Abstract
Xing’an larch, a deciduous coniferous species, is the zonal tree of the Greater Xing’an Mountains in Northeast China. In May 1987, a catastrophic fire broke out in the mountains and burned 1.3 million hectares of forests in 26 days. While studies have shown that forest greenness has come back to normal in certain years, the re-composition of this zonal species has not been studied after the 1987 fire. With a series of Landsat 8 OLI images acquired in 2013–2015, this study builds the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Green Vegetation Index (GVI) time series in a complete growing cycle. A decision tree is developed to classify tree species with an overall accuracy of 86.16% and Kappa coefficient of 0.80. The re-composition of Xing’an larch after the 1987 fire is extracted, and its variations in areas under different fire intensities are statistically analyzed. Results show that Xing’an larch comprises 17.52%, 26.20% and 33.19% of forests in burned areas with high, medium and low fire intensities, respectively. Even around 30 years after the 1987 fire, the composition of this zonal species in boreal forest has not been fully recovered in the Greater Xing’an Mountains. The Xing’an larch map extracted in this study could serve as base information for ecological and environmental studies in this south end of the boreal Eurasia.
Highlights
The Greater Xing’an Mountains in Northeast China, comprising 10% of boreal biome in the Northern Eurasia Region, are the only boreal and the largest national forest of China
Xing’an larch (Larix gmelinii) is a representative boreal tree species extending from deciduous coniferous forests in the eastern Siberia [1]
Based on the 1987 fire event in the Greater Xing’an Mountains, this study aims to examine the tree species re-composition using satellite time series collected in one growing cycle
Summary
The Greater Xing’an Mountains in Northeast China, comprising 10% of boreal biome in the Northern Eurasia Region, are the only boreal and the largest national forest of China. Xing’an larch (Larix gmelinii) is a representative boreal tree species extending from deciduous coniferous forests in the eastern Siberia [1]. It is recognized as the zonal vegetation of the Greater Xing’an Mountains and is part of the historical climax community along climatic succession. The long-term loss of natural resources was almost unpredictable in this important natural forest of China
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
