifying and describing forest vegetation have been developed by various forest land management agencies to suit their own situations. Most vegetation classification systems reviewed are similar in using floristics and structure as the two primary elements in classifying vegetation types, and all use growth form (physiognomy) to distinguish vegetation units. The classification and mapping systems for wood production purposes differ from those for conservation and environment purposes in several aspects—wood production classifications emphasise commercial tree species and/or attributes such as height, whereas conservation classifications emphasise ecology, vegetation coverage, and the importance of understorey species. There are three broad strategic approaches in the vegetation classification programs being undertaken by the major forest land management agencies in Australia: (1) conducting a single classification across the whole of the agencies’ land in a State; (2) conducting a vegetation classification at the regional level, but using the same methods in each region; and (3) using different methods depending on the specific objectives of individual studies. This paper highlights the value of accurate quantitative measurements in the field. For example, for the two key structural attributes of height and crown density, the measured raw data can be accommodated by a number of different classification schemes whereas if the raw data consists of only records by predetermined classes, then such accommodation is difficult and loses precision.


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