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The Rangeland Journal The Rangeland Journal Society
Journal of the Australian Rangeland Society
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Analysis of vegetation change associated with human disturbance using MODIS data on the rangelands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Haidi Zhao A , Shiliang Liu A D , Shikui Dong A , Xukun Su A , Xuexia Wang A , Xiaoyu Wu A , Lei Wu B and Xiang Zhang C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

B College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

C Nature Reserve Administration of Altun National Nature Reserve, Kuerle 841000, China.

D Corresponding author. Email: shiliangliu@bnu.edu.cn

The Rangeland Journal 37(1) 77-87 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ14061
Submitted: 8 May 2014  Accepted: 7 August 2014   Published: 10 February 2015

Abstract

This paper evaluated changes in vegetation from 2000 to 2012, based on 1-km resolution 16-day composite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and related them to changes in estimates of human disturbance on the rangelands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The main rangeland types studied were desert, steppe and meadow with the latter mainly found in the southern and eastern parts of the study area. The results indicated that human disturbance was distributed mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the study area and corresponded with high NDVI values. The NDVI values showed an upward trend over the study period, with 28.5% of the study area exhibiting a significant increase. The proportion of rangelands that experienced a downward trend in NDVI increased as the level of human disturbance increased. Of the different rangeland types, meadow had the highest NDVI values, the greatest human disturbance, and the highest proportion of rangelands that exhibited a significant decrease in NDVI. Compared with areas with no human disturbance, meadow and steppe rangelands that experienced an increase in human disturbance had lower rates of increase in their NDVI values but, conversely, desert rangelands showed the opposite trend. In addition, it was found that precipitation had the dominant influence on NDVI values and that higher precipitation and slighter lower temperatures over the period of the study were related to an increase in NDVI values.

Additional keywords: human disturbance, linear regression analysis, NDVI, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, rangeland.


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