Abstract
Changing land-use patterns in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) due to natural factors and human interference have led to higher ecological vulnerability and even more underlying issues related to time and space in this alpine area. Ecological vulnerability assessment provides not only a solution to surface-feature-related problems but also insight into sustainable eco-environmental planning and resource management as a response to potential climate changes if driving factors are known. In this study, the ecological vulnerability index (EVI) of Shannan City in the core area of the QTP was assessed using a selected set of ecological, social, and economic indicators and spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) to calculate their weights. The data included Landsat images and socio-economic data from 1990 to 2015, at five-year intervals. The results showed that the total EVI remains at a medium vulnerability level, with minor fluctuations over 25 years (peaks in 2000, when there was a sudden increase in slight vulnerability, which switched to extreme vulnerability), and gradually increases from east to west. In addition, spatial analysis showed a distinct positive correlation between the EVI and land-use degree, livestock husbandry output, desertification area, and grassland area. The artificial afforestation program (AAP) has a positive effect by preventing the environment from becoming more vulnerable. The results provide practical information and suggestions for planners to take measures to improve the land-use degree in urban and pastoral areas in the QTP based on spatial-temporal heterogeneity patterns of the EVI of Shannan City.
Highlights
Ecological environmental problems, such as climate anomalies [1], vegetation reduction [2], soil erosion [3], and land desertification [4], frequently occur all over the world and have led to a vulnerable environment in recent decades [5]
Located in the south-central part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the central and lower reaches of the main stream of the Brahmaputra River (270 08” N–290 47” N, 900 14” E–940 22” E), Shannan City runs through the eastern part of the Himalayas (Figure 1)
The study results indicate that the ecological vulnerability index (EVI) of Shannan City is mainly affected by the land-use degree, grassland area, livestock husbandry output, and desertification area
Summary
Ecological environmental problems, such as climate anomalies [1], vegetation reduction [2], soil erosion [3], and land desertification [4], frequently occur all over the world and have led to a vulnerable environment in recent decades [5]. Studies in Europe and other coastal areas have mainly focused on vulnerability factors of natural systems, such as ocean climate change and climate change risks [8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Bryan et al focused on spatial modeling of spatial-lying projections of vulnerability and sea-level rise in coastal areas [13]. To improve the accuracy of ecological vulnerability analysis, many researchers use remote sensing (RS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS) as spatial analysis tools, combined with landscape ecology, land-use/land-cover change (LUCC), and statistical methods, to establish a special ecological vulnerability evaluation system to study the regional and spatial change characteristics of single-/multi-factor qualitative analysis [19,20,21,22]
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