Major forest increase on the Loess Plateau, China (2001–2016)
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Major forest increase on the Loess Plateau, China (2001–2016). / Wang, Yuhang; Brandt, Martin; Zhao, Mingfei; Tong, Xiaowei; Xing, Kaixiong; Xue, Feng; Kang, Muyi; Wang, Lanhui; Jiang, Yuan; Fensholt, Rasmus.
In: Land Degradation and Development, Vol. 29, No. 11, 2018, p. 4080-4091.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Major forest increase on the Loess Plateau, China (2001–2016)
AU - Wang, Yuhang
AU - Brandt, Martin
AU - Zhao, Mingfei
AU - Tong, Xiaowei
AU - Xing, Kaixiong
AU - Xue, Feng
AU - Kang, Muyi
AU - Wang, Lanhui
AU - Jiang, Yuan
AU - Fensholt, Rasmus
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - The Loess Plateau in China is prone to widespread land degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, and water loss), and therefore, ecological restoration programmes aiming to re-establish the ecosystem by revegetation have been implemented during recent decades. Consequently, a widespread increase in vegetation cover has been reported, but the state and dynamics of forests remain largely unknown. Here, we used field and satellite data to produce annual forest probability scores at 250 × 250 m between 2001 and 2016. We classified the forest dynamics into three types: net gain, net loss, and fluctuation. Assuming that an increasing probability score reflects forest growth, we categorised the annual forest areas into different growing stages indicating the transition between planting and mature forest. In total, the area of forest increase was 48,786 km2, and the percentage of forested areas of the region changed from 8.19% to 15.82% within 16 years. In areas of forest net gain, there was a clear transition from low- to high-probability forest areas, providing evidence that a general forest transition is occurring on the Loess Plateau. The method developed for continuous monitoring of forest probability scores offers a benchmarking for further decision making on ecological restoration of the region and for mapping of afforestation projects elsewhere. The findings on major forest increases demonstrate that land degradation is in fact reversible, with implications for many ecosystem services (e.g., carbon storage and provisioning of forest products).
AB - The Loess Plateau in China is prone to widespread land degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, and water loss), and therefore, ecological restoration programmes aiming to re-establish the ecosystem by revegetation have been implemented during recent decades. Consequently, a widespread increase in vegetation cover has been reported, but the state and dynamics of forests remain largely unknown. Here, we used field and satellite data to produce annual forest probability scores at 250 × 250 m between 2001 and 2016. We classified the forest dynamics into three types: net gain, net loss, and fluctuation. Assuming that an increasing probability score reflects forest growth, we categorised the annual forest areas into different growing stages indicating the transition between planting and mature forest. In total, the area of forest increase was 48,786 km2, and the percentage of forested areas of the region changed from 8.19% to 15.82% within 16 years. In areas of forest net gain, there was a clear transition from low- to high-probability forest areas, providing evidence that a general forest transition is occurring on the Loess Plateau. The method developed for continuous monitoring of forest probability scores offers a benchmarking for further decision making on ecological restoration of the region and for mapping of afforestation projects elsewhere. The findings on major forest increases demonstrate that land degradation is in fact reversible, with implications for many ecosystem services (e.g., carbon storage and provisioning of forest products).
KW - afforestation
KW - ecological restoration
KW - forest dynamics
KW - Loess Plateau
KW - trajectory-based approach
U2 - 10.1002/ldr.3174
DO - 10.1002/ldr.3174
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85055279503
VL - 29
SP - 4080
EP - 4091
JO - Land Degradation and Development
JF - Land Degradation and Development
SN - 1085-3278
IS - 11
ER -
ID: 209281599