Discrimination between climate and human-induced dryland degradation

Evans, Jason P.; Geerken, Roland

doi:10.1016/s0140-1963(03)00121-6

Cited by 642 publications

(489 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Degradation is common in the presence of key resources and water sources, which are considered a precondition for grazing under semiarid or arid condition (Fensham et al 1999, Bestelmeyer et al 2006. A typical example of a stable key resource is the forage available in wet meadows located within rangelands (Buttolph and Coppock 2004); in addition, local degradation typically occurs around water sources (Hanan et al 1991), settlements (Sullivan 1999), nomad tents (Evans and Geerken 2004), and stock posts (Zhao et al 2007). Although the presence of key resources or water sources may lead to degradation, this does not necessarily imply that the non-equilibrium concept per se is incorrect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global assessment of the non‐equilibrium concept in rangelands

Wehrden

Hanspach

Kaczensky

et al. 2012

Ecological Applications

138

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Abstract. The non-equilibrium concept of rangeland dynamics predicts that the potential for grazing-induced degradation is low in rangelands with relatively variable precipitation. To date, evidence in support of the non-equilibrium concept has been inconsistent. Using a standardized protocol, including a newly developed global map of rainfall variability, we reviewed the incidence of degradation in relation to rainfall variability across 58 published studies. We distinguished between (1) zonal degradation (i.e., degradation independent of water and key resources), (2) degradation in the presence of key resources, and (3) degradation in the presence of water. For studies not affected by proximity to permanent water or key resources, we found strong support for the non-equilibrium concept for rangelands. Zonal degradation was absent at CV (coefficient of variation) values above 33%, which has been proposed as a critical threshold. Grazing degradation was almost entirely restricted to areas with relatively stable annual precipitation as expressed by a low CV, or to rangelands with key resources or water points nearby. To better understand rangeland dynamics, we recommend that future studies use globally comparable measures of degradation and rainfall variability. Our work underlines that rangelands with relatively stable rainfall patterns, and those with access to water or key resources, are potentially vulnerable to degradation. Grazing management in such areas should incorporate strategic rest periods. Such rest periods effectively mimic natural fluctuations in herbivore populations, which are a defining characteristic of non-degraded rangelands occurring under highly variable precipitation regimes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global assessment of the non‐equilibrium concept in rangelands

Wehrden

Hanspach

Kaczensky

et al. 2012

Ecological Applications

138

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“…The RESTREND method was used to identify the humaninduced grassland variation, i.e., degradation and restoration (Evans and Geerken, 2004). This method is based on the hypothesis that vegetation growth is determined by climate change.…”

Section: Restrend Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to predict the NDVI max determined by climate change, a reference period or region that has no or stable and minimum human influence should be used (Evans and Geerken, 2004). In this study, we selected seven natural reserves in HYR region as the base region to establish the causable relationship of these two variables.…”

Section: Restrend Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Satellite-based information can provide this type of indicators, such as rainfall use efficiency (RUE; the ratio of vegetation productivity to annual rainfall) Prince et al, 1998) and remotely sensed NDVI-based residual trend (RESTREND) (Evans and Geerken, 2004). Superior to the correlation analysis and principal component analysis methods (Jiang et al, 2008), these methods can spatially explicitly discriminate the vegetation variation caused by human activities by eliminating the climate influence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human-induced grassland degradation/restoration in the central Tibetan Plateau: The effects of ecological protection and restoration projects

Cai

Yang

2015

Ecological Engineering

183

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A B S T R A C TEcological projects are an important and vital method to help ecosystem adaptation and restoration in response to the environment change and human interference. The accurate and objective assessment of ecological projects will assist ecosystem management and adaption. This study took the central Tibetan Plateau as the study area, where a series of ecological projects has been implemented since 2005 to prevent grassland degradation by protecting and restoring the grasslands. Our aim is to explore where and to what extent the ecological projects influenced the grassland variation, using SPOT NDVI-based residual trend as an indicator. The results indicated that before the projects (between 1998 and 2004), human-induced degradation characterized the grassland. However, a general grassland restoration was detected after the projects from 2005 to 2012. Moreover, over 60% of project plots had positive trends in the NDVI residuals. From the spatial patterns, project-induced restoration was detected in the western and northern regions, such as Maduo, Dongde and Xinghai counties. For the eastern regions, the human-induced degradation has been generally mitigated and yet not reversed after the projects. Our results indicated that ecological protection and restoration projects in the central Tibetan Plateau have mitigated the grassland degradation and even reversed the degradation in some areas, and also suggested that the NDVI-based residual trend is a useful indicator for assessing the effectiveness of the ecological projects in alpine regions.

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“…This method takes non-degraded rangeland as a reference through the comparison of characteristic parameters observed directly (such as biomass, vegetation coverage, edible forage, NDVI, NPP, soil physical and chemical properties indices) to analyze the degradation/restoration of rangeland (Numata et al, 2007;Liu and Zha, 2004;Röder et al, 2008); (3) Monitoring rangeland degradation based on time series analysis of remote sensing. In recent years, these methods have caught widespread attention, and mainly include rainfall use efficiency (RUE) (Wessels et al, 2006;Prince et al, 2004;Paruelo et al, 1999;Holm et al, 2003;Gao et al, 2005;Bai et al, 2008a) and residual trends (RESTREND) (Evans and Geerken, 2004;Wessels et al, 2007;Xu et al, 2010;Cao, 2006;Eckert et al, 2015); (4) Local NPP (the actual Net Primary Productivity) Scaling (Wessels et al, 2007;Wessels et al, 2008;Prince et al, 2009). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wang

Xia

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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Abstract-the "Three-River Headwaters" region (TRHR) rangeland ecosystem is extremely sensitive and fragile, and in recent years has undergone continuous degradation. The vast area and severe nature conditions inhibit data acquisition and field experiments, resulting in different understandings about the spatial characteristics and dynamics of rangeland degradation in the region. Therefore, reliable monitoring method of rangeland degradation is urgently needed for the rangeland protection and management. In this paper, a novel rangeland degradation monitoring scheme based on Local NPP Scaling (LNS) was suggested;A suitable partition program of rangeland productivity unit was set up by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (

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Discrimination between climate and human-induced dryland degradation

Cited by 642 publications

References 10 publications

Global assessment of the non‐equilibrium concept in rangelands

Global assessment of the non‐equilibrium concept in rangelands

Human-induced grassland degradation/restoration in the central Tibetan Plateau: The effects of ecological protection and restoration projects

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

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