Major forest increase on the Loess Plateau, China (2001–2016)
Wang, Yuhang ; Brandt, Martin ; Zhao, Mingfei ; Tong, Xiaowei ; Xing, Kaixiong ; Xue, Feng ; Kang, Muyi ; Wang, Lanhui LU
; Jiang, Yuan
and Fensholt, Rasmus
(2018)
In Land Degradation and Development
29(11).
p.4080-4091
- Abstract
The Loess Plateau in China is prone to widespread land degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, and water loss), and therefore, ecological restoration programmes aiming to re-establish the ecosystem by revegetation have been implemented during recent decades. Consequently, a widespread increase in vegetation cover has been reported, but the state and dynamics of forests remain largely unknown. Here, we used field and satellite data to produce annual forest probability scores at 250 × 250 m between 2001 and 2016. We classified the forest dynamics into three types: net gain, net loss, and fluctuation. Assuming that an increasing probability score reflects forest growth, we categorised the annual forest areas into different growing stages... (More)
The Loess Plateau in China is prone to widespread land degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, and water loss), and therefore, ecological restoration programmes aiming to re-establish the ecosystem by revegetation have been implemented during recent decades. Consequently, a widespread increase in vegetation cover has been reported, but the state and dynamics of forests remain largely unknown. Here, we used field and satellite data to produce annual forest probability scores at 250 × 250 m between 2001 and 2016. We classified the forest dynamics into three types: net gain, net loss, and fluctuation. Assuming that an increasing probability score reflects forest growth, we categorised the annual forest areas into different growing stages indicating the transition between planting and mature forest. In total, the area of forest increase was 48,786 km2, and the percentage of forested areas of the region changed from 8.19% to 15.82% within 16 years. In areas of forest net gain, there was a clear transition from low- to high-probability forest areas, providing evidence that a general forest transition is occurring on the Loess Plateau. The method developed for continuous monitoring of forest probability scores offers a benchmarking for further decision making on ecological restoration of the region and for mapping of afforestation projects elsewhere. The findings on major forest increases demonstrate that land degradation is in fact reversible, with implications for many ecosystem services (e.g., carbon storage and provisioning of forest products).
(Less)
- author
- Wang, Yuhang
; Brandt, Martin
; Zhao, Mingfei
; Tong, Xiaowei
; Xing, Kaixiong
; Xue, Feng
; Kang, Muyi
; Wang, Lanhui
LU
; Jiang, Yuan
and Fensholt, Rasmus
- publishing date
- 2018-11
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- afforestation, ecological restoration, forest dynamics, Loess Plateau, trajectory-based approach
- in
- Land Degradation and Development
- volume
- 29
- issue
- 11
- pages
- 12 pages
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85055279503
- ISSN
- 1085-3278
- DOI
- 10.1002/ldr.3174
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- id
- 90ca2fd2-8896-4647-bdec-c7f1982e32dc
- date added to LUP
- 2025-05-16 09:26:42
- date last changed
- 2025-05-22 13:57:29
@article{90ca2fd2-8896-4647-bdec-c7f1982e32dc,
abstract = {{<p>The Loess Plateau in China is prone to widespread land degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, and water loss), and therefore, ecological restoration programmes aiming to re-establish the ecosystem by revegetation have been implemented during recent decades. Consequently, a widespread increase in vegetation cover has been reported, but the state and dynamics of forests remain largely unknown. Here, we used field and satellite data to produce annual forest probability scores at 250 × 250 m between 2001 and 2016. We classified the forest dynamics into three types: net gain, net loss, and fluctuation. Assuming that an increasing probability score reflects forest growth, we categorised the annual forest areas into different growing stages indicating the transition between planting and mature forest. In total, the area of forest increase was 48,786 km<sup>2</sup>, and the percentage of forested areas of the region changed from 8.19% to 15.82% within 16 years. In areas of forest net gain, there was a clear transition from low- to high-probability forest areas, providing evidence that a general forest transition is occurring on the Loess Plateau. The method developed for continuous monitoring of forest probability scores offers a benchmarking for further decision making on ecological restoration of the region and for mapping of afforestation projects elsewhere. The findings on major forest increases demonstrate that land degradation is in fact reversible, with implications for many ecosystem services (e.g., carbon storage and provisioning of forest products).</p>}},
author = {{Wang, Yuhang and Brandt, Martin and Zhao, Mingfei and Tong, Xiaowei and Xing, Kaixiong and Xue, Feng and Kang, Muyi and Wang, Lanhui and Jiang, Yuan and Fensholt, Rasmus}},
issn = {{1085-3278}},
keywords = {{afforestation; ecological restoration; forest dynamics; Loess Plateau; trajectory-based approach}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{11}},
pages = {{4080--4091}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Land Degradation and Development}},
title = {{Major forest increase on the Loess Plateau, China (2001–2016)}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3174}},
doi = {{10.1002/ldr.3174}},
volume = {{29}},
year = {{2018}},
}