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The temporal and spatial characteristics of vegetation in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (MRYR) were analyzed from 1999 to 2015 by trend analysis, co-integration analysis, partial correlation analysis, and spatial analysis using MODIS-NDVI time series remote sensing data. The average NDVI of the MRYR increased from 0.72 to 0.80, and nearly two-thirds of the vegetation showed a significant trend of improvement. At the inter-annual scale, the relationship between NDVI and meteorological factors was not significant in most areas. At the inter-monthly scale, NDVI was almost significantly correlated with precipitation, relative humidity, and sunshine hours, and the effect of precipitation and sunshine hours on NDVI showed a pronounced lag. When the altitude was less than 2500 m, NDVI increased with elevation. NDVI increased gradually as the slope increased and decreased gradually as the slope aspect changed from north to south. NDVI decreased as the population density and per capita GDP increased and was significantly positively correlated with afforestation policy. These findings provide new insights into the effects of climate change and human activities on vegetation growth.
Yang Yi; Bin Wang; Mingchang Shi; Zekun Meng; Chen Zhang. Variation in Vegetation and Its Driving Force in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Water 2021, 13, 2036 .
AMA StyleYang Yi, Bin Wang, Mingchang Shi, Zekun Meng, Chen Zhang. Variation in Vegetation and Its Driving Force in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Water. 2021; 13 (15):2036.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYang Yi; Bin Wang; Mingchang Shi; Zekun Meng; Chen Zhang. 2021. "Variation in Vegetation and Its Driving Force in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China." Water 13, no. 15: 2036.
The landscape patterns of plantations (PT) are the results of human disturbances on local vegetation, and in turn, differ greatly from natural forests (NF), since the patterns strongly influence the natural circulation of material and energy. There is a need to understand the differences of landscape patterns between PT and NF, to establish a near natural afforestation strategy. This study chose three typical silvicultural counties in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River as the research areas and compared the landscape patterns of NF and PT, with other land use types (grassland, GL; cropland, CL; shrubland, SL; orchard, OR; built-up land, BUL; bare land, BL; and water bodies, WB). The results revealed that the areas of PT accounted for 7.67%, 12.05%, and 18.97% of three counties, bigger than GL, OC, BUL, BL, and WB, as one of main land use types. The landscape patterns of PT (mean patch size between 2.06 to 6.05 ha) were more fragmented than NF (mean patch size between 5.83 to 53.91 ha). NF areas increased along the relative altitude gradient, from 0 to 2500 m, while PT areas peaked from 100–1000 m. The higher the altitude, the more typical the zonal distribution of PT, the more aggregated the NF. NF had significant negative correlations with BL, BUL, CL, PT, GL, and OC, which suggest that human activities had seriously interfered with NF. Although PT as an ecological protection strategy was increasing, the landscape patterns of PT were obviously different from NF. This may affect the material energy flow in the ecological environment. The results in the present study have great implications in the other regions in China and the relevant parts of the world where natural forests were heavily disturbed.
Yang Yi; Mingchang Shi; ChunJiang Liu; Hongzhang Kang; Bin Wang. On Landscape Patterns in Typical Mountainous Counties Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18, 4000 .
AMA StyleYang Yi, Mingchang Shi, ChunJiang Liu, Hongzhang Kang, Bin Wang. On Landscape Patterns in Typical Mountainous Counties Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18 (8):4000.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYang Yi; Mingchang Shi; ChunJiang Liu; Hongzhang Kang; Bin Wang. 2021. "On Landscape Patterns in Typical Mountainous Counties Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 8: 4000.
Soil water moisture is one of the most important influencing factors in the fragile ecosystems in arid sandy regions, and it serves as a bridge connecting the rainfall and groundwater, two important water sources in arid sandy regions. The hydrological process of an arid sandy region occurs sporadically and is highly non-uniform temporally, making it difficult to monitor and predict. The deep soil recharge (DSR) at a sufficiently deep soil layer (usually greater than 200 cm below ground surface) is an important indicator for groundwater recharge in the arid sandy region, and thus the quantitative determination of DSR is of great significance to the evaluation of water resources and the study of water balance in the arid sandy region. Due to the large amount of evaporation, small amount of precipitation, and the long term of the frozen-soil period in the winter and spring, the monitoring of infiltration and determination of DSR in the arid sandy region become challenging. This study selects the Ulanbuh desert plots in northern China to monitor DSR, precipitation and seasonal frozen soil thickness change, and reaches the following conclusions: Even though the annual precipitation is only 48.2 mm in the arid sandy region, DSR will still occur and replenish groundwater. The daily threshold of precipitation for generating measurable DSR is lower than 4 mm, where the DSR value is defined as the downward flux over a unit area per day hereinafter. DSR continues during the frozen period of the winter and spring seasons, and it is generated from water vapor transport and condensation in the deep sandy layer. Summer rainstorms do no show an obvious correlation with DSR, which is unexpected. This study reveals the characteristics of the dynamic water resources movement and transformation in the arid sandy area in Ulanbuh Desert and can serve as an important guideline for the quantitative assessment of water resources in arid sandy regions.
YiBen Cheng; Wenbin Yang; HongBin Zhan; Qunou Jiang; Mingchang Shi; Yunqi Wang. On the Origin of Deep Soil Water Infiltration in the Arid Sandy Region of China. Water 2020, 12, 2409 .
AMA StyleYiBen Cheng, Wenbin Yang, HongBin Zhan, Qunou Jiang, Mingchang Shi, Yunqi Wang. On the Origin of Deep Soil Water Infiltration in the Arid Sandy Region of China. Water. 2020; 12 (9):2409.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYiBen Cheng; Wenbin Yang; HongBin Zhan; Qunou Jiang; Mingchang Shi; Yunqi Wang. 2020. "On the Origin of Deep Soil Water Infiltration in the Arid Sandy Region of China." Water 12, no. 9: 2409.
Land use types have been strongly modified across mountainous areas. This has substantially altered the patterns and processes of ecosystems and the components of ecosystem services (ESs), and could in turn impact the sustainable development. In the mountainous Mentougou district of Beijing, we explored the changes in land use type (cropland, orchard, forested land, scrubland, grassland, bare land, water bodies, wasteland and built-up land), landscape patterns and ESs as well as their interactions during the past 30 years (1985–2014). The ESs included water yield (WY), carbon stocks (CS) and soil retention rate (SR). The results showed that 23.65% of the land use changed and the wasteland decreased by 80.87%. As for ESs, WY decreased by 47.32% since the year 2000, probably due to the increases in temperature and evapotranspiration. Although the decrease of forested land led to the decrease of CS, the increase of vegetation coverage improved SR. CS decreased by 0.99%from 1990 to 2014, and SR increased by 1.38% from 1985 to 2014. Landscape patterns became fragmented and dispersed, and MPS and CS, SHDI and SR were significantly negatively correlated. IJI and CS was positively correlated. This indicated that landscape patterns were highly correlated with ESs. In order to maintain the sustainable development of ESs, we should not only plan land use types, but also consider the rationality of landscape patterns.
Yang Yi; Mingchang Shi; ChunJiang Liu; Bin Wang; Hongzhang Kang; Xinli Hu. Changes of Ecosystem Services and Landscape Patterns in Mountainous Areas: A Case Study in the Mentougou District in Beijing. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3689 .
AMA StyleYang Yi, Mingchang Shi, ChunJiang Liu, Bin Wang, Hongzhang Kang, Xinli Hu. Changes of Ecosystem Services and Landscape Patterns in Mountainous Areas: A Case Study in the Mentougou District in Beijing. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (10):3689.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYang Yi; Mingchang Shi; ChunJiang Liu; Bin Wang; Hongzhang Kang; Xinli Hu. 2018. "Changes of Ecosystem Services and Landscape Patterns in Mountainous Areas: A Case Study in the Mentougou District in Beijing." Sustainability 10, no. 10: 3689.
We explored the process of urbanization in a mountainous area to seek a sustainable urbanization strategy. Previous urbanization research has mainly focused on flat terrain and coastal areas, and urbanization in mountainous areas remains poorly understood. This study integrated geographic information systems, remote sensing, and statistical analysis to quantify landscape patterns dynamics in response to urbanization, with a case study of Mentougou District in Beijing, China from 1985 to 2014. We found that the total built-up area increased along with the population and economic indicators. The built-up area increased by one-third over the study period, with 73.38% of the increase from converted cropland and 12.22% from converted orchard. The urban expansion area was concentrated in the plain sub-region (<200 m elevation, comprising 68.85% of the expansion area). The landscape patterns varied over this period. For the whole region, the low mountain sub-region and the high mountain sub-region, landscape patterns gradually became more heterogeneous and fragmented, but they showed the opposite trend in the plain sub-region. None of the urbanization indicators (population, economic and built-up land area) were significantly correlated with landscape metrics for the whole region, but they were significantly correlated in the plain sub-region. The impacts of urbanization on landscape patterns were mainly focused on the plain sub-region, and the effects in the low mountain and high mountain sub-regions were weak. Future urban development in mountainous areas should focus on the protection of cropland and local industries as part of a sustainable development strategy for the whole region.
Yang Yi; Yuanyuan Zhao; Guodong Ding; Guanglei Gao; Mingchang Shi; Yue Cao. Effects of Urbanization on Landscape Patterns in a Mountainous Area: A Case Study in the Mentougou District, Beijing, China. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1190 .
AMA StyleYang Yi, Yuanyuan Zhao, Guodong Ding, Guanglei Gao, Mingchang Shi, Yue Cao. Effects of Urbanization on Landscape Patterns in a Mountainous Area: A Case Study in the Mentougou District, Beijing, China. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (11):1190.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYang Yi; Yuanyuan Zhao; Guodong Ding; Guanglei Gao; Mingchang Shi; Yue Cao. 2016. "Effects of Urbanization on Landscape Patterns in a Mountainous Area: A Case Study in the Mentougou District, Beijing, China." Sustainability 8, no. 11: 1190.