China's Grain for Green Program has reduced soil erosion in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle reaches of the Yellow River

Zhou, Zi-Xuan; Gan, Zhuoting; Shangguan, Zhouping; Dong, Zhibao

doi:10.1080/13504500903007931

Cited by 56 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition to the biophysical consequences assessed in this study, the GGP also led to significant decreases in runoff and soil erosion of the Loess Plateau [Deng et al, 2012;Z C Zhou et al, 2009]. Large-scale afforestation has caused growing concerns for water supply and other ecosystem services [Gao et al, 2014;Jackson et al, 2005;Sun et al, 2006].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…The debates on afforestation effects on water balance are unsettled, and a mechanistic understanding of these effects is needed (Mátyás and Sun, 2014). Mitigating soil erosion is an important goal of the GGP, and the decrease in soil erosion on the Loess Plateau [Deng et al, 2012;Feng et al, 2010;Z C Zhou et al, 2009] can help conserve soil on the plateau and reduce the sediment loads in the Yellow River.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Satellite evidence for significant biophysical consequences of the “Grain for Green” Program on the Loess Plateau in China

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Afforestation has been implemented worldwide as regional and national policies to address environmental problems and to improve ecosystem services. China's central government launched the "Grain for Green" Program (GGP) in 1999 to increase forest cover and to control soil erosion by converting agricultural lands on steep slopes to forests and grasslands.Here, a variety of satellite data products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were used to assess the biophysical consequences of the GGP for the Loess Plateau, the pilot region of the program. The average tree cover of the plateau substantially increased because of the GGP, with a relative increase of 41.0%. The GGP led to significant increases in enhanced vegetation index (EVI), leaf area index (LAI), and the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR) absorbed by canopies. The increase in forest productivity as approximated by EVI was not driven by elevated air temperature, changing precipitation, or rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Moreover, the afforestation significantly reduced surface albedo, leading to a positive radiative forcing and a warming effect on the climate. The GGP also led to a significant decline in daytime land surface temperature (LST) and exerted a cooling effect on the climate. The GGP therefore has significant biophysical consequences by altering carbon cycling, hydrologic processes, and surface energy exchange and has significant feedbacks to the regional climate. The net radiative forcing on the climate depends on the offsetting of the negative forcing from carbon sequestration and higher evapotranspiration and the positive forcing from lower albedo.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Satellite evidence for significant biophysical consequences of the “Grain for Green” Program on the Loess Plateau in China

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Second, the program is considered to improve the physical properties of the soil structure and reduce nutrient loss to maintain soil fertility, in addition to decreasing river sediments [60]. The effects of the changes in surface runoff and sediment yields have been widely studied [61]. Third, the SLCP provides a good opportunity to restore biodiversity regions that have been destroyed or dramatically affected by human activity [62].…”

Section: Environmental Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Institutional Challenges of Payment for Ecosystem Service Program in China: A Review of the Effectiveness and Implementation of Sloping Land Conversion Program

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:This study is an overview of the effectiveness and institutional challenges of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). The SLCP is the Chinese government's largest Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program and one of the largest PES programs in the world. From an institutional perspective, the SLCP is particularly interesting because it represents a hybrid governance type that includes both voluntary and hierarchical (top-down) elements rather than traditional command-and-control approach. Our analysis is based on a literature review that encompasses 164 international scientific articles. To identify institutional challenges, we linked the results regarding the effectiveness of the program to its institutional aspects. Our SLCP case study highlights the dependence of the effectiveness of a governmental PES program on the specific regulatory institutional setting and the particular actors involved. Our results show that some institutional challenges undermine the anticipated advantages of PES (local participation) and eventually reshape the program outcomes through implementation process, particularly in cases of hybrid governance structures in which institutional requirements are as important as the design of the specific financial incentives. The collaboration between relevant government actors at different hierarchical levels, and specifically the motivations and interests of the government actors OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 5565 responsible for the implementation on the ground, play crucial roles. The SLCP can be an important milestone in environmental policy in China and the world, if more innovative elements of a theoretically ideal PES-such as local flexibility and self-interest (or at least the acceptance of the service providers supplying the relevant ecosystem services) can be strengthened. The environmental goals can be achieved in combination with greater self-interest of the applicable government actors on all hierarchical levels.

show abstract

“…In order to control soil erosion and improve environmental conditions, great effort has been devoted to vegetation restoration since 1949, and a series of ecological restoration programs have been carried out over the past decades, such as the Three Northern Regions (northeastern, northwestern and northern China) Shelter Forest System Project, Natural Forest Protection Program, the Grain for Green Program, and Desertification Control Program [1,4,5]. With the implementation of these programs, many tree species have been planted in different environments across the Loess Plateau.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of Natural and Planted Forests in the Yanhe River Catchment: Have We Planted Trees on the Right Sites?

Shi

Wen

Paull

et al. 2016

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Planting trees on the right sites is the first principle in silviculture, but it is not easy to apply at a large scale, especially in complex terrain such as mountainous regions. In hilly and gully landscapes of China's Loess Plateau, the environmental heterogeneity is so great that it is very difficult to choose the right sites for planting trees. The long history of vegetation destruction makes it difficult to have a reference for restoration programs. In this paper, we compared the distribution of actual forest to an existing potential natural vegetation (PNV) map to see the mismatch with the sites. The differences in environmental conditions between natural forest and mismatched planted forest were investigated. The results showed that significant differences existed in the environmental conditions between them. The mean rainfall and temperature for natural forest were 512.20 ± 11.42 mm and 8.23 ± 0.55 The results identified that 58% of the existing forest in the Yanhe River catchment is planted forest that grows on steeper slopes, receives lower rainfall, has higher temperatures and higher evaporation. The average soil water content for sites with planted forest was found to be 5.98% ± 0.32% compared to 7.52% ± 0.33% for natural forest. We conclude that the main cause of dwarfed, slender, low productive and sparse planted forest in the Loess Plateau is planting trees at unsuitable sites. Our results highlight the importance of matching sites with the best potential vegetation types. Instead of using water harvesting techniques, we suggest that more focus should be placed on understanding environmental heterogeneity and its capacity to support particular vegetation types. This study is instructive for vegetation restoration planning and existing planted forest management in the future.

show abstract

China's Grain for Green Program has reduced soil erosion in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle reaches of the Yellow River

Cited by 56 publications

References 5 publications

Satellite evidence for significant biophysical consequences of the “Grain for Green” Program on the Loess Plateau in China

Satellite evidence for significant biophysical consequences of the “Grain for Green” Program on the Loess Plateau in China

The Institutional Challenges of Payment for Ecosystem Service Program in China: A Review of the Effectiveness and Implementation of Sloping Land Conversion Program

Distribution of Natural and Planted Forests in the Yanhe River Catchment: Have We Planted Trees on the Right Sites?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About