Spatial-temporal vegetation succession in Yao’an County, Yunnan Province, Southwest China during 1976–2014: A case survey based on RS technology for mountains eco-engineering

The remote sense (RS) technology was adopted to explore the vegetation succession from 1976 to 2014 in Yao'an County, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The results showed: (i) the changes in the distribution range of major vegetation types in the study area. In the 6 statistic years after 1976, in the study area, the distribution range of the secondary vegetation shrank greatly in 4 different subareas (northeast, southeast, northwest and northwest subarea), at 4 different altitudes (1500-1800 m, 1800-2100 m, 2100-2400m and 2400-2700m), on 4 different gradients (0-8 degrees, 8-15 degrees, 15-25 degrees, 25-35 degrees) and on 4 different aspects but the flat land (sunny slope, semi-sunny slope, semi-shadowy slope, and shadowy slope); by contrast, in the study area, the distribution range of artificial vegetation expanded greatly in all the subareas, at 2 different altitudes (1800-2100 m and 2100-2400 m), on 3 different gradients (0-8 degrees, 8-15 degrees, 15-25 degrees), and on the 4 different aspects but the flat land. (ii) The increase and decrease in distribution area of major vegetation types in the study area. During the research period, the total area of major vegetation fluctuated between 1471.92 and 1196.94 km(2), averaging 1255.52 km(2) annually, with the fluctuation rate between -4.67% and 17.24%. In the second statistic year (1989), the total area of major vegetation decreased sharply, and then remained relatively stable afterward. During the research period, the distribution area of the secondary vegetation decreased sharply in the 6 statistic years after 1976, in contrast to the sharp increase in the distribution area of artificial vegetation in such 6 years. During the research period, the total area of major vegetation decreased by 258.73 km(2) in total, among which the total area of the secondary vegetation decreased by 342.52 km(2) in contrast to the increase in artificial vegetation by 83.78 km(2) in total. Thus, it indicated that the secondary vegetation in the study area had been damaged seriously, and the construction of artificial vegetation lagged behind, so there was a potential danger in ecological safety, which should be concerned and precautioned. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[1]  Bofu Yu,et al.  Effects of human activities on the eco-environment in the middle Heihe River Basin based on an extended environmental Kuznets curve model , 2015 .

[2]  Jianhua Li,et al.  The Study of the Ecological Problems of Eucalyptus Plantation and Sustainable Development in Maoming Xiaoliang , 2010 .

[3]  Eric F. Lambin,et al.  Land-use and land-cover change : local processes and global impacts , 2010 .

[4]  C. Woodcock,et al.  Classification and Change Detection Using Landsat TM Data: When and How to Correct Atmospheric Effects? , 2001 .

[5]  Dirk Pflugmacher,et al.  Mapping Rubber Plantations and Natural Forests in Xishuangbanna (Southwest China) Using Multi-Spectral Phenological Metrics from MODIS Time Series , 2013, Remote. Sens..

[6]  Mukund G. Joshi,et al.  IMPACT OF EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONS ON GROUND WATER AVAILABILITY IN SOUTH KARNATAKA IMPACT DES PLANTATIONS D'EUCALYPTUS SUR LA DISPONIBILITE DES EAUX SOUTERRAINES AU SUD , 2011 .

[7]  Laura M. Norman,et al.  Remote sensing analysis of riparian vegetation response to desert marsh restoration in the Mexican Highlands , 2014 .

[8]  Min Cao,et al.  Demand for rubber is causing the loss of high diversity rain forest in SW China , 2007, Biodiversity and Conservation.

[9]  Jianhui Huang,et al.  Long-term impacts of land-use change on dynamics of tropical soil carbon and nitrogen pools. , 2004, Journal of environmental sciences.

[10]  S. S. Singwane,et al.  IMPACTS OF PINE AND EUCALYPTUS FOREST PLANTATIONS ON SOIL ORGANIC MATTER CONTENT IN SWAZILAND - CASE OF SHISELWENI FORESTS , 2012 .

[11]  Deborah Lawrence,et al.  Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia , 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[12]  John A. Stanturf,et al.  Eucalyptus beyond its native range: environmental issues in exotic bioenergy plantations. , 2013 .

[13]  Hongmei Li,et al.  Past, present and future land-use in Xishuangbanna, China and the implications for carbon dynamics , 2008 .

[14]  J. Hreško,et al.  Changes of vegetation and soil cover in alpine zone due to anthropogenic and geomorphological processes , 2009 .

[15]  Kaishan Song,et al.  Quantitative assessment of human-induced impacts on marshes in Northeast China from 2000 to 2011 , 2014 .

[16]  Soo Chin Liew,et al.  Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[17]  Pamela L. Nagler,et al.  Reprint of: Effects of drought on birds and riparian vegetation in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico , 2013 .

[18]  W. Mitsch.  When will ecologists learn engineering and engineers learn ecology , 2014 .

[19]  M. Uriarte,et al.  Synthesis: Land Transitions in the Tropics , 2010 .

[20]  Jane Qiu,et al.  Where the rubber meets the garden , 2009, Nature.

[21]  H. Shao,et al.  Ecological water demand of regional vegetation: The example of the 2010 severe drought in Southwest China , 2015 .

[22]  M. Roth.  A quantitative assessment , 1987 .

[23]  N. Behera,et al.  Soil microbial biomass and activity in response to Eucalyptus plantation and natural regeneration on tropical soil , 2003 .

[24]  Hua Ma,et al.  Complexity of ecological restoration in China , 2013 .

[25]  M. Kharrati-Kopaei,et al.  Monitoring deterioration of vegetation cover in the vicinity of smelting industry, using statistical methods and TM and ETM+ imageries, Sarcheshmeh copper complex, Central Iran , 2010, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[26]  Karen J. Esler,et al.  Riparian vegetation: degradation, alien plant invasions, and restoration prospects , 2007 .

[27]  F. Zheng.  Effect of Vegetation Changes on Soil Erosion on the Loess Plateau , 2006 .

[28]  Can Chen,et al.  Destruction of vegetation due to geo-hazards and its environmental impacts in the Wenchuan earthquake areas , 2012 .

[29]  Jane Qiu,et al.  China drought highlights future climate threats , 2010, Nature.

[30]  H. Shao,et al.  Eucalyptus Trees – Ageratina adenophora Complex System: A New Eco‐environmental Protection Model , 2014 .

[31]  Soo Chin Liew,et al.  Deforestation rates in insular Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2010 , 2011 .

[32]  Eshetu Yirdaw,et al.  Indigenous woody species diversity in Eucalyptus globulus Labill. ssp. globulus plantations in the Ethiopian highlands , 2003, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[33]  J. Campbell.  Introduction to remote sensing , 1987 .

[34]  Richard Stone.  Ecology. Severe drought puts spotlight on Chinese dams. , 2010, Science.

[35]  Shixiong Cao,et al.  Lack of integrated solutions hinders environmental recovery in China , 2013 .

[36]  R. Harper,et al.  Soil water depletion by Eucalyptus spp. integrated into dryland agricultural systems , 2006, Plant and Soil.

[37]  Min Cao,et al.  Impact of land use and land cover changes on ecosystem services in Menglun, Xishuangbanna, Southwest China , 2008, Environmental monitoring and assessment.