Do afforestation projects increase core forests? Evidence from the Chinese Loess Plateau
Wang, Yuhang ; Brandt, Martin ; Zhao, Mingfei ; Xing, Kaixiong ; Wang, Lanhui LU
; Tong, Xiaowei
; Xue, Feng
; Kang, Muyi
; Jiang, Yuan
and Fensholt, Rasmus
(2020)
In Ecological Indicators
117.
- Abstract
The spatial pattern of forests impacts on biodiversity, stability and sustainability of forest ecosystems. Afforestation and reforestation projects have massively increased forested areas on the Chinese Loess Plateau, however, the spatial pattern of the new and old forests, as well as their interaction, remains unknown. Here we study the spatiotemporal dynamics of old and new forests for the period 2001–2016, and found that 84.21% of the old forests existed throughout the study period. Moreover, core forests (defined as a forest area which is surrounded by other forest areas) significantly increased (2585 km2 yr−1, in total 39, 597 km2). Two ecological restoration projects have left clear footprints on... (More)
The spatial pattern of forests impacts on biodiversity, stability and sustainability of forest ecosystems. Afforestation and reforestation projects have massively increased forested areas on the Chinese Loess Plateau, however, the spatial pattern of the new and old forests, as well as their interaction, remains unknown. Here we study the spatiotemporal dynamics of old and new forests for the period 2001–2016, and found that 84.21% of the old forests existed throughout the study period. Moreover, core forests (defined as a forest area which is surrounded by other forest areas) significantly increased (2585 km2 yr−1, in total 39, 597 km2). Two ecological restoration projects have left clear footprints on the forest landscape of the Loess Plateau: (1) The Natural Forest Conservation Project, aiming at expanding old forest, has resulted in the establishment of considerable areas of new forest surrounding old forest. Consequently, this has promoted new core forest areas to emerge. (2) The Grain for Green Project has mainly caused a fragmented landscape of forest islets which gradually connect to core forest areas. The general increase in core forest areas can be considered an ecological improvement, and the assessment method presented here may guide stakeholders in measuring the success of forest restoration activities that goes beyond a classical quantification of forest cover.
(Less)
- author
- Wang, Yuhang
; Brandt, Martin
; Zhao, Mingfei
; Xing, Kaixiong
; Wang, Lanhui
LU
; Tong, Xiaowei
; Xue, Feng
; Kang, Muyi
; Jiang, Yuan
and Fensholt, Rasmus
- publishing date
- 2020-10
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- Core forests, Forest spatial patterns, Loess Plateau, Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), Spatiotemporal dynamics
- in
- Ecological Indicators
- volume
- 117
- article number
- 106558
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85085273428
- ISSN
- 1470-160X
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106558
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
- id
- c9b2fb96-53b8-496b-a1e5-636bd3ebbc1e
- date added to LUP
- 2025-05-16 09:14:33
- date last changed
- 2025-05-22 11:33:23
@article{c9b2fb96-53b8-496b-a1e5-636bd3ebbc1e,
abstract = {{<p>The spatial pattern of forests impacts on biodiversity, stability and sustainability of forest ecosystems. Afforestation and reforestation projects have massively increased forested areas on the Chinese Loess Plateau, however, the spatial pattern of the new and old forests, as well as their interaction, remains unknown. Here we study the spatiotemporal dynamics of old and new forests for the period 2001–2016, and found that 84.21% of the old forests existed throughout the study period. Moreover, core forests (defined as a forest area which is surrounded by other forest areas) significantly increased (2585 km<sup>2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, in total 39, 597 km<sup>2</sup>). Two ecological restoration projects have left clear footprints on the forest landscape of the Loess Plateau: (1) The Natural Forest Conservation Project, aiming at expanding old forest, has resulted in the establishment of considerable areas of new forest surrounding old forest. Consequently, this has promoted new core forest areas to emerge. (2) The Grain for Green Project has mainly caused a fragmented landscape of forest islets which gradually connect to core forest areas. The general increase in core forest areas can be considered an ecological improvement, and the assessment method presented here may guide stakeholders in measuring the success of forest restoration activities that goes beyond a classical quantification of forest cover.</p>}},
author = {{Wang, Yuhang and Brandt, Martin and Zhao, Mingfei and Xing, Kaixiong and Wang, Lanhui and Tong, Xiaowei and Xue, Feng and Kang, Muyi and Jiang, Yuan and Fensholt, Rasmus}},
issn = {{1470-160X}},
keywords = {{Core forests; Forest spatial patterns; Loess Plateau; Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA); Spatiotemporal dynamics}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Ecological Indicators}},
title = {{Do afforestation projects increase core forests? Evidence from the Chinese Loess Plateau}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106558}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106558}},
volume = {{117}},
year = {{2020}},
}