Effect of the Grain for Green Project on freshwater ecosystem services under drought stress

The Grain for Green Project(GGP) is an important measure for the prevention of sloping farmland and the restoration of natural vegetation.This project has been critical to the restoration of ecological environments in western China. However,the effect of the GGP on freshwater ecosystem services under extreme climates remains unclear. Thus, taking the middle and upper reaches of the Wujiang River Basin in western China as an example, this study assessed the variation of three freshwater ecosystem services(e.g., water yield, soil retention and nutrient retention) impacted by the GGP under drought stress by employing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(In VEST) model. In addition,the trade-off/synergistic relationship between three freshwater ecosystem services was analyzed based on the Pearson correlation coefficient. As revealed from the results, the effect of the GGP on the water yield and nutrient retention under drought stress was significantly higher than that on the soil retention.With the increase in the drought degree, the variation rate of the water yield and nutrient retention impacted by the GGP increased, whereas that of the soil retention decreased. The GGP in droughts of different seasons resulted in a significant heterogeneity in the changes of three freshwater ecosystem services. The correlation coefficients between the water yield and soil retention as well as that between the water yield and the nutrient retention increased, and the correlation coefficients declined between soil and nutrient retention under different drought degrees following the GGP. Unlike for the summer drought case, there were no significant changes in the correlation coefficients between three freshwater ecosystem services in spring, autumn and winter droughts. The results suggest that the amount of farmland converted to shrubland should be regulated to reduce the trade-off intensity between freshwater ecosystem services. In addition, food security and ecological environment protection should be balanced during the implementation of the GGP, and the most concentrated distribution region of farmland-to-forest conversion will be the key area of ecological management in the future.

Spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of land use/land cover(LULC)changes in the Jinghe River Basin,China

Understanding the trajectories and driving mechanisms behind land use/land cover(LULC)changes is essential for effective watershed planning and management.This study quantified the net change,exchange,total change,and transfer rate of LULC in the Jinghe River Basin(JRB),China using LULC data from 2000 to 2020.Through trajectory analysis,knowledge maps,chord diagrams,and standard deviation ellipse method,we examined the spatiotemporal characteristics of LULC changes.We further established an index system encompassing natural factors(digital elevation model(DEM),slope,aspect,and curvature),socio-economic factors(gross domestic product(GDP)and population),and accessibility factors(distance from railways,distance from highways,distance from water,and distance from residents)to investigate the driving mechanisms of LULC changes using factor detector and interaction detector in the geographical detector(Geodetector).The key findings indicate that from 2000 to 2020,the JRB experienced significant LULC changes,particularly for farmland,forest,and grassland.During the study period,LULC change trajectories were categorized into stable,early-stage,late-stage,repeated,and continuous change types.Besides the stable change type,the late-stage change type predominated the LULC change trajectories,comprising 83.31% of the total change area.The period 2010-2020 witnessed more active LULC changes compared to the period 2000-2010.The LULC changes exhibited a discrete spatial expansion trend during 2000-2020,predominantly extending from southeast to northwest of the JRB.Influential driving factors on LULC changes included slope,GDP,and distance from highways.The interaction detection results imply either bilinear or nonlinear enhancement for any two driving factors impacting the LULC changes from 2000 to 2020.This comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of LULC changes offers valuable insights for the planning and sustainable management of LULC in the JRB.

Spatiotemporal evolution of water conservation function and its driving factors in the Huangshui River Basin, China

The Grain for Green project has had a substantial influence on water conservation in the Huangshui River Basin,China through afforestation and grassland restoration over the past two decades.However,a comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution of water conservation function and its driving factors remains incomplete in this basin.In this study,we utilized the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST)model to examine the spatiotemporal evolution of water conservation function in the Huangshui River Basin from 2000 to 2020.Additionally,we employed the random forest model,Pearson correlation analysis,and geographical detector(Geodetector)techniques to investigate the primary factors and factor interactions affecting the spatial differentiation of water conservation function.The findings revealed several key points.First,the high-latitude northern region of the study area experienced a significant increase in water conservation over the 21-a period.Second,the Grain for Green project has played a substantial role in improving water conservation function.Third,precipitation,plant available water content(PAWC),grassland,gross domestic product(GDP),and forest land were primary factors influencing the water conservation function.Finally,the spatial differentiation of water conservation function was determined by the interactions among geographical conditions,climatic factors,vegetation biophysical factors,and socio-economic factors.The findings have significant implications for advancing ecological protection and restoration initiatives,enhancing regional water supply capabilities,and safeguarding ecosystem health and stability in the Huangshui River Basin.

Vegetation Restoration in Response to Climatic and Anthropogenic Changes in the Loess Plateau, China

A thorough understanding of the vegetation succession in relation to both climatic changes and anthropogenic activities is vital for the formulation of adaptation strategies that address potential ecosystem challenges.Various climatic factors such as temperature,precipitation,and solar radiation,as well as anthropogenic factors such as ecological engineering and population migration,will affect the conditions for vegetation.However,the relationships among various factors remain unclear and the response of vegetation to climate change and anthropogenic activities in the Loess Plateau of China has not been well established.This study investigated the spatio-temporal characteristics and relationships between vegetation coverage and climatic factors in the Loess Plateau for the period of 1985–2015.Further analysis separated the anthropogenic and climatic factors on vegetation succession based on residual analysis.The results showed that the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)followed a significant upward trend with annual change rates of 0.15%during 1985–2015.The trend of human-induced NDVI increase was consistent with the spatial distribution of increasing forest areas in the eastern part of the Loess Plateau.Eco-restoration projects were the main driving factors that promoted vegetation coverage on the Loess Plateau.Furthermore,these results demonstrated that migrants to cities in the Loess Plateau could relieve ecological pressures and promote vegetation restoration.Therefore,the government should strive to increase population mobility and restore vegetation to sustain this particularly fragile ecological environment.

Local Responses to Macro Development Policies and Their Effects on Rural System in China's Mountainous Regions:The Case of Shuanghe Village in Sichuan Province

China has promulgated a series of policies including the Western Development Program, the Grain for Green Project, agricultural support policies and building a new countryside strategy to eliminate east-west differences and urban-rural disparities since the late 1990s. This paper gives a holistic examination on local responses to the four typical macro socio-economic development policies and their effects on rural system based on a case study of a mountainous village in southern Sichuan Province. The results showed that the policies have not moved the case study village from its historically marginal status. To some extent, its socio-economic situation might have been worsened by accelerated out- migration of the youth, loss of agricultural land due to afforestation and industrial plants, increased fire hazard due to afforestation and reforestation, increased environmental pollution due to industrial enterprises attracted to the village and a steep decline in agricultural production due to loss of and inefficient use of cultivated land. Factors causing local villages' dilemmas include the nonuniformity of actors' objectives, finiteness of villagers' abilities, and the imperfect incentive and restraint mechanism for local government's activities under existing policy framework composed of uncoordinated one-size-fits- all policies. We suggest that China's rural policy in the new period should gradually shift from a sectoral to a place-based one, from top-down incentives to the development of bottom-up projects, and fully recognize the diversity of rural space, so as to lift localcapacities and make good use of the knowledge shared by different actors. Moreover, it is also necessary to integrate the various sectoral policies, and improve the interministerial and interdepartmental coordination of rural policies at regional and local levels.

The role of social resource of indigenous people in local ecological resource management in China: A preliminary case in Zhangye, Northwestern China

Social resources of indigenous people are valuable wealth, including the social norms, the relational network, belief, attitude as well as the social system which is accumulated from generation to generation. Those social resources are very important for local ecological resource management, which can help diffuseness and communion of skills and traditional conservation techniques for conserving and restoring the ecological sites. Social capital is one indicator of social resources, which is accepted widely. In order to investigate the role of social resources of indigenous people in local ecological resource management, the authors studied the relation between social capital of indigenous people and local ecological resource management, taking Zhangye City as an exam-ple. In this paper, social capital of indigenous people is quantified by constructing social capital index, composed of structural so-cial capital and cognitive social capital; local ecological resource management is quantified by constructing 'Grain for Green Pro-ject' performance index. Based on correlation analysis approach and logistic regression analysis approach, the authors analyzed the relation between social capital and 'Grain for Green Project' performance index, as well as the relations between 'Grain for Green Project' performance index and other factors such as per capita net income, medical treatment and so on. Results showed that the correlation between social capital and 'Grain for Green Project' performance index was positive, the coefficient was 0.761, with P<0.01. An increase of 1 unit in social capital is associated with an increase of 1.550 units in 'Grain for Green Project' per-formance. With factor, such as faction, per capita net income, medical treatment, increasing 1 unit, the 'Grain for Green Project' performance index will increase 3.912, 1.039 and 1.005 units, respectively.

GIS-based detection of land use transformation in the Loess Plateau： A case study in Baota District, Shaanxi Province, China

During the past decade, great efforts have been made to boost the land use trans- formation in the Loess Plateau, especially for reducing soil erosion by vegetation restoration measures. The Grain-for-Green project （GFG） is the largest ecological rehabilitation program in China, which has a positive impact on the vegetation restoration and sustainable devel- opment for the ecologically fragile region of west China. Based on the Landsat TM/ETM im- ages for three time periods （2000, 2005 and 2010）, this study applied the GIS technology and a hill-slope analytical model to reveal the spatio-temporal evolutional patterns of returning slope farmland to grassland or woodland in Baota District, Yan＇an city of Shaanxi province. Results showed that： （1） from 2000 to 2010, the area of farmland decreased by approximately 35,030 ha, which is the greatest decrease among all the land-use types, whereas grassland, woodland and construction land increased, of which grassland expanded rapidly by 26,380 ha （2） The annual variation rate of land-use dynamics was 1.98% during the period 2000-2010, of which the rate was 1.05% for the 2000-2005 period and 2.92% for the 2005-2010 period, respectively. Over the past decade, returning farmland to woodland or pastures was the main source of increased grassland and woodland, and the reduction of farmland contributed to the increase in grassland and woodland by 97.39% and 85.28%, respectively. （3） As the terrain slope increases, farmland decreased and woodland and grassland increased significantly. Areas with a slope ranging from 15° to 25° and less than 15° were the focus of the GFG project, accounting for 85% of the total area of farmland reduction. Meanwhile, the reduction in farmland was significant and spatially correlated with the increase in woodland and grass- land. （4） Between 2000 and 2010, the area of destruction of grass and trees in grasslands and woodlands for the reclamation of farmland was approximately 4596 ha. The area subject to the GFG policy was 4456 ha with a slope greater than 25° over the decade, but the area of farmland was still 10,357 ha in 2010. Our results indicate that there has still a great potential for returning the steep-slope farmlands to woodlands or grasslands in the Loess Plateau.

Response of vegetation restoration to climate change and human activities in Shaanxi-Gansu- Ningxia Region

The ＂Grain for Green Project＂ initiated by the governments since 1999 were the dominant contributors to the vegetation restoration in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern China. Climate change and human activities are responsible for the improvement and degradation to a certain degree. In order to monitor the vegetation variations and clarify the causes of rehabilitation in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Region, this paper, based on the MODIS-NDVI and climate data during the period of 2000-2009, analyzes the main charac- teristics, spatial-temporal distribution and reasons of vegetation restoration, using methods of linear regression, the Hurst Exponent, standard deviation and other methods. Results are shown as follows. （1） From 2000 to 2009, the NDVI of the study area was improved progres- sively, with a linear tendency being 0.032/10a, faster than the growth of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program （0.007/10a） from 1982 to 2006. （2） The vegetation restoration is characterized by two fast-growing periods, with an ＂S-shaped＂ increasing curve. （3） The largest proportion of the contribution to vegetation restoration was observed in the slightly improved area, followed by the moderate and the significantly improved area; the degraded area is distributed sporadically over southern part of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as well as eastern Dingbian of Shaanxi province, Huanxian and Zhengyuan of Gansu province. （4） Climate change and human activities are two driving forces in vegetation restoration; more- over anthropogenic factors such as ＂Grain for Green Project＂ were the main causes leading to an increasing trend of NDVI on local scale. However, its influencing mechanism remains to be further investigated. （5） The Hurst Exponent of NDVI time series shows that the vegetation restoration was sustainable. It is expected that improvement in vegetation cover will expand to the most parts of the region.

Runoff-and erosion-reducing effects of vegetation on the loess hillslopes of China under concentrated flow

Evaluating the effects of revegetation on runoff and erosion reduction is essential for studying soil and water conservation on the Loess Plateau after implementation of China's Grain for Green Project.However,quantifying the influence of revegetation on the erosion caused by concentrated runoff in extreme rainstorms is still challenging.To evaluate this influence,scouring-erosion experiments were implemented in situ on the vegetated hillslope plots(GR)and bare hillslope plots(CK).The runoffreducing effects of grass(GRR)averaged 31%,20%and 8%,and the erosion-reducing effects of grass(GER)averaged 93%,95%and 93%on the 5-plots,10-plots and 18-plots,respectively.The ratios of GRR to GER were 0.09e0.33,implying that the ability of vegetation to reduce erosion was greater than its ability to reduce runoff.The GRR and GER obviously decreased as the inflow rate increased,and the GRR decreased as the hillslope gradient increased,but there were no obvious differences in the GER between hillslope gradients.Vegetation could decrease the ability of the concentrated flow to carry and transport sediment and increase the energy consumption of the concentrated flow in response to hydraulic resistance.Vegetation also significantly reduced the degree of rill development.The degree of rill dissection on the GR(0.054e0.087 m^(2)m^(2))was lower than that on the CK(0.061e0.184 m^(2)m^(2)).Our findings provide an essential reference for ecological environment and vegetation restoration on loess hillslopes.