Abstract
Steppe is an indispensable component for terrestrial ecosystems and it is of great significance to systematically analyze steppe sustainability and its driving forces. In this study, we propose a steppe dynamics ranking method based on Pauta criterion and a steppe sustainability assessment method with an effect matrix. The natural driving forces on steppe sustainability were systematically analyzed using the copula model, and the anthropogenic driving factors, including land use, were analyzed by using spatial overlay and statistical analysis methods. The results showed the following: (1) in general, steppe sustainability showed a trend of improvement from 2001 to 2010 in China. However, there were still some degraded areas scattered within the study area; (2) the consistent effect of steppe dynamics on steppe sustainability was significant on the whole, although there was a diverse effect on it; (3) among the natural factors, precipitation was the strongest positive driving force, followed by temperature average, while sunshine duration had strong negative driving force. The impact caused by land use factors was controlled during that decade, and the steppe land that evolved from urban and built-up land, cropland, and forest was vulnerable and resulted in steppe sustainability degradation.
Highlights
The natural steppe accounts for nearly 40% of terrestrial area in the world [1,2,3], offers ecological service functions [4], and plays an important role in ecosystem balance and sustainability [5,6,7,8,9]
The most important indicator of steppe sustainability is ecosystem productivity; steppe dynamics has been monitored with NDVI, and the dynamics of steppe sustainability were assessed with NPP in this study
We explored a kind of systematic and effective analysis methods for assessing steppe sustainability and its driving forces using abundant remote sensing data and meteorological data
Summary
The natural steppe accounts for nearly 40% of terrestrial area in the world [1,2,3], offers ecological service functions [4], and plays an important role in ecosystem balance and sustainability [5,6,7,8,9]. Population growth and economic development during the past few decades [10,11,12], rapid urbanization [13,14,15], excessive deforestation [16,17], massive land reclamation [6,9] and overgrazing [3,7] have made substantial changes to steppe landscapes and ecosystem functioning These human disturbances, coupled with poor natural conditions, have left to approximately 49.25% of steppe land worldwide suffering from degradation, with nearly 5% of these steppes suffering from serious degradation [18]. The scientific significance of the research on Chinese steppe sustainability and its driving forces is limited to China, and extends to the ecological health of Asia and the world
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