Spatial Differentiation Characteristics of Alpine Grassland Patches in the Source Region of the Yellow River and Its Ecological Significance

Abstract

Abstract. The source region of the Yellow River is an important source of water conservation in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is also an animal husbandry base that has a major impact on China. Its ecological environment changes will have a major impact on the safe and sustainable development of water use in Asia. The alpine grassland is an important part of the ecosystem of the Yellow River source area, and the spatial differentiation characteristics of the plaque have important indication significance for the ecological environment succession. In this paper, the alpine grassland in the source region of the Yellow River is taken as the research object. Based on the aerial image of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the EGI threshold method is used to extract the vegetation patches and the bare plaques to obtain high-precision field monitoring data, and the landscape ecology principle is used to analyze the four types of alpine grassland. The morphological characteristics of plaques in different grassland types are studied, and the spatial indications of spatial sequences are used to study the ecological significance of plaque succession. The results show that the number of plaques in swamp meadows, alpine meadows, degraded meadows and alpine grassland increase significantly, the degree of fragmentation increase, and the area of vegetation patches decrease significantly. The area of bare plaque increase significantly as the main trend; the distribution and dominance of landscape plaques are analyzed; the swamp meadow have the highest spread, the best aggregation, and the largest proportion of vegetation plaque, the highest degree of dominance, alpine grassland Conversely; in terms of the complexity of landscape patch shape; the area-weighted shape index and the area-weighted fractal dimension increase with the order of swamp meadows, alpine meadows, degraded meadows and alpine grasslands, tending to be complex plaque space. The ecological risk intensity index of alpine grassland in the source region of the Yellow River varies greatly, and the ecological risk of alpine grassland is high. The results of this study provide data support for elucidating the mechanism of spatial differentiation of alpine grass plaques, provide scientific assistance for grassland monitoring and management in the source area, and it provides an important basis for further discussion on ecological system protection, animal husbandry economy and sustainable development of alpine grassland in China. At the same time, it provides important theoretical support and ecological indication significance for the understanding of the alpine grassland ecosystem succession in the source area of the Yellow River.