Quantifying the Variability of Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability in the Largest Water Tower Region Globally

Abstract

Forests are critical ecosystems for environmental regulation and ecological security maintenance, especially at high altitudes that exhibit sensitivity to climate change and human activities. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—the world’s largest water tower region—has been breeding many large rivers in Asia where forests play important roles in water regulation and water quality improvement. However, the vulnerability of these forest ecosystems at the regional scale is still largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this research is to quantitatively assess the temporal–spatial variability of forest vulnerability on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to illustrate the capacity of forests to withstand disturbances. Geographic information system (GIS) and the spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) were used to develop a forest vulnerable index (FVI) to assess the vulnerability of forest ecosystems. This research incorporates 15 factors covering the natural context, environmental disturbances, and socioeconomic impact. Results indicate that the measure of vulnerability was unevenly distributed spatially across the study area, and the whole trend has intensified since 2000. The three factors that contribute the most to the vulnerability of natural contexts, environmental disturbances, and human impacts are slope aspect, landslides, and the distance to the farmland, respectively. The vulnerability is higher in forest areas with lower altitudes, steeper slopes, and southerly directions. These evaluation results can be helpful for forest management in high altitude water tower regions in the forms of forest conservation or restoration planning and implementation towards sustainable development goals.

Spatiotemporal Variations in Grassland Vulnerability on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Based on a Comprehensive Framework

“…Ecosystem vulnerability assessment is a complicated procedure that focuses on the relationship between environmental conditions and human interference [15,28]. Based on comprehensive analyses of the vulnerability of grassland, we accepted a novel framework presented by Sun et al [28], which divided vulnerability into three subsystems, namely, vulnerability by natural factors (VNF), vulnerability by environmental disturbances (VED), and vulnerability by socioeconomic impacts (VSI), and was successfully used in assessing forest vulnerability on the QTP. Based on the characteristics of grasslands and the novel framework, we selected 13 indicators, considering the operability and availability, and built a framework of VNF-VED-VSI (Table 1).…”

“…With high elevations, low temperatures, rare precipitation, simple ecosystem structure, limited resilience, and vulnerability to environmental changes, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is one of the most sensitive and vulnerable regions in China [28,29]. The grassland ecosystem accounts for the largest proportion of the ecosystem, and most grasslands have experienced rapid warming in recent decades, at a rate almost three times the global warming rate [30][31][32].…”

Systematic Review of Multi-Dimensional Vulnerabilities in the Himalayas

“…Additionally, they are geologically young, seismically active, and environmentally fragile [38]. These mountains are a source of water, biodiversity, timber, mineral resources, and hydropower in the heavily populated region [39][40][41].…”

Decline in Environmental Quality and Spatial Dynamics of New City Area Development Metropolitan Mamminasata, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…The facts found in the field illustrate that forest destruction and the use of water catchment areas contribute to changes in the flood cycle in the suburban area of the Mamminasata Metropolitan. Flood is a natural disaster that causes disease, damage and loss of life, property, and infrastructure as well as disruption of public services [55]. The carrying capacity of the residential environment based on spatial zoning is presented in Figure 4 below.…”