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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 32(2)

Spatial and temporal pattern of alpine grassland condition and its response to human activities in Northern Tibet, China

Q. Z. Gao A B , Y. F. Wan A B , Y. Li A B , X. B. Qin A B , W. Jiangcun C and H. M. Xu D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China.

B Key Laboratory for Agro-Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China.

C Nagqu Grassland Station, Nagqu Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, Nagqu 852100, Tibet Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China.

D National Climate Centre, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China.

E Corresponding author. Email: xuhm@cma.gov.cn

The Rangeland Journal 32(2) 165-173 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ08061
Submitted: 5 November 2008  Accepted: 11 February 2010   Published: 30 June 2010

Abstract

The trend in condition of alpine grasslands from 1981 to 2004 in different topographic regions and with different intensities of human activity in Northern Tibet was analysed by using remote sensing data and geographic information system techniques. The results of this study showed that the condition of the alpine grasslands in 2004 varied throughout Northern Tibet. The changes in condition over this period of most of the alpine grasslands (76.7%) were without any significant trend, whereas a larger portion of the remaining area showed significant recovery then underwent significant degradation. Where significant degradation did occur it was mostly on the steeper slopes whereas significant recovery was mostly on the flatter areas (<1° slope). As a result of strong solar radiation, high temperature, drying effects and more grazing activities, alpine grasslands on the sunny slopes had a greater potential for degradation. The special geographic location of Northern Tibet (with an average elevation of 4500 m.a.s.l.) means that alpine grasslands are mostly confined to an elevation ranging from 4500 to 5500 m, where both human and grazing activities were mostly migratory from 1981 to 2004. As a result, by far the majority of the alpine grasslands (90.4%) had either no significant degradation or some or significant recovery between 1981 and 2004. A greater proportion of alpine grasslands at high elevations (above 5000 m) had a significant trend of degradation than at lower elevations. The negative impact of residential areas on alpine grassland condition was smaller than that of roads.

Additional keywords: grassland degradation index (GDI), remote sensing and GIS, topography, trend coefficient.


Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the GLCF (Global Land Cover Facility, University of Maryland) for providing the AVHRR-NDVI Data and the KLRSDA (the Key Laboratory of Resource Remote Sensing and Digital Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture) for supplying the MODIS-NDVI Data, and the CMA (China Meteorological Administration) for sponsoring the meteorological data. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (30800142, 40775062), the new technology project of CMA (CMATG2009MS11), the National Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Program of China (No. 2007BAC03A06) and a cooperative project with the Nagqu Grassland Station and the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development in agriculture. We thank Dr ‘Wal’ Whalley for his conscientious revision of the English presentation, and also thank the editors and reviewers for critical comments on the manuscript.


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