Ecological Indicators (Nov 2022)
Quantitative assessment of the contributions of climate change and human activities on vegetation degradation and restoration in typical ecologically fragile areas of China
Abstract
Vegetation is a key component of terrestrial ecosystems, and its changes are very sensitive to climate change (CC) and human activities (HA), especially in ecologically fragile areas (EFA). However, the mechanism of relative contribution to vegetation degradation and restoration in EFA under the influence of CC and HA is still unclear. Based on the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model and the Miami model, we estimated three key parameters of vegetation in China’s EFA: actual net primary productivity (ANPP), potential net primary productivity (PNPP), and human activity net primary productivity (HNPP). Using these variables, we quantitatively analyzed the relative contribution of CC and HA to vegetation restoration and degradation from 1982 to 2018 by the residual trend method. The results showed that the area ratio of vegetation restoration in China’s EFA was close to 71.6%, and the total ANPP increased by 174 Tg C, mainly concentrated in the Southwest Karst area and the Loess Plateau, but the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau showing a trend of degradation during 1982 to 2018. The climate background of each region was a key factor that can never be ignored to determine the positive or negative impact of regional CC and HA on vegetation activities. The CC and HA played a positive role in vegetation restoration areas, with a relative contribution of 59.1% and 16.4%, regional warming and humidification caused by the increase of temperature and precipitation was the main factor driving vegetation restoration. In vegetation degradation areas, The HA was the main driving force, especially the relative contribution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the arid and semi-arid areas and the Loess Plateau, which were as high as 96.8%, 83.3% and 80.2%, respectively. Finally, the annual average temperature (TEMP) and the annual solar radiation (SRAD) were relatively important and sensitive for the CASA model in the input environmental variables. This study provided a way to quantitatively understand the mechanism of climate change and human activities on the dynamic evolution of vegetation in EFA. In the future, the implementation of ecological protection and restoration projects need to fully consider the differences in climate background and strengthen the monitoring of the ecological environment.
