Incorporation of potential natural vegetation into revegetation programmes for sustainable land management

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AbstractKnowledge of potential natural vegetation (PNV) is imperative when implementing revegetation to mitigate land degradation and promote sustainable land management. To date, however, PNV has received relatively little attention. One challenge is determining which type of PNV is the best‐fit ecosystem under investigation. The objective of this study was to develop a revegetation program and evaluate its potential efficacy at correcting existing land use patterns. The PNV pattern was generated using a physically based ecosystem model called Lund–Potsdam–Jena General Ecosystem Simulator. The Loess Plateau of China was selected as the study area because it has undergone substantial degradation and revegetation. The results showed that from 1981 to 2014, forest and steppe accounted for 29.8% and 68.2% of the entire area, respectively. Comparisons between observed and simulated land use patterns indicated that current forestland and grassland distributions must be changed. Only 55.2 ± 1.4% of the existing forestland aligned with the PNV model. A more appropriate vegetation type for the remaining forestland would be grass. It was found that 78.4 ± 1.3% of the existing grassland was consistent with the PNV whereas the remainder should be forested. Comparisons between simulated PNV and existing farmland indicated that the steeper zones could be converted to forestland or grassland. They account for 40.6% and 58.7% of the steeper farmland area, respectively. The framework developed herein and the results derived therefrom may assist other regions facing similar land degradation issues in the development of revegetation programs and the promotion of sustainable land management.