Landscape patterns and their changes in Sichuan Ruoergai Wetland National Nature Reserve

Abstract In Sichuan Ruoergai Wetland National Nature Reserve, the changes in landscape patterns over a period of 17 years – from 1990 to 2007 – have been studied by means of RS, GIS technologies and field validation. In the reserve, the seven landscape patterns – river, lake, swamp, seasonal swamp, meadow, shrub and desert – were subject to the current study. The results show that the swamp, seasonal swamp, and meadow are the dominant landscape types occupying over 90% of the reserve’s total area. Over the past 17 years, the distribution area of swamp has been decreased by 3.81%, while that of seasonal swamp and meadow has been increased by 2.58% and 2.09%, respectively. In addition, the desert area has expanded by 1.19% since 2000. The nature reserve can be characterized by patch diversity, causing landscape fragmentation over the years; the total number of patches increased to 585 from 544 and the average area of the patches decreased to 283.49 h m 2 from 304.29 h m 2 – to the detriment of the wetland functions such as carbon sink and habitats for wild animals. In the study, the causes of the alternations are discussed as mainly resulting from climate change and human disturbances such as overgrazing, drainage, and unmanaged tourism. The study results provide a scientific basis at a strategic scale for the efficient conservation and management implementation of nature reserve zoning and assessment of landscape ecological functions and conservation values.

[1]  Tian Ying.  THE ORGANIC CARBON DISTRIBUTION AND FLOW IN WETLAND SOIL- PLANT SYSTEM IN RUOERGAI PLATEAU , 2003 .

[2]  Zhiqiang Gao,et al.  Temporal-spatial patterns of wetlands changes in China and driving force analysis , 2004, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[3]  Cui Baoshan,et al.  Changes in landscape pattern of alpine wetlands on the Zoige Plateau in the past four decades , 2008 .

[4]  Emilio M. Bruna,et al.  Habitat fragmentation and large‐scale conservation: what do we know for sure? , 1999 .

[5]  Mikko Kurttila,et al.  Maintenance of flying squirrel habitat and timber harvest: a site-specific spatial model in forest planning calculations , 2007, Landscape Ecology.

[6]  H. Chi.  THE CONSERVATION OF WETLANDS BIODIVERSITIES AND THEIR SUSTAINABLE UTILIZATION IN ROIGE PLATEAU , 1999 .

[7]  N. Procopio,et al.  Stream and wetland landscape patterns in watersheds with different cranberry agriculture histories, southern New Jersey, USA , 2008, Landscape Ecology.

[8]  Yang Yong,et al.  ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT DETERIORATION, MIRE DEGENERATION AND THEIR FORMATION MECHANISM IN THE ZOIGE PLATEAU , 1999 .

[9]  Chen Guang.  LAND USE/COVER CHANGE EFFECTS ON CARBON CYCLING IN TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS , 2007 .

[10]  P. Raven,et al.  Child, Adolescent and Family Refugee Mental Health: A Global Perspective , 1996 .

[11]  Inez Y. Fung,et al.  Methane emission from natural wetlands: Global distribution, area, and environmental characteristics of sources , 1987 .

[12]  Rattan Lal,et al.  Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry , 2015 .

[13]  Yang Yong.  Main Characteristics, Progress and Prospect of International Wetland Science Research , 2002 .

[14]  M. Nowak,et al.  Habitat destruction and the extinction debt , 1994, Nature.

[15]  Lin Yuan,et al.  Analyzing the habitat suitability for migratory birds at the Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve in Shanghai, China , 2008 .

[16]  Franz Bairlein,et al.  The importance of landscape context for songbirds on migration: body mass gain is related to habitat cover , 2008, Landscape Ecology.