scholarly journals Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau, China

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 2617-2628 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. M. Feng ◽  
G. Sun ◽  
B. J. Fu ◽  
C. H. Su ◽  
Y. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Regional Effects ◽  
Annual Water

Abstract. The general relationships between vegetation and water yield under different climatic regimes are well established at a small watershed scale in the past century. However, applications of these basic theories to evaluate the regional effects of land cover change on water resources remain challenging due to the complex interactions of vegetation and climatic variability and hydrologic processes at the large scale. The objective of this study was to explore ways to examine the spatial and temporal effects of a large ecological restoration project on water yield across the Loess Plateau region in northern China. We estimated annual water yield as the difference between precipitation input and modelled actual evapotranspiration (ET) output. We constructed a monthly ET model using published ET data derived from eddy flux measurements and watershed streamflow data. We validated the ET models at a watershed and regional levels. The model was then applied to examine regional water yield under land cover change and climatic variability during the implementation of the Grain-for-Green (GFG) project during 1999–2007. We found that water yield in 38% of the Loess Plateau area might have decreased (1–48 mm per year) as a result of land cover change alone. However, combined with climatic variability, 37% of the study area might have seen a decrease in water yield with a range of 1–54 mm per year, and 35% of the study area might have seen an increase with a range of 1–10 mm per year. Across the study region, climate variability masked or strengthened the water yield response to vegetation restoration. The absolute annual water yield change due to vegetation restoration varied with precipitation regimes with the highest in wet years, but the relative water yield changes were most pronounced in dry years. We concluded that the effects of land cover change associated with ecological restoration varied greatly over time and space and were strongly influenced by climatic variability in the arid region. The current regional vegetation restoration projects have variable effects on local water resources across the region. Land management planning must consider the influences of spatial climate variability and long-term climate change on water yield to be more effective for achieving environmental sustainability.

scholarly journals Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau, China

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 4161-4191 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. M. Feng ◽  
G. Sun ◽  
B. J. Fu ◽  
C. H. Su ◽  
Y. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Regional Effects ◽  
Annual Water

Abstract. The general relationships between vegetation and water yield under different climatic regimes are well established at a small watershed scale in the past century. However, applying the basic theories to evaluate the regional effects of land cover change on water resources has been rarely done due to the complex interactions of vegetation and climatic variability and hydrologic processes at the large scale. The objective of this study was to explore ways to examine the spatial and temporal effects of a large ecological restoration project on water yield across the Loess Plateau region in Northern China. We estimated annual water yield as the difference between precipitation input and modeled actual evapotranspiration (ET) output. We constructed a monthly ET model using published eddy flux ET measurements, ET estimates derived from local watershed streamflow data. We validated the ET models at a watershed and regional levels. The model was then applied to examine regional water yield under land cover change and climatic variability during the implementation of the Grain-for-Green (GFG) project during 1999–2007. We found that water yield in 38% of the Loess Plateau area as a whole might have decreased (1–48 mm yr−1) as a result of land cover change alone. However, combined with climatic variability, 37% of the study area might have seen a decrease in water yield with a range of 1–54 mm yr−1, and 35% of the study area might have seen an increase with a range of 1–10 mm yr−1. Across the study region, climate variability masked or strengthened the water yield response to vegetation restoration. The absolute annual water yield change due to vegetation restoration varied with precipitation regimes with the highest in wet years, but the relative water yield changes were most pronounced in dry years. When compared to findings at the plot or catchment-scale, this study suggested that regional hydrologic effects of vegetation restoration practices had a rather complex pattern due to both spatial differences in climatic regimes and vegetation response. We concluded that the effects of land cover change associated with ecological restoration varied greatly over time and space and were strongly influenced by climatic variability in the arid region. The current regional vegetation restoration projects have variable effects on local water resources across the region. Land management planning must consider the influences of spatial climate variability and long-term climate change on water yield to be more effective and achieve environmental sustainability.

scholarly journals Effect of Ecological Construction Engineering on Vegetation Restoration: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1407
Author(s):  
Lina Xiu ◽  
Xiaojun Yao ◽  
Mengdie Chen ◽  
Changzhen Yan
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Ecological Engineering ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Forest Protection ◽  
Ecological Construction

Since the 1980s, with rapid economic development and increased attention given to ecological protection, China has launched a series of ecological-restoration programs to restore the local environment through afforestation and natural forest protection. The evaluation of vegetation restoration is an important part of evaluating the effectiveness of ecological restoration. The Loess Plateau is an area where ecological problems are concentrated, and it is a key area of ecological construction in China. This paper takes the Loess Plateau as the research area, using remote sensing and geographic information technology combined with ecosystem structural changes and an improved residual model to study vegetation restoration. The following main conclusions were drawn: (1) From 1990 to 2000, the farmland area increased by 3084.81 km2, resulting in the encroachment of a large area of grassland and shrubland. (2) With the implementation of ecological engineering, the area of returning farmland to forest and grassland reached 18,001.88 km2; in this period, the NDVI of vegetation increased rapidly, and the area that increased comprised 91.90% of the total area, of which the area of significant increase reached 65.78%. The quality of vegetation was restored to a great extent, and ecological engineering played a major role in this stage. (3) Under the background of large-scale implementation of ecological restoration, the urban area of the Loess Plateau continues to expand.

Detecting water yield variability due to the small proportional land use and land cover changes in a watershed on the Loess Plateau, China

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (21) ◽  
pp. 3083-3092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengping Wang ◽  
Zhiqiang Zhang ◽  
Ge Sun ◽  
Steven G. McNulty ◽  
Manliang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Yield Variability ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
Land Cover Changes ◽  
The Loess Plateau

scholarly journals Quantitatively Assessing and Attributing Land Use and Land Cover Changes on China’s Loess Plateau

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaozheng Du ◽  
Xiang Zhao ◽  
Shunlin Liang ◽  
Jiacheng Zhao ◽  
Peipei Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Original Direction ◽  
The Impact

The global land surface cover is undergoing extensive changes in the context of global change, especially in the Loess Plateau, where ecological restoration policies have been vigorously implemented since 2000. Evaluating the impact of these policies on land cover is of great significance for regional sustainable development. Nonetheless, there are few quantitative assessment studies of the impact of ecological restoration policies on land use and land cover change (LULCC). In this study, a relative contribution conceptual model (RCCM) was used to explore the contribution of the policies to LULCC under the influence of natural background change, which was based on the Markov chain and the future land use simulation (FLUS) model. The results show that LULCC is influenced by ecological restoration policies and the natural environment, of which the policies contribute about 72.37% and natural change contribute about 27.63%. Ecological restoration policies have a profound impact on LULCC, changing the original direction of LULCC greatly. Additionally, these policies regulate the pattern of LULCC by controlling the amount of cropland as a rebalanced leverage. These findings provide useful information for facilitating sustainable ecological development in the Loess Plateau and theoretically supporting environmental decision-making.

scholarly journals Ecological restoration stimulates environmental outcomes but exacerbates water shortage in the Loess Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
MBEZELE JUNIOR YANNICK NGABA ◽  
Yves Uwiragiye ◽  
Hongzhi Miao ◽  
Zhiqin Li ◽  
Paulo Pereira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
English Language ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
The Loess Plateau

Restoration is the natural and intervention-assisted set of processes designed to promote and facilitate the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. Therefore, the need to assess an ecological restoration project is a critical step to evaluate its success and identify best management practices. We performed a meta-analysis concerning the environmental outcomes during the years 2000 to 2015 resulting from the “Grain for Green” Project (GFGP) implementation in the Loess Plateau (LP). Data were collected in 48 English-language peer-reviewed papers selected from a pool of 332 papers. The results showed that, on average, GFGP increased forest coverage by 35.7% (95% CI: 24.15-47.52%), and grassland by 1.05% (95% CI: 0.8-1.28%). At the same time, GFGP has a positive impact on soil carbon (C) sequestration, net ecosystem production (NEP), and net primary production (NPP), from the years 2000 to 2015 by an average of 36% (95% CI: 28.96-43.18%), 22.7% (95% CI: 9.10-36.79%), and 13.5% (95% CI: 9.44-17.354%), respectively. Soil erosion, sediment load, runoff coefficient and water yield reduced by 13.3% (95% CI: 0.27%-25.76), 21.5% (95% CI: 1.50-39.99%), 22.4% (95% CI: 5.28-40.45%) and 43.3% (95% CI: 27.03%-82.86%), respectively, from the years 2000 to 2015. Our results indicate that water supply decreased with restoration age. Therefore, GFGP policies and strategies should be adjusted to balance the need for green space and grain trade by recovering, enhancing, and maintaining more resilient landscapes.

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