Satellite Monitoring of Natural Reforestation Efforts in China's Drylands

Gerlein‐Safdi, Cynthia; Keppel‐Aleks, G.; Feng, Wang; Frolking, Steve; Mauzerall, Denise L.

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2019.12.015

Cited by 33 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Our study provides evidence that rangelands are particularly threatened in Iran. Such observation coincides with other studies, which have shown vanishing rangelands in other parts of the world, for instance, due to large-scale agricultural and environmental engineering projects in China (Cao et al, 2010;Gerlein-Safdi, Keppel-Aleks, Wang, Frolking, & Mauzerall, 2020), oil and gas extraction in Russia (Mjachina et al, 2014), mining activities in Mongolia (Suzuki, 2013), cropland expansion and contraction in Russia, Kazakhstan (Chen et al, 2013;Horion et al, 2016;Löw et al, 2015) and Uzbekistan (Dubovyk et al, 2012), and parks, game reserves, and residential expansion in Tanzania (Brockington, 1999;PINGOs Forum, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The fate of rangelands: Revealing past and predicting future land‐cover transitions from 1985 to 2036 in the drylands of Central Iran

et al. 2021

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Land serves as a vital production resource, and therefore land planning plays an important role in sustainable land‐use design. Iran includes large areas of the world's drylands, many of which are used as rangelands, and where the population has increased by 60% from 1985 to 2016. Further population increase in Iran would probably require more land resources to be allocated for human needs. However, the pace and patterns of these changes remain unclear. The aim of this study was to map land‐cover change from 1985 to 2016 and predict future land‐cover change in the Zayandehrood ecologic sub‐basins of Central Iran. By using multiseasonal LANDSAT imagery, we mapped land‐cover change with a Random Forest classifier for 1985, 1998, and 2016 with an overall accuracy of 80% for each period. Classification results revealed that from 1985 to 2016 residential areas doubled and industrial areas increased at the expense of rangelands. Our study also revealed cropland expansion at the expense of rangelands, cropland abandonment, and contraction of croplands due to residential and industrial development. Prediction of changes by 2036 with a multilayer perceptron neural network and Markov chain analysis showed further expansion of industries and residencies, particularly near the Ghamashlu Wildlife Refuge. Despite the partial restoration of rangelands in some parts of the world, our study provides evidence of ongoing rangeland degradation in Iran due to conversion to other land uses. Therefore, the study underscores the importance of sustainable land management of already cultivated areas and the development of strategies for the protection of global rangelands.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The fate of rangelands: Revealing past and predicting future land‐cover transitions from 1985 to 2036 in the drylands of Central Iran

et al. 2021

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“…Natural regeneration of the forest is a normal induced ecological phenomenon of succession, while forest plantation (especially with non-native species) is an ecologically undesirable practice [70][71][72]. Differentiating the natural reforestation process from the induced planting process is a common problem in geosimulation that could be solved using very high resolution data (spatial, spectral and radiometric) derived from remote sensors [73,74]. Therefore, a more in-depth information from an ecological point of view could be obtained through the remote sensing analysis of high resolution data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geospatial Simulation Model of Deforestation and Reforestation Using Multicriteria Evaluation

et al. 2020

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Deforestation is an anthropic phenomenon that negatively affects the environment and therefore the climate, the carbon cycle, biodiversity and the sustainability of agriculture and drinking water sources. Deforestation is counteracted by reforestation processes, which is caused by the natural regeneration of forests or by the establishment of plantations. The present research is focused on generating a simulation model to predict the deforestation and reforestation for 2030 and 2050 using geospatial analysis techniques and multicriteria evaluation. The case study is the North Pacific Basin, which is one of the areas with the greatest loss of forest cover in Mexico. The results of the spatial analysis of forest dynamics determined that the forest area in 2030 would be 98,713.52 km2, while in 2050 would be 101,239.8 km2. The mean annual deforestation and reforestation expected in the study area is 115 and 193.84 km2, for the 2014–2030 period, while mean annual deforestation and reforestation values of 95 and 221.31 km2 are expected for the 2030–2050 period. Therefore, considering the forest cover predicted by the deforestation and reforestation model, a carbon capture of 16,209.67 ton/C was estimated for the 2014–2030 period and 587,596.01 ton/C for the 2030–2050.

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“…A disadvantage is a need for many years of undisturbed development of the vegetation in strictly protected areas. In China, a process called "natural reforestation" was initiated in remote semi-arid and arid areas around 2006, and more than a decade later, the increase in biomass on these lands became measurable through remote sensing methods [21]. According to the authors, they are the first to report the successful use of natural succession in Northern China drylands.…”

Section: Non Assisted Successional Revegetation Of Drylands In Northe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

New approaches: Use of assisted natural succession in revegetation of inhabited arid drylands as alternative to large-scale afforestation

Huebner¹,

Al-Quraishi

Branch

et al. 2022

SN Appl. Sci.

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It is a great concept to let nature do the work of revegetation, however in semi-arid and arid regions the process of natural succession, if it occurs at all, typically requires many years of undisturbed development until an increase in biomass becomes measurable, hence it rather is applied to remote, sparsely populated regions and may be underrated as a measure to restore native vegetation, particularly in inhabited arid areas. What are the factors that make arid successional processes successful, how to expedite, and how to enable their use for the ecological revegetation of densely populated drylands? We review restoration methods that combine the planting of shelterbelt compartments with successional revegetation of the internal area, protected from wind and drought. Various measures of assisted natural succession can be applied to greatly accelerate the revegetation, including soil tillage, amendment with organic matter and the inoculation with cyanobacteria or lichens to form biocrusts. The aim is to initiate the development of native, water-saving savanna with biodiversity, resilience and adaptability to climate change. A narrow twin shelterbelt module could facilitate the use of natural succession within inhabited and peri-urban areas, also serving as protective greenbelt for cities. A pilot is planned in a peri-urban area of Northern Iraq, with a successional area of 125–150 m between shelterbelts. Land-use of agriculture, gardening and recreation can be integrated within the successional area, which also generates engagement of residents in the maintenance work. Planting of shelterbelts is required on 10–25% (not 100%) of the restoration area, therefore the use of assisted succession within protective compartments is expected to have both, ecological and economic advantages over large-scale afforestation.

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Satellite Monitoring of Natural Reforestation Efforts in China's Drylands

Cited by 33 publications

References 94 publications

The fate of rangelands: Revealing past and predicting future land‐cover transitions from 1985 to 2036 in the drylands of Central Iran

The fate of rangelands: Revealing past and predicting future land‐cover transitions from 1985 to 2036 in the drylands of Central Iran

Geospatial Simulation Model of Deforestation and Reforestation Using Multicriteria Evaluation

New approaches: Use of assisted natural succession in revegetation of inhabited arid drylands as alternative to large-scale afforestation

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