TY - JOUR
T1 - Vegetation restoration and its environmental effects on the Loess Plateau
AU - Zhao, Hongfei
AU - He, Hongming
AU - Wang, Jingjing
AU - Bai, Chunyu
AU - Zhang, Chuangjuan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the authors.
PY - 2018/12/8
Y1 - 2018/12/8
N2 - An analysis of land use/cover change (LUCC) on the Loess Plateau over the past 30 years and its environmental effects was performed to provide scientific guidance for a sustainable development policy for the regional ecological environment and social economy. Geostatistical and trend analyses are used to study the LUCC characteristics, driving forces and environmental effects, and the relationship between LUCC and regional sustainable development is explored. The following results were obtained: (1) Overall, the land use structure has not changed, with grassland, farmland, and forest land remaining dominant; however, the vegetation coverage has significantly increased, especially in the central area. (2) LUCC is affected by climate change and human activities, with greater climate change impacts in the northwest than the southeast and greater among which human-induced impacts on the hilly/gully region in the central part. (3) LUCC will produce long-term ecological and environmental processes, such as surface runoff, soil erosion, soil moisture and carbon cycling. Vegetation restoration has both negative and positive effects on the regional ecological environment. Vegetation productivity on the Loess Plateau has approached the water resource carrying capacity threshold. Therefore, improving artificial vegetation stability and promoting the water resources balance have become the main strategies for promoting sustainable development on the Loess Plateau.
AB - An analysis of land use/cover change (LUCC) on the Loess Plateau over the past 30 years and its environmental effects was performed to provide scientific guidance for a sustainable development policy for the regional ecological environment and social economy. Geostatistical and trend analyses are used to study the LUCC characteristics, driving forces and environmental effects, and the relationship between LUCC and regional sustainable development is explored. The following results were obtained: (1) Overall, the land use structure has not changed, with grassland, farmland, and forest land remaining dominant; however, the vegetation coverage has significantly increased, especially in the central area. (2) LUCC is affected by climate change and human activities, with greater climate change impacts in the northwest than the southeast and greater among which human-induced impacts on the hilly/gully region in the central part. (3) LUCC will produce long-term ecological and environmental processes, such as surface runoff, soil erosion, soil moisture and carbon cycling. Vegetation restoration has both negative and positive effects on the regional ecological environment. Vegetation productivity on the Loess Plateau has approached the water resource carrying capacity threshold. Therefore, improving artificial vegetation stability and promoting the water resources balance have become the main strategies for promoting sustainable development on the Loess Plateau.
KW - LUCC
KW - Loess Plateau
KW - Sustainable development
KW - Vegetation restoration
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85058159097
U2 - 10.3390/su10124676
DO - 10.3390/su10124676
M3 - 文章
AN - SCOPUS:85058159097
SN - 2071-1050
VL - 10
JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)
JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)
IS - 12
M1 - 4676
ER -
