Reversing conflict between humans and the environment － The experience in the Qilian Mountains

Li, Zongxing; Feng, Qi; Li, Zongjie; Wang, Xufeng; Gui, Jian‐Fang; Zhang, Baijuan; Li, Yuchen; Deng, Xin; Xue, Jian; Wende, Gao; Anle, Yang; Fusen, Nan; Liang, Pengfei

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111333

Cited by 40 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…For middleand high-elevation zones, soil depths generally ranged from 20 to 60 cm, and there were clear rock compositions in deeper soil layers. Considering the fundamental functions for regional ecological security, the Qilian Mountains were classified as a national nature reserve and a national park in 1980 and 2017, respectively [33]. Thus, the anthropogenic disturbances were relatively limited, and vegetation and soil dynamics were mainly controlled by climate change.…”

Section: Site-level Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As for ecological restoration practices, the complex topography and limited accessibility made it impossible to conduct large-scale reforestation or oversowing in high-elevation zones. Hence, current ecological restoration practices in the middle Qilian Mountains mainly seek to maintain the authenticity of zonal ecosystems through excluding human disturbances [8,33]. In addition, the objective of this study was to determine the potential responses of the SOC temporal dynamics to future climate change scenarios.…”

Section: Soc Predictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The adaptive management practices for carbon pools should mainly aim at effectively reducing carbon losses from soils into the atmosphere. In addition, considering the potential carbon accumulation in high-elevation zones in the future, the adaptive management practices should focus on lowering the intensity of anthropogenic disturbances such as coal mining, overgrazing, and illegal construction, which may reduce the carbon sequestration function of undisturbed alpine soils [33]. SOC in the low-elevation zones was estimated to be less varied under future climate change conditions.…”

Section: Implications For Soc Management Under Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing Soil Organic Carbon Stock Dynamics under Future Climate Change Scenarios in the Middle Qilian Mountains

Liu

Zhu

et al. 2021

Forests

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Soil organic carbon (SOC) simply cannot be managed if its amounts, changes and locations are not well known. Thus, evaluations of the spatio-temporal dynamics of SOC stock under future climate change are crucial for the adaptive management of regional carbon sequestration. Here, we evaluated the dynamics of SOC stock to a 60 cm depth in the middle Qilian Mountains (1755–5051 m a.s.l.) by combining systematic measurements from 138 sampling sites with a machine learning model. Our results reveal that the combination of systematic measurements with the machine learning model allowed spatially explicit estimates of SOC change to be made. The average SOC stock in the middle Qilian Mountains was expected to decrease under future climate change, while the size and direction of SOC stock changes seemed to be elevation-dependent. Specifically, in comparison with the 2000s, the mean annual precipitation was projected to increase by 18.37, 19.80 and 30.80 mm, and the mean annual temperature was projected to increase by 1.9, 2.4 and 2.9 °C under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 (low-emissions pathway), RCP4.5 (low-to-moderate-emissions pathway), and RCP8.5 (high-emissions pathway) scenarios by the 2050s, respectively. Accordingly, the area-weighted SOC stock and total storage for the whole study area were estimated to decrease by 0.43, 0.63 and 1.01 kg m–2 and 4.55, 6.66 and 10.62 Tg under the RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. In addition, the mid-elevation zones (3100–3900 m), especially the subalpine shrub-meadow Mollic Leptosols, were projected to experience the most intense carbon loss. However, the higher elevation zones (>3900 m), especially the alpine desert zone, were characterized by significant carbon accumulation. As for the low-elevation zones (<2900 m), SOC was projected to be less varied under future climate change scenarios. Thus, the mid-elevation zones, especially the subalpine shrub-meadows and Mollic Leptosols, should be given priority in terms of reducing CO2 emissions in the Qilian Mountains.

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Section: Site-level Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soc Predictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Soc Management Under Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing Soil Organic Carbon Stock Dynamics under Future Climate Change Scenarios in the Middle Qilian Mountains

Liu

Zhu

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…The Qilian Mountains have an important strategic position in constructing China's ecological civilization and have formed a unique ecological barrier in the northwest region [25]. As it is in the transition zone from a temperate continental climate to a plateau mountain climate, the special geographical location and climate type determine the fragile ecological environment of the Qilian Mountains [22,24]. Therefore, accurate and refined vegetation information is essential for protecting the ecological environment of the Qilian Mountains.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Qilian Mountains are located in the northeast arid and semi-arid area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Due to the impact of global climate change and human activities, the vegetation and biodiversity in the Qilian Mountains are declining, and the function of soil and water conservation continues to weaken [22]. These problems have seriously affected the stability of the Qilian Mountain ecosystems and restricted the social and economic sustainable development of its surrounding areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree Species Classification Based on Sentinel-2 Imagery and Random Forest Classifier in the Eastern Regions of the Qilian Mountains

Liu

et al. 2021

Forests

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Obtaining accurate forest coverage of tree species is an important basis for the rational use and protection of existing forest resources. However, most current studies have mainly focused on broad tree classification, such as coniferous vs. broadleaf tree species, and a refined tree classification with tree species information is urgently needed. Although airborne LiDAR data or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images can be used to acquire tree information even at the single tree level, this method will encounter great difficulties when applied to a large area. Therefore, this study takes the eastern regions of the Qilian Mountains as an example to explore the possibility of tree species classification with satellite-derived images. We used Sentinel-2 images to classify the study area’s major vegetation types, particularly four tree species, i.e., Sabina przewalskii (S.P.), Picea crassifolia (P.C.), Betula spp. (Betula), and Populus spp. (Populus). In addition to the spectral features, we also considered terrain and texture features in this classification. The results show that adding texture features can significantly increase the separation between tree species. The final classification result of all categories achieved an accuracy of 86.49% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.83. For trees, the classification accuracy was 90.31%, and their producer’s accuracy (PA) and user’s (UA) were all higher than 84.97%. We found that altitude, slope, and aspect all affected the spatial distribution of these four tree species in our study area. This study confirms the potential of Sentinel-2 images for the fine classification of tree species. Moreover, this can help monitor ecosystem biological diversity and provide references for inventory estimation.

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Projection of landscape ecological risk and exploration of terrain effects in the Qilian Mountains, China

et al. 2023

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The development of a reasonable landscape ecological risk (LER) assessment system is the key means to establish an eco‐safety early warning mechanism, promote ecological protection, and achieve sustainable management of regional ecosystems. Based on the Cellular Automaton‐Markov (CA‐Markov) model, we predicted the land use/cover changes (LUCC) in 2026 and 2034 in the typical arid and semiarid mountainous area of the Qilian Mountains. We constructed an LER model to analyze the spatial–temporal changes in LER, quantified the driving mechanism, and synthesized the constraining effect of terrain features. The results showed that the study area was dominated by ecologically stable areas in 1980–2000 and 2010–2018. Ecologically improved and deteriorated areas in the central and northwest expanded in 2000–2010 and 2018–2036, which was attributed to ecological restoration policies (returning farmland to forest and grassland, closing mountains to forest and grassland, etc.) and economic development (livestock and mineral development, etc.). Due to the frequent interference of human activities in flat and complex terrain areas, the degree of landscape fragmentation, separation, and vulnerability is enhanced, and the ecological conditions of bare land and snow cover are relatively fragile, resulting in high ecological risk. Therefore, we could focus on zoning management and rational land use planning. This study provides a new framework for controlling LER in the Qilian Mountains, and will provide a scientific reference for the formulation of risk mitigation strategies in other arid and semiarid mountains worldwide.

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Reversing conflict between humans and the environment － The experience in the Qilian Mountains

Cited by 40 publications

References 24 publications

Assessing Soil Organic Carbon Stock Dynamics under Future Climate Change Scenarios in the Middle Qilian Mountains

Assessing Soil Organic Carbon Stock Dynamics under Future Climate Change Scenarios in the Middle Qilian Mountains

Tree Species Classification Based on Sentinel-2 Imagery and Random Forest Classifier in the Eastern Regions of the Qilian Mountains

Projection of landscape ecological risk and exploration of terrain effects in the Qilian Mountains, China

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