Ecological Restoration Research Research Articles

Research Progress and Trend of Ecological Restoration of Land Space

The implementation of ecological restoration of land and space is an important way to promote ecological protection and restoration, build an ecological civilization and a beautiful China, and accelerate the development of modernization in the new era. In recent years, the ecological environment has been deteriorating due to the acceleration of urbanization, the rapid warming of the global climate and the external interference of human activities. The ecological restoration of land and space is imminent, and people are paying more and more attention to this issue, especially in the fields of academia, ecology and environmental science, and some progress and results have been made. In this study, the concepts related to ecological restoration were identified, the research on ecological restoration of land space at home and abroad was systematically sorted out, and the important trends of ecological restoration research on land and space were analyzed.

Bioaccumulation Characteristics of Typical Perfluoroalkyl Compounds in Alfalfa Under Salt Stress.

Medicago sativa, commonly known as alfalfa, is widely distributed worldwide, known for its strong stress resistance and well-developed root system, making it an important plant in ecological restoration research. To investigate the absorption and transport characteristics of alfalfa for typical perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under salt stress, a 30-day indoor greenhouse experiment was conducted. The results showed that alfalfa exhibited varying degrees of absorption and transport for the selected PFAS. The highest BCF (Bioconcentration Factor) for shoot tissue reached 725.4 (for PFBA), and the highest TF (Translocation Factor) reached 53.8 (for PFPeA). Different PFAS compounds exhibited distinct bioaccumulation behaviors, with short-chain PFAS more readily entering the plant's root system and being transported upwards, while long-chain PFAS tended to adsorb to the surface of the root system. Furthermore, salt stress did not significantly affect the uptake of PFAS by alfalfa. This suggests that alfalfa is salt-tolerant and holds great potential for ecological restoration in short-chain PFAS-contaminated sites.

Restoring Nature's Song: How Habitat Restoration Benefits Avifauna

Habitat restoration has proved to be a vital strategy in combating the widespread biodiversity loss caused by habitat degradation across the globe. The key roles played by avian species in critical ecosystem functions such as pollination, seed dispersal, and decomposition have made them an integral part of ecosystems, making them vital to the restoration process. Their detectability and cost-effective survey methods have positioned avifauna as focal species in ecological restoration research. This article delves into the effects of habitat restoration on avifaunal distribution, revealing a tapestry of positive outcomes. Restored habitats witness increased avian community diversity and evenness, heightened habitat heterogeneity, and greater densities of avian and migratory species. Avifauna's presence also facilitates breeding success, reduces nest parasitism, and fosters additional foraging and breeding grounds. Furthermore, habitat restoration has shown remarkable successes in reviving songbird populations in fragmented forests and rescuing endangered species like red-crowned cranes. In light of the transformative impact of avian restoration, understanding the effects of restoration on avifauna is pivotal in guiding management activities of restored sites. Implementing strategic management approaches such as predator control, maintaining habitat heterogeneity, controlling nest parasites, reintroducing natural disturbance regimes, and selecting appropriate plant species ensures a nurturing environment for avian survival. Additionally, promoting a heterogeneous environment in aquatic systems has proved crucial in enhancing bird diversity. Improving ongoing research and adaptive management practices further empowers restoration efforts, allowing us to compose a symphony of avian abundance, resilience, and harmonious coexistence with the natural world.

Progress of Mine Land Reclamation and Ecological Restoration Research Based on Bibliometric Analysis

The mining of mineral resources has caused serious damage to land and significant pressure on ecological environment. During the repairing of damaged land and degraded ecosystems, there have been many pieces of literature related to land reclamation and ecological restoration (LRER) that have emerged. To understand the progress and prospect of LRER research, it is necessary to sort out such pieces of literature, analyze the current research status, and forecast the future research directions. Here, Bibliometrix R-package was used to analyze 2357 articles, which were derived from the core database of Web of Science, to explore the development of LRER from 1990 to 2022. The results are as follows. (1) The annual scientific output results show that both the number of articles published on LRER and the number of articles annually citied were increasing gradually from 1990 to 2022. (2) High-frequency keyword analysis indicates that heavy metal (Cd, Pb) pollution remediation is a research hotspot. The cluster analysis (CA) and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) show that there are two clusters in the current research of LRER, in which one surrounds heavy metal pollution and the other focuses on ecological restoration of mining areas. The two clusters correspond to the remediation and ecological restoration (rehabilitation) stages of stepwise ecological restoration, respectively. Thematic evolution analysis shows that, for more than 30 years, mine drainage and heavy metal pollution treatment, soil reconstruction (soil profile reconstruction, soil improvement), and vegetation restoration have been the focus of research. (3) Future research should focus on the relationship between mine ecological restoration and carbon sequestration and the relationship between ecological restoration and biodiversity in mine areas. In addition, LRER technology exchange, international cooperation, and industrialization are also main directions of development. Generally, in this study, metrology software (Bibliometrix R-package 3.1.4) from the literature was used to sort out the relevant literature on LRER over the past 30 years so as to provide reference for future research on LRER.

Determination of ecological flow thresholds for rainfall-recharging rivers based on multiple hydrological methods

Given the threats to the regional river ecological flow, including the sharp increase in per capita water demand, the increase in the number of hydraulic engineering, and the strong seasonal runoff of rainfall recharge channels, we clarified the appropriate ecological flow thresholds for the middle reaches of Bailong River of northwest China. Based on the monthly runoff data in the Wudu Hydrological Station of Bailong River from 1990 to 2020, seven suitable hydrological methods were used to couple the estimation of the ecological flow in the middle reaches of Bailong River, which were tested by runoff satisfaction level analysis, using quadratic fit and 95% confidence interval to determine the monthly ecological flow and threshold of the river in the study area. The results by using the single hydrological methods showed that the calculation results from the monthly minimum ecological runoff calculation method, the improved RVA method, the Tennant method, and the DC method were four better estimation methods, which had a satisfaction level of more than 90% in the whole year. The improved RVA method and the Tennant method were more suitable for the diversion power station whose main task aimed at power generation. Although the economic benefits of hydropower stations were better when the improved RVA method was used to calculate ecological flow, the calculation results from the improved RVA method were tested and analyzed by the Tennant method, which were extremely poor from November to April in the following year, and could not meet the minimum ecological water requirements for the biological community in the river channel. While the other five methods all meet this requirement. We suggest that the minimum ecological flow in the middle reaches of the Bailong River maintained at 27.28 m3⁄s, and the maximum retained at 116.33 m3⁄s. The calculation results were in line with the dynamics of runoff in the study area, which could improve the accuracy of water ecological protection. The calculation results of this study could be used for the middle reaches of the Bailong River and may provide a reference for follow-up ecological restoration research and management in similar ecological zones.

荒漠草原生态恢复与重建:人工植被推动下水分介导的系统响应、生态阈值与互馈作用

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 荒漠草原生态恢复与重建:人工植被推动下水分介导的系统响应、生态阈值与互馈作用 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202203130608 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（32060313）；宁夏重点研发课题项目（2019BFG02022，2021BEG03008） Study on ecological restoration and reconstruction of desert steppe: A review Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:荒漠草原（生态区）横贯我国西北地区东部，生态地位十分重要。近二十年来，通过封育禁牧、退耕还林（草），植被覆盖显著改善，但是生态系统质量和稳定性依然不高。由于长期将荒漠草原单纯视作草原的一部分，对其生态系统过渡性、脆弱性和复杂性本质特征认识不足，造成了荒漠草原生态学研究与区域生态建设实践之间不同程度的脱节。在分析荒漠草原生态区未来在我国生态安全格局中突出的但是被一定程度上忽视的地位的基础上，进一步归纳了荒漠草原生态系统的一般特征，指出了生态恢复与重建研究中存在的主要问题。进而以人工植被引入荒漠草原生态工程为案例，分析了人工植被驱动荒漠草原生态恢复与重建的过程与机制，归纳了"植被-水文-土壤"互馈作用驱动生态系统层级响应模式，并展望了今后的发展趋势与研究方向。 Abstract:Desert steppe (ecological region), traversing the eastern part of Northwest China, has important ecological significance, and is very fragile. In the recent two decades, the vegetation coverage has been improved significantly, but most of the grassland have shown various degrees of degeneration. For a long time, the desert steppe has been regarded as a part of grassland, and its transitional nature has not been fully understood. As a result, the ecological research of desert steppe has lagged far behind the practice of regionally ecological construction. Therefore, this paper further emphasizes the prominent position of desert steppe in the Chinese ecological security pattern in the future, which has been neglected for a long period, and then summarizes the general ecosystem characteristics of desert steppe to point out the main problems in the research of ecological restoration and reconstruction. Finally, the process and mechanism of artificial vegetation driving ecological restoration and reconstruction of desert steppe are analyzed, and the future research direction and tasks are proposed. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Ecological restoration research in Canada: who, what, where, when, why, and how?

Much has been achieved by research into ecological restoration as a nature-based solution to the destruction of ecosystems, particularly in Canada. We conducted a national-level synthesis of Canadian restoration ecology research to understand strengths and gaps. This synthesis answers the following questions: Who is studying restoration? What ecosystem types are studied? Where is restoration studied? Which themes has restoration research focused on? Why is restoration happening? And how is restoration monitored and evaluated? We employed systematic searching for this review. Our results show that restoration research is conducted mainly by academics. Forest, peatland, grassland, and lake ecosystem types were the most commonly studied. There was a concentration of research in four provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia). Research into restoration has changed its thematic focus over time from reforestation to climate change. Legislation was the most common reason given for restoration. Restoration research frequently documented results of less than 5 years of monitoring and included one category of response variable (e.g., plant response but not animal response). Future research could investigate the outcomes of restoration prompted by legislation. At the dawn of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, this work demonstrates Canada's momentum and provides a model for synthesis in other countries.

Progress of Ecological Restoration Research Based on Bibliometric Analysis.

With the deterioration of the global/regional ecological environment, ecological restoration plays an important role in sustainable development. However, due to the differences in research methods, objectives, and perspectives, the research results are highly diverse. This makes it necessary to sort the publications related to ecological restoration, clarify the research status, grasp the research hotspots, and predict the future research trends. Here, 23,755 articles from the core database of Web of Science were retrieved, and bibliometric analysis was carried out to understand the global ecological restoration research progress from 1990 to 2022 from a macro perspective, with the aim to determine the future development direction. The results are as follows. (1) From 1990 to 2022, the number of publications in the field of ecological restoration constantly increased, and the fluctuation of the average annual citations increased. The most important articles were published in high-ranking journals. (2) Ecological restoration covers a wide range of research areas, including biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change, land use, and ecological restoration theories and technologies. The four main hotspots in this field are heavy metal removal, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen concentrations, grassland ecological restoration, and evaluation framework and modeling of ecological restoration's effects. Currently, studies focus on river basin remediation, heavy metal removal, and forest restoration. (3) Future ecological restoration research should strengthen the multi-object aspect and multi-scale ecological restoration research, improve the ecological restoration effect evaluation system, and incorporate social and economic issues. This study identified current research hotspots and predicted potential future research directions, providing a scientific reference for future studies in the field of ecological restoration.

Dryland Ecological Restoration Research Dynamics: A Bibliometric Analysis Based on Web of Science Data

Previous research on ecological restoration mainly includes three fields: water ecology, soil ecology, and atmospheric ecology, and the most abundant is in the field of soil ecology, among which the most abundant is in dryland ecological restoration. Research on dryland ecological restoration is very important in ensuring national food security, ecological security, and preventing a return to poverty. However, the previous research results do not clearly present the interconnection between the huge number of existing dryland ecological restoration studies and do not provide a three-dimensional understanding of the whole picture of dryland ecological restoration research from a broader perspective. Research on dryland ecological restoration has received wide attention from scholars at home and abroad, revealing the international research trends in the current field, which will provide a reference for the theory and practice of future dryland ecological restoration research. Using the SCI-E and SSCI databases of the “Web of Science Core Collection” as sample data sources and using CiteSpace optical measurement software, the 2254 literature in the field of international dryland ecological restoration research were systematically analyzed to track the situation and impact of research in this field by countries around the world, scientific research institutions and significant authors, and to analyze the interdisciplinary and research hotspots in this field, which is of great significance for the follow-up research of dryland ecological restoration. The research results show that: (1) The number of publications in international dryland ecological restoration has increased significantly with years and has strong development potential. (2) Journals representing the research frontier have an intense concentration with various journals. (3) The study of dryland ecological restoration belongs to a highly interdisciplinary discipline, while the two disciplines of ecology and environmental science are the pivot nodes of multidisciplinary disciplines. (4) China’s posts and total citations are among the best, but the average citation is low. (5) Dryland ecological restoration and protection is a hot research field at present, and special attention is paid to the dynamic changes and key driving factors of dryland ecological restoration and the full use of machine learning and extensive data mining to solve complex social-ecological problems. The study recommends that related disciplines must strengthen cooperation in the field of dryland ecological restoration, especially the two disciplines of ecology and environmental science, in order to promote the progress of dryland ecological restoration research theory and practice. China should continue to strengthen the investment of scientific research forces to improve the international influence of research in the field of dryland ecological restoration.

Trends and knowledge gaps on ecological restoration research in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Given the current global environmental crisis, restoring degraded ecosystems stands out among the nature‐based solutions to mitigate climate change, reestablish ecosystem services, and maintain biodiversity and human well‐being. The high biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest (AF) and its severe degradation turned it into a “restoration hotspot.” We performed a bibliometric analysis of the research on restoration of the Brazilian AF to identify thematic trends, potential gaps, as well as networks and benefits of collaboration. We also explored the spatial distribution of degradation, restoration science, and practice within the AF. We analyzed 932 articles on the issue from the Web of Science platform (1990–2020). Publications abruptly increased in the last 15 years, first by Brazilian groups and later in collaboration with foreign groups. International collaboration increased the probability of highly cited articles. Topics addressed have changed greatly in their relative position over time, likely due to scientific advances refuting theories or invalidating failed techniques. Natural regeneration was the main trending topic, while forest succession was the main emerging topic, and ecosystem services appeared as a trending topic. Research and restoration initiatives were both unevenly distributed throughout the AF region, with the southeastern region of Brazil standing out (60% of publications). The percentage of the original AF undergoing restoration is very low in all regions, regardless of scientific publications or AF extent remaining. The knowledge gaps pointed—climate change and functional traits—should drive priorities for research funding, aiming to provide robust evidence to support decision‐making processes as well as restoration practices.

Can our current knowledge and practice allow ecological restoration in the Cerrado?

Ecological knowledge plays a significant role in ensuring efficient ecological restoration. We conducted a systematic review to assess if sufficient ecological knowledge has been accumulated to aid restoration practices for the Cerrado, a Brazilian biome dominated by savanna ecosystems and threatened by anthropogenic disturbances. Most Cerrado restoration studies were performed by few research groups and focused primarily on two vegetation types: cerrado sensu stricto (typical savanna) and riparian forest. We also found that defining reference ecosystems and selecting plant species for restoration programs is neglected, mostly disregarding their original occurrence and proportion of plant growth forms. Furthermore, studies lacked standardized and systematic evaluation of restoration outcomes. Hence, we argue that current ecological knowledge is insufficient to guarantee the success of large-scale ecological restoration of the Cerrado. We strengthen the need to explicitly define the reference ecosystem for each Cerrado ecosystem and use its structure and composition as guidance for ecological restoration research, which should be based on a scientific approach. We encourage investigations into ecological dynamics and natural regeneration of the different vegetation types of the Cerrado and highlight the importance of integrating such knowledge with environmental laws, societal engagement and cost-effective techniques to advance Cerrado ecological restoration.

A synthesis and future research directions for tropical mountain ecosystem restoration

Many tropical mountain ecosystems (TME) are severely disturbed, requiring ecological restoration to recover biodiversity and ecosystem functions. However, the extent of restoration efforts across TMEs is not known due to the lack of syntheses on ecological restoration research. Here, based on a systematic review, we identify geographical and thematic research gaps, compare restoration interventions, and consolidate enabling factors and barriers of restoration success. We find that restoration research outside Latin-America, in non-forested ecosystems, and on socio-ecological questions is scarce. For most restoration interventions success is mixed and generally limited by dispersal and microhabitat conditions. Finally, we propose five directions for future research on tropical mountain restoration in the UN decade of restoration, ranging from scaling up restoration across mountain ranges, investigating restoration in mountain grasslands, to incorporating socio-economic and technological dimensions.

Spatial distribution of soil bulk density and its relationship with slope and vegetation allocation model in rehabilitation of dumping site in loess open-pit mine area.

Studies of soil bulk density (BD) spatial variations of land reclaimed after mining have become a focus of land reclamation and ecological restoration research. However, there have been few studies on the relationship among the reconstructed BD, terrain conditions, and vegetation growth. We examined the southern dumping site of the Pingshuo Antaibao open-pit coal mine located in a loess area in China. Field sampling data, digital elevation models (DEMs), and high-definition images were obtained, and indoor testing, geostatistics, and inverse distance weighting (IDW) were applied. This paper aims to analyze the spatial distribution law of the reconstructed BD and focus on its relationship with slope and vegetation allocation models. We demonstrated that (1) BD increased with soil depth and varied moderately within each layer. (2) The BD variation amplitude of the top 0-20-cm soil layer in both the east-west and south-north directions was small and more similar in the east-west direction than in the south-north direction, which was affected by herbaceous root systems. In the next four layers from 20 to 60 cm, the variation in BD in the east-west direction was far larger than that in the south-north direction, which was affected by vegetation classification. (3) On the whole, BD decreased with increasing slope, but when the slope was between 0° and 21°, BD exhibited a specific change law. (4) From the perspective of vegetation classification, the orders of magnitude of BD in the 0-20-cm and 20-60-cm layers differed. Overall, BD in areas vegetated with Korshinsk Peashrub was the lowest, and BD was moderate in areas with mixed vegetation, while BD was the highest in areas without vegetation or only vegetated with Black Locust. The mixed grass-bush-tree or bush-tree mode attained the best effect in regulating BD. These results can improve the basic principles of land reclamation in mining areas and provide a basis for further optimizing land reclamation technology in practice.

A Review of Ecological Restoration Research in the Global South and North to Promote Knowledge Dialogue

To determine global trends in ecological restoration (ER) research, we conducted a geographically-explicit English-language literature review. We assessed a representative sample (n=603) of publications that use the ER concept (n=8,678). Only 19.2% (n=118) were explicit ER studies, and these were evaluated to determine geographic location, research framework, ER paradigm, journal disciplinary orientation, article type, disturbance factor studied, and ER-response measurements. The Global North produced 2x more studies than the South, and ecological research frameworks predominated overall. However, significantly more Southern studies operated under a postmodern paradigm (i.e., addressing ecosystem processes, functions and health) than in the North, where more studies sought to reconstitute pre-disturbance biotic assemblages (i.e., classical paradigm). Both regions published mostly in natural science journals, but significantly more in the North; in the South, there were significantly more publications in engineering journals. An incipient socio-ecological research framework was detected in the North (23.1%) and South (32.5%), but social science studies were only found in the North (11.5%). Plus, the North had significantly more conceptual publications. Opportunities exist in both regions to enhance a holistic ER perspective. Southern scientists and practitioners could pay attention to context-specific concepts and approaches. Understanding global and regional ER research trends can contribute to improving theoretical, practical and ethical outcomes.

The evolution and frontier development of land ecological restoration research

The evolution and frontier development of land ecological restoration research

Half century change of interactions among ecosystem services driven by ecological restoration: Quantification and policy implications at a watershed scale in the Chinese Loess Plateau

The concept of Ecosystem Service (ES) has provided an underpinning framework for ecological restoration research and applications. Ecological restoration is a corrective intervention that aims to reverse land degradation and to contribute to the 2030 Global Sustainable Development goal of Land Degradation Neutrality. It is critical to investigate the long-term effects of ecological restoration and land use change on ESs and ES interactions (synergies or trade-offs) to better understand the mechanisms supporting this goal. This paper describes an analysis of land use and ESs using historical data for a typical watershed in Chinese Loess Plateau, which has experienced series of restoration activities since the 1950s. Six important ESs (food provisioning, soil retention, hydrological regulation, carbon sequestration, water purification and habitat provisioning for biodiversity) were quantified at eight intervals between 1958 and 2015. The interactions between ESs were evaluated by correlation analysis. The results show that soil retention, carbon sequestration, water purification and habitat provisioning for biodiversity increased significantly across the different land use types over several decades but not hydrological regulation. The relationship between ESs was found to be variable over different time periods and a transition point between 1990 and 1995 was identified. Grassland was found to maintain greater water yield than woodland with high values of other ESs. The results suggest that trade-offs between ESs can be mitigated by adjusting the proportion of some important land use types (such as woodland and grassland).

Prediction of land-use change and its driving forces in an ecological restoration watershed of the Loess hilly region

Land-use change is one of the important topics of regional ecological restoration research, but it exhibits high interdependencies in social-ecological systems which make it difficult to predict spatiotemporal variability and identify the main drivers. We employ long-term dynamic predictions utilizing an integrated cellular automata–Markov (CA–Markov) model and geographic information system technology, and reveal trends of land-use change and the driving forces in an ecological restoration watershed of the Loess hilly region. Here, we show that dry land showed a rising transfer trend to shrub land, sparse forestland, middle-coverage grassland, low-coverage grassland, and rural settlements from 1995 to 2010. Dry land, forestland, sparse forestland, middle-coverage grassland, and rural settlements will maintain a slight decreasing trend from 2010 to 2020, but other forestland, low-coverage grassland, and reservoir or pond may have a gradual increasing trend. Farmland and forestland in 2050 decrease by 8.17% and increase by 46.3%, respectively, compared with that in 1980. Grassland shows an overall downward trend. Water area increases first and then decreases. Rural settlements increase rapidly with a growth rate of 88.8% from 1980 to 2050. The returning farmland policy and the decline of agricultural population may be the main driving forces and positively affect the transfer of dry land to forestland. Our results may provide underlying insights needed to guide the planning and management of regional land resources.

Forest restoration: a global dataset for biodiversity and vegetation structure.

Restoration initiatives are becoming increasingly applied around the world. Billions of dollars have been spent on ecological restoration research and initiatives, but restoration outcomes differ widely among these initiatives in part due to variable socioeconomic and ecological contexts. Here, we present the most comprehensive dataset gathered to date on forest restoration. It encompasses 269 primary studies across 221 study landscapes in 53 countries and contains 4,645 quantitative comparisons between reference ecosystems (e.g., old-growth forest) and degraded or restored ecosystems for five taxonomic groups (mammals, birds, invertebrates, herpetofauna, and plants) and five measures of vegetation structure reflecting different ecological processes (cover, density, height, biomass, and litter). We selected studies that (1) were conducted in forest ecosystems; (2) had multiple replicate sampling sites to measure indicators of biodiversity and/or vegetation structure in reference and restored and/or degraded ecosystems; and (3) used less-disturbed forests as a reference to the ecosystem under study. We recorded (1) latitude and longitude; (2) study year; (3) country; (4) biogeographic realm; (5) past disturbance type; (6) current disturbance type; (7) forest conversion class; (8)restoration activity; (9) time that a system has been disturbed; (10) time elapsed since restoration started; (11) ecological metric used to assess biodiversity; and (12) quantitative value of the ecological metric of biodiversity and/or vegetation structure for reference and restored and/or degraded ecosystems. These were the most common data available in the selected studies. We also estimated forest cover and configuration in each study landscape using a recently developed 1km consensus land cover dataset. We measured forest configuration as the (1) mean size of all forest patches; (2) size of the largest forest patch; and (3) edge:area ratio of forest patches. Global analyses of the factors influencing ecological restoration success at both the local and landscape scale are urgently needed to guide restoration initiatives and to further develop restoration knowledge in a topic area of much contemporary interest.

Driving Forces of Dynamic Changes in Soil Erosion in the Dahei Mountain Ecological Restoration Area of Northern China Based on GIS and RS.

Dynamic change in soil erosion is an important focus of regional ecological restoration research. Here, the dynamic changes of soil erosion and its driving forces in the Dahei Mountain ecological restoration area of northern China were analyzed by LANDSAT TM remote sensing captured via geographic information system (GIS) technologies during three typical periods in 2004, 2008 and 2013. The results showed the following: (1) a decrease in intensive erosion and moderate erosion areas, as well as an increase in light erosion areas, was observed during two periods: one from 2004 to 2008 and the other from 2008 to 2013. (2) Between 2004 and 2008, the variation in the range of slight erosion was the largest (24.28%), followed by light erosion and intensive erosion; between 2008 and 2013, the variation in the range of intensive erosion area was the largest (9.89%), followed by slight erosion and moderate erosion. (3) Socioeconomic impact, accompanied by natural environmental factors, was the main driving force underlying the change in soil erosion within the ecological restoration area. In particular, the socioeconomic factors of per capita forest area and land reclamation rate, as well as the natural environmental factor of terrain slope, significantly influenced soil erosion changes within the ecological restoration area.

Land use changes and its driving forces in hilly ecological restoration area based on gis and RS of northern China.

Land use change is one of the important aspects of the regional ecological restoration research. With remote sensing (RS) image in 2003, 2007 and 2012, using geographic information system (GIS) technologies, the land use pattern changes in Yimeng Mountain ecological restoration area in China and its driving force factors were studied. Results showed that: (1) Cultivated land constituted the largest area during 10 years, and followed by forest land and grass land; cultivated land and unused land were reduced by 28.43% and 44.32%, whereas forest land, water area and land for water facilities and others were increased. (2) During 2003–2007, forest land change showed the largest, followed by unused land and grass land; however, during 2008–2012, water area and land for water facilities change showed the largest, followed by grass land and unused land. (3) Land use degree was above the average level, it was in the developing period during 2003–2007 and in the degenerating period during 2008–2012. (4) Ecological Restoration Projects can greatly change the micro topography, increase vegetation coverage, and then induce significant changes in the land use distribution, which were the main driving force factors of the land use pattern change in the ecological restoration area.