The Spatiotemporal Variation of Tree Cover in the Loess Plateau of China after the ‘Grain for Green’ Project

Jointly influenced by natural factors and artificial protection measures in recent years, the vegetation coverage of the Loess Plateau has significantly increased. However, extensive vegetation recovery can result in massive water consumption and a severe soil water deficit, which poses a great threat to the sustainable development of the regional ecological system. Maintaining the balance between precipitation and water consumption is an important foundation of ecological security in the Loess Plateau. Based on this, the present study used the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) gravity satellite data to simulate the annual actual water consumption from 2003 to 2014 and to analyze the temporal and spatial evolution of the regional precipitation and the actual evapotranspiration (AET). This study also applied the newly developed rainwater utilization potential index (IRUP) to quantify the sustainability of the water balance in the Loess Plateau. The spatial-temporal patterns of precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and AET from 2003 to 2014 in the Loess Plateau were all analyzed in this study. Based on the results, the annual average precipitation (AAP) and AET in the entire Loess Plateau had significant increasing trends. The analysis of the spatial distribution reveals that the AET was decreasing from the southeast to the northwest in the Loess Plateau. However, the average values of potential evapotranspiration did not obviously change. Based on the estimated AET result, it was determined that the average IRUP had an increasing trend. The increase in the IRUP is due to an increased rate of precipitation that is statistically higher than that of the AET. Consequently, the Loess Plateau experienced a wetting trend during the period of 2003–2014, especially after the Grain for Green project was implemented. The results in this paper were proven by using three different depths of ERA-Interim (a global atmospheric reanalysis product created by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) soil water content data from the same period and the observed runoff data from 18 different hydrological sites. Consequently, it seems that the vegetation could maintain a sustainable growth with the implementation of the Grain for Green Project.

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The Grain for Green Project induced land cover change in the Loess Plateau: A case study with Ansai County, Shanxi Province, China

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.03.021 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

pp. 88-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 112

Author(s):

Decheng Zhou ◽

Shuqing Zhao ◽

Chao Zhu

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Land Cover Change ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Shanxi Province ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Project

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Evolution Characteristics and Simulation Prediction of Forest and Grass Landscape Fragmentation Based on the “Grain for Green” Projects on the Loess Plateau, P.R. China

10.21203/rs.3.rs-138854/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Li Gu ◽

Zhiwen Gong ◽

Yuankun Bu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Landscape Fragmentation ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Project ◽

The Impact

Abstract Forest fragmentation is one of the major environmental issues that the international community is generally concerned about under the background of global climate change. Studying the impact and the interaction mechanism of land use change processes on landscape fragmentation is important to gaining a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem response to human activities and global climate change. Based on the implementation background for the “Grain for Green” Project, we selected the Loess Plateau as the research area and used the coupled future land use simulation (FLUS) model and landscape fragmentation model to explore the temporal and spatial changes in forest and grass landscape fragmentation. The results showed that (1) Woodland, grassland, and cropland are the main landscape types, accounting for about 90% of the total area. In addition, the area of cropland initially increased and then decreased, while the area of woodland and grassland exhibited the opposite trend Oover the last 35 years. In particular, the period from 2000 to 2015 was a forest and grass restoration stage, and the average annual rate of forest and grass restoration reached 0.56%. (2) The FLUS model was used to predict the land use on the Loess Plateau in 2030. The kappa coefficient was 0.85, and the figure of merit coefficient (FOM) was 0.11 for a 1% random sampling, which are within a reasonable range, and the simulation results are also consistent with the objective change in the current social and economic development. (3) The fragmentation of woodland and grassland were dominated by edge type and core type. The core type had a concentrated distribution and an absolute advantage, accounting for more than 75% of the total area. It is predicted that the landscape fragmentation will gradually slowdown in 2030 under different intensities of the “Grain for Green” project. The dynamics of landscape fragmentation based on land use changes are conducive to the reasonable planning and objective evaluation of woodland and grassland spatial allocation and quality improvement, and provide an important basis for the formulation of ecological protection and land management policies.

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The Grain for Green Project intensifies evapotranspiration in the revegetation area of the Loess Plateau in China

Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) ◽

10.1360/n972018-00515 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 64 (5-6) ◽

pp. 588-589 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yashu Wang ◽

Xiaoyan Li ◽

Fangzhong Shi ◽

Shulei Zhang ◽

Xiuchen Wu

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Project

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Spatial-temporal variation of grain production after the Grain for Green Project in the Loess Plateau, China

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/59/1/012049 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 59 ◽

pp. 012049

Author(s):

Zhiyuan Xu ◽

Changhe Lu

Keyword(s):

Temporal Variation ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Grain Production ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Project

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Tracking Reforestation in the Loess Plateau, China after the “Grain for Green” Project through Integrating PALSAR and Landsat Imagery

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11222685 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (22) ◽

pp. 2685 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hui Zhou ◽

Fu Xu ◽

Jinwei Dong ◽

Zhiqi Yang ◽

Guosong Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Landsat Imagery ◽

Forest Products ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Landsat Images ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Project ◽

Forest Maps

An unprecedented reforestation process happened in the Loess Plateau, China due to the ecological restoration project ‘Grain for Green Project’, which has affected regional carbon and water cycles as well as brought climate feedbacks. Accurately mapping the area and spatial distribution of emerged forests in the Loess Plateau over time is essential for forest management but a very challenging task. Here we investigated the changes of forests in the Loess Plateau after the forest reconstruction project. First, we used a pixel and rule-based algorithm to identify and map the annual forests from 2007 to 2017 in the Loess Plateau by integrating 30 m Landsat data and 25 m resolution PALSAR data in this study. Then, we carried out the accuracy assessment and comparison with several existing forest products. The overall accuracy (OA) and Kappa coefficient of the resultant map, were about 91% and 0.77 in 2010, higher than those of the other forest products (FROM-GLC, GlobeLand30, GLCF-VCF, JAXA, and OU-FDL) with OA ranging from 83.57% to 87.96% and Kappa coefficients from 0.52 to 0.68. Based on the annual forest maps, we found forest area in the Loess Plateau has increased by around 15,000 km2 from 2007 to 2017. This study clearly demonstrates the advantages of data fusion between PALSAR and Landsat images for monitoring forest cover dynamics in the Loess Plateau, and the resultant forest maps with lower uncertainty would contribute to the regional forest management.

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Spatial Distribution and Key Prevention Areas of Ephemeral Gully under the 'Grain for Green Project' in Loess Plateau, China

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-3676 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuan Zhong ◽

Chunmei Wang ◽

Guowei Pang ◽

Qinke Yang ◽

Zitian Guo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Average Length ◽

Regional Distribution ◽

Google Earth ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Ephemeral Gully ◽

Grain For Green Project

Soil erosion is an important threat in the high-quality development of the Loess Plateau of China, and Ephemeral Gully (EG) erosion is an important erosion type. Answering the distribution characteristics of EG at the regional scale is an important basis for EG control. The regional distribution of EG and the areas that still at high risk of EG development after the 'Grain for Green Project' since more than 20 years ago remain poorly understood. This study aimed to solve the above problems by using visual interpretation based on sub-meter Google Earth images in 137 systematically selected small watersheds in the Loess Plateau. The EG density, length, land use of the hillslope where each EG existed, and other parameters were obtained and analyzed using the GIS method. The spatial distribution of EG density, average length, and spatial correlation in the Loess Plateau was explored. The current EG distribution and key prevention areas in the Loess Plateau were identified. The results showed that: (1) EGs were found in 46 surveyed watersheds accounting for 33.6% of the total watershed number, with an EG density average value of 3.41km/km2 and maximum value of 21.92 km/km2. The average number of EG was 60.32/km2. EG length was mainly distributed in 20 ~ 60 m, with an average length of 63.31 m; The critical slope length of EGs was mainly 40 ~ 60 m, with an average 56.20 m. (2) The watersheds with EGs were mainly located in the north-central, the west, and northwest of the Loess Plateau. EG erosion is extremely strong in loess hilly and gully region, and moderate in loess plateau gully region.(3) 38.3% of EG was distributed in cropland; 35.3% distributed in grassland; 22.8% distributed in forest land. After the 'Grain for Green Project', the EGs that were still distributed on cropland were a more important threat to soil erosion and need better prevention efforts. EGs located on cropland were still widely distributed in many areas of Loess Plateau, such as the northwest of Yan 'an City in the middle and upper reaches of Beiluo River, Suide and Luliang in the lower reaches of Wuding River, at the junction of Dingxi and Huining and in Qingyang area. This research would help in a more reasonable distribution of erosion control practices in the Loess Plateau.

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