Recent ecological transitions in China: greening, browning, and influential factors.
Ecological conservation and restoration are necessary to mitigate environmental degradation problems. China has taken great efforts in such actions. To understand the ecological transition during 2000-2010 in China, this study analysed trends in vegetation change using remote sensing and linear regression. Climate and socioeconomic factors were included to screen the driving forces for vegetation change using correlation or comparative analyses. Our results indicated that China experienced both vegetation greening (restoration) and browning (degradation) with great spatial heterogeneity. Socioeconomic factors, such as human populations and economic production, were the most significant factors for vegetation change. Nature reserves have contributed slightly to the deceleration of vegetation browning and the promotion of greening; however, a large-scale conservation approach beyond nature reserves was more effective. The effectiveness of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program lay between the two above approaches. The findings of this study highlighted that vegetation trend detection is a practical approach for large-scale ecological transition assessments, which can inform decision-making that promotes vegetation greening via proper socioeconomic development and ecosystem management.
1] State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China [2] Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Beijing 100875, China.
Yihe
Y
Lü
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
Liwei
L
Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
Xiaoming
X
Feng
Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Yuan
Y
Zeng
1] State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China [2] Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Beijing 100875, China.
Bojie
B
Fu
Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China.
Xueling
X
Yao
Department of Geosciences, University of Tulsa, 800 S. Tucker Drive, Tulsa, USA.
Junran
J
Li
Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Bingfang
B
Wu
D002681:China; D002980:Climate; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology / Q000379:methods; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development*