Back to Search
Start Over
Assessment of the restoration potential for ecological sustainability in the Xijiang River basin, Southwest China: A comparative analysis of karst and non-karst areas.
- Source :
-
The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Feb 20; Vol. 912, pp. 168929. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Dec 01. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Vegetation restoration is an eco-friendly strategy for countering land degradation and biodiversity loss. Since 2000-2001, large-scale restoration projects have been performed in Southwest China, with the net primary productivity (NPP) increasing over the past two decades. However, negative ecohydrological impacts, including streamflow decline and soil moisture deficit, have been reported following afforestation. Current understanding of the permissible NPP capacity (NPP <subscript>cap</subscript> ) and NPP potential (NPP <subscript>pot</subscript> ) under karst and non-karst areas or planted and natural vegetations constrained by environmental factors remains unclear. Here multiple environmental drivers characterizing the heterogeneous landscape in the Xijiang River Basin (Southwest China) were employed to predict the NPP <subscript>cap</subscript> using a random forest model. Results showed that 85% of the area exhibited an increasing trend in NPP <subscript>cap</subscript> during 2001-2018. Overall, 3.50% of the area has exceeded the NPP <subscript>cap</subscript> , implying an excessive plantation and potential water deficit in these areas. Excluding agriculture activities, urban areas, and water bodies, we found there is room for an average extra 22.85% of NPP enhancement. The NPP <subscript>pot</subscript> was spatially imbalanced, with high NPP <subscript>pot</subscript> located in the northeast, indicating these areas as a target area for future vegetation restoration. Moreover, the NPP <subscript>pot</subscript> reduction in karst areas (1.12 g C m <superscript>-2</superscript> a <superscript>-1</superscript> ) was more pronounced than in non-karst areas (0.26 g C m <superscript>-2</superscript> a <superscript>-1</superscript> ), highlighting a stronger negative impact on NPP <subscript>pot</subscript> in karst areas. Furthermore, significant NPP <subscript>pot</subscript> differences were found between planted vegetation and natural vegetation for both karst and non-karst areas. According to the findings, we identified four separate restoration sub-zones and proposed tailored strategies to guide the implementation of future restoration efforts. Our study highlights restoration potential and where land is available for reforestation but also the urgent need for future restoration activities towards ecosystem sustainability.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1879-1026
- Volume :
- 912
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Science of the total environment
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 38042184
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168929