China’s response to a national land-system sustainability emergency

Bryan, Brett A.; Ye, Yangqiong; Sun, Xiaoxiao; Connor, Jeffery D.; Crossman, Neville D.; Smith, Mark S.; Wu, Jianguo; He, Chunyang; Yu, Deyong; Liu, Zhifeng; Li, Ang; Huang, Qingxu; Ren, Hai; Deng, Xiangxheng; Zheng, Hua; Niu, Jianming; Han, Guodong; Hou, Xiangyang

doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0280-2

Cited by 1,016 publications

(507 citation statements)

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“…The following three land conversions (i.e., cropland to forest, cropland to grassland, and wasteland to forest) were the main types of land transformations promoted by the Grain for Green program (Yuan et al, ). The alpine meadow degradation has been found to be slowed and reversed in the Tibetan Plateau Yellow River headwaters from 2005–2012 (Bryan et al, ; Cai et al, ). Meanwhile, the GRACE‐derived TWSA has decreased in most of the YRB regions, except the upper region above the Lanzhou hydrological station (Figure c).…”

Section: Study Site and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative Analysis of Terrestrial Water Storage Changes Under the Grain for Green Program in the Yellow River Basin

et al. 2019

JGR Atmospheres

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Afforestation‐induced changes in water resources have attracted worldwide attention. However, a clear picture of quantitative attribution of terrestrial water storage (TWS) variation from hydroclimatic and anthropogenic factors is still lacking. In this study, a quantitative analysis of TWS variation was conducted in the Yellow River basin of China under the Grain for Green project with consideration of irrigation. The results showed that the TWS has decreased (increased) more and more quickly (slowly) in the Loess Plateau (headwater region). The TWS increase corresponded to increased runoff and soil moisture in the headwaters, and the TWS depletion corresponded to decreased runoff and groundwater in the Loess Plateau and downstream regions. Regarding the TWS change (TWSC), it exhibited a negative trend across the basin. The increase in evapotranspiration (ET) dominated the basin‐averaged TWSC reduction, while the increase in ET was highly related to the increases in vegetation cover and irrigation water use. For spatial TWSC variations, the value of precipitation minus ET could account for most changes in TWSC, except for those in the headwater region and a region near the internally drained area. The increased vegetation coverage, which can affect multiple hydrological processes, played an important role in these two excluded regions. Importantly, the irrigation‐induced TWSC was considerable and varied with different irrigation water sources (i.e., surface water and groundwater). Overall, the impacts of afforestation and irrigation on TWS are sufficiently important. The research in this study can provide guidance for the water resource management during revegetation efforts.

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Section: Study Site and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative Analysis of Terrestrial Water Storage Changes Under the Grain for Green Program in the Yellow River Basin

et al. 2019

JGR Atmospheres

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“…Specifically, authorities at multiple scales built dams and levees, established flood diversion zones, relocated people, restored and protected wetlands, and required integration of flood control into urban planning [21,41,42,43,44]. However, the fast PopF growth hints that not all the measures have been effectively implemented.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Population Growth in Chinese Floodplains from 1990 to 2015

Fang

Scussolini

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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Although China suffers from frequent and disastrous floods, the spatiotemporal pattern of its population living in the floodplain (PopF) is still unknown. This strongly limits our understanding of flood risk and the effectiveness of mitigation efforts. Here we present the first quantification of Chinese PopF and its dynamics, based on newly-available population datasets for years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2015 and on a flood map. We found that the PopF in 2015 was 453.3 million and accounted for 33.0% of the total population, with a population density 3.6 times higher than outside floodplains. From 1990 to 2015, the PopF increased by 1.3% annually, overwhelmingly faster than elsewhere (0.5%). A rising proportion (from 53.2% in 1990 to 55.6% in 2015) of the PopF resided in flood zones deeper than 2 m. Moreover, the PopF is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades. We also found the effect of flood memory on controlling PopF growth and its decay over time. These findings imply an exacerbating flood risk in China, which is concerning in the light of climate change and rapid socioeconomic development.

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“…In addition, landscape sustainability science can guide our transition toward sustainability, particularly on scales ranging from local ecosystems to regional landscapes (Wu 2013;Opdam et al 2018). It is important that studies from these diverse perspectives on sustainable development continue, and that there continue to be syntheses like Bryan et al (2018) to bring them together.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 Photographic examples of some of the major sustainability issues facing China, and some of the responses. Lessons and implications Bryan et al (2018) show that China has evolved its priorities from ''economic and social goals as the center'' to ''economic, social and ecological coordinated development as the center'' in the implementation of national land focused ecological programs since the 1980s. In implementing the programs, it has been vitally important to take a comprehensive view of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers' problems, which have long plagued sustainable development in China's rural areas.…”

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confidence: 99%