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Impacts of Water Diversion Projects on Vegetation Coverage in Central Yunnan Province, China (2017–2022)

Authors :
Anlan Feng
Zhenya Zhu
Xiudi Zhu
Qiang Zhang
Fengling Yan
Zhijun Li
Yiwei Guo
Vijay P. Singh
Kaiwen Zhang
Gang Wang
Source :
Remote Sensing, Vol 16, Iss 13, p 2373 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

The water diversion project in Central Yunnan Province (WDP-YN) is the largest water diversion project under construction in China. However, the ecological effects of this water diversion project are still unclear. This study utilized Sentinel-2 remote sensing data to estimate fractional vegetation cover (FVC), maps spatiotemporal variations of FVC in construction areas from 2017 to 2022, and evaluates the impact of the WDP-YN on regional vegetation coverage using buffer analysis and vegetation type transition matrix methods. The study led to the following findings: (1) From 2017 to 2022, FVC within 10 km of the tunnel construction route showed a slightly downward trend or remained relatively stable with no significant changes in the spatial pattern of FVC. (2) Before and after the construction of WDP-YN, over 60% of the area within 10 km of the tunnel construction route showed no change in FVC. On Construction Route Section I (CRS-I), vegetation improved and/or degraded within 12.90% (14.10%) of the area and the regions with degraded FVC concentrated in the northern CRS-I. For Construction Route Section II (CRS-II), 11.96% and 27.51% of the regions were dominated by improved and/or degraded FVC. Vegetation changes near Groundwater Monitoring Point a (GMPa) were relatively stable. (3) The WDP-YN degraded vegetation within 2 km of both sides of CRS-I, slowing down the increase in FVC, while the WDP-YN improved vegetation within 2–6 km of both sides of CRS-II, the closer the distance to CRS-II, the faster the increase in FVC and the decrease in FVC slowed down within 0–2 km of both sides of CRS-II. This study sheds light on the impacts of water diversion infrastructure on vegetation coverage and provides practical guidance and reference for eco-environment protection and ecological restoration given water conservancy projects in China and other regions of the world.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20724292
Volume :
16
Issue :
13
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Remote Sensing
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3476dbcf8afa42c685ac9adfa89691f0
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16132373