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Land cover and landscape changes in Shaanxi Province during China's Grain for Green Program (2000-2010).
- Source :
-
Environmental monitoring and assessment [Environ Monit Assess] 2015 Oct; Vol. 187 (10), pp. 644. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Sep 25. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- This study examines landscape changes in the context of China's national Grain for Green (GFG) policy, one of the world's largest "payment for environmental/ecosystem services" (PES) programs. We explored landscape structures and dynamics between 2000 and 2010 in Shaanxi Province, the Chinese province with the greatest amount of cropland conversion and reforestation in recent decades. We used Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)-derived data and landscape metrics for six land cover classes to determine (1) the major land cover changes during enforcement of the policy, (2) the spatial and temporal variations in these changes, and (3) the effects of land cover changes on landscape structure and dynamics. The results suggested that provincial-level land cover changes modestly reflected the goals of the GFG. Over the 10-year study period, the forest and grassland coverages expanded from 95,737.9 to 97,017.4 km(2) and from 37,235.9 to 40,613.1 km(2), respectively, while the cropland coverage decreased from 59,222.8 to 54,007.6 km(2). The conversion direction differed regionally: the targeted croplands in Shanbei, namely, types III and IV, were mainly transformed into grassland while those in Shannan were mainly transformed into forestland. Reforestation was associated with increased inter-landscape aggregation and connection. Despite this large-scale reforestation trend, we found notable and significant differences in the land cover changes at the subprovincial level.
- Subjects :
- Agriculture economics
Agriculture trends
China
Conservation of Natural Resources economics
Conservation of Natural Resources trends
Crops, Agricultural economics
Crops, Agricultural growth & development
Ecosystem
Environmental Policy
Forestry economics
Forestry trends
Forests
Grassland
Agriculture methods
Conservation of Natural Resources methods
Environmental Monitoring methods
Forestry methods
Government Programs
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1573-2959
- Volume :
- 187
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Environmental monitoring and assessment
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 26407858
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4881-z