Research on the Remote Sensing Monitoring of Grassland Productivity Based on TM-NDVI

By means of ground survey and ＂3S＂ technology,taking Maduo County in three river sources areas as example,the remote sensing model between biomass and normalized difference vegetation index（NDVI） in sampling points was established after calculating the NDVI distribution of TM image in Maduo County,and the grade distribution map of grassland productivity in Maduo County was obtained according to the grade division of grassland productivity in Qinghai Province,so as to monitor grassland productivity step by step.The results showed that grassland coverage area in Maduo County in 2009 was about 2.22 million hm2,and NDVI was mainly from 0 to 0.5,accounting for 88.64% of total grassland area in Maduo County;there was a significant correlation between biomass and NDVI in sampling point,with the correlation coefficient of above 0.7,and their model could be quantitatively expressed as follows,namely Biomass = 552.632 × NDVI1.137;grassland productivity in Maduo County was 750-3 000 kg/hm2 which occupied 72.1% of total grassland area;the highest grassland productivity in Maduo County was 4 500-6 500 kg/hm2,but it accounted for below 1% of total grassland area.

Analysis of Grassland Productivity and Carrying Capacity of Natural Warm-temperature Tussock in the Central Region of Guizhou Province

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the influences of grazing and fencing on grassland productivity and carrying capacity of subtropical natural warmtemperature tussock. [Method] With the natural warm temperature tussock in Longli County of Guizhou Province as study area, monthly, seasonal and annual dynamics of grassland productivity were investigate continuously during 2010 -2012, and the data were analyzed. [Result] Under grazing and fencing conditions, grassland present biomass and forage growth of warm temperature tussock in Longli County of Guizhou Province both increased first and decreased, reaching the maximum from August to October. Fencing significantly improved the productivity of natural grassland but had little effect on the vegetation composition. [Conclusion] From the perspective of grass-livestock balance, the suitable stocking capacity of warm-temperature tussock in the central region of Guizhou Province was 3.45 -4.66 sheep/hm2 , which has high ecological efficiency and can be borne by farmers and herdsmen.

Interrelation between Seasonal Grazing Behavior of Guizhou Black Goat and Grassland Productivity

In order to discover the relationship of the Guizhou black goat seasona grazing behavior traits and grassland productivity, the varieties of grazing behavior of Guizhou black goat and its relationship with the grassland productivity under different grazing intensity in all seasons on Guizhou karst artificial grassland were studied. Obvious differences for goat grazing behavior were found under differen grazing intensity in either the same season or different seasons. The grazing behav ior in the same season showed that it could significantly reduce the mouth eating grass within 5 minutes, each step number, feeding speed, each food intake, daily feed intake（P0.05） under high grazing intensity. In different seasons, it could in crease the feeding time within 5 min, marching step, standing time and intake（P0.05） in the spring; while in the summer, it could improve intake mouth number each mouth eating grass number and feeding rate（P0.05）. It had no obvious dif ference in ruminant behavior parameters in the same season under different grazing intensity, but in different seasons, it can obviously increase ruminant within 5 minutes, number of ruminant feed group（P0.05） in the spring, and it can obviously in crease the time and number of each food group chew（P0.05） in the summer. The correlation analysis of main goat grazing behavior parameter showed that it had good correlation among other parameters except within 5 min walk time, each feed intake and daily feed intake（P0.05）.The relationship between goat grazing behavio parameters and grassland productivity showed that, the foraging time and standing time within 5 min were lower in the medium level of grassland productivity, while number of food intake, every step to eat grass and daily feed intake were higher with increasing grassland productivity, goats feeding speed was reduced, but each intake was increased.

Effects of Grassland Eco-Protection Compensation and Reward System

Grassland ecological protection compensation and reward policy is the largest-scale investment concerning themost extensive areas since foundation of the PRC. It will be the long-term implementationpolicy for grassland ecological protection. In this study,based on macro-perspective, the policy effects ofgrasslandproductivity, ecological protection, animal husbandryoutput, pastoralists＇ income were ana- lyzed. The resultsshow that, afterimplementation of the policy, naturalgrass production and grasslandtheoretical stocking rateincreased. The averagenatural grasslandlivestockoverloading ratedecreased significantly, comprehensivenationalgrasslandvegetation coverageis increasing. Besides, adult cattleandbeef yield arefluctuated. Sheep head, adult sheep, sheep production, milk productionincreasedin varying degrees. The per capita netincomeof farmers and pastoralists, livestock income, the proportion oflivestockincomewere higher than those beforeimplementation of the policy.

Responses of Grassland Net Primary Productivity to Environmental Variables in Northern China

Various environmental factors affect net primary productivity （NPP） of grassland ecosystem. Extensive reports on the effects of environmental variables on NPP can be found in literature. However, the agreement on the relative importance of various factors in shaping the spatial pattern of grassland NPP has not yet been reached. Here a grassland in situ NPP database comprising 602 samples in northern China for 1980-1999 was developed based on a literature review of published biomass and forage yield field measurements. Correlation analyses and dominance analysis were used to quantify the separate and combined effects of environmental variables （climate topography and soil） on spatial variation in NPP separately. Grassland NPP ranged from 4.76 g C m-2a-1 to 975.94gCm-2a-1, showing significant variations in space. NPP increased with annual precipitation and declined with annual mean temperature significantly. Specifically, precipitation had the greatest impact on deserts, followed by steppes and meadows. Grassland NPP decreased with increasing altitude because of water limitation, and positively correlated with slope, but weakly correlated with aspect. Soil quality showed positive effects on NPP. Annual precipitation was the dominant factor affecting the spatial variability of net primary productivity, followed by elevation.

Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilization on Soil pH-Plant Productivity Relationships in Upland Grasslands of Northern Greece

The potential role of soil pH in modulating plant productivity was assessed on the basis of dry mass, harvested in the form of 0.25 m2 quadrats, in two low-productivity upland grasslands of northern Greece subjected to annual factorial nitrogen （N） and phosphorus （P） fertilization （15 g N m-2 year-1 and 10 g P m-2 year-I） over a minimum period of 3 years. It was hypothesized that under these particular conditions, a positive relationship would exist between soil pH and plant productivity and, further, that N or P fertilizer application of a nutrient limited system, would result in a weakening of this positive relationship. A significant positive relationship was confirmed between soil pH and plant productivity in one of the two study areas and a positive trend in the other. Moreover, plant productivity increase, following fertilization, appeared to have a detrimental effect on the soil pH-plant productivity relationship. Findings support the original hypotheses and strengthen the idea that plant diversity-mediated soil pH-plant productivity relationships are a result of the more intense plant speciation that occurred under the more ＂typical＂ soil conditions of higher pH in temperate as opposed to tropical regions

Global degradation trends of grassland and their driving factors since 2000

Grassland is the second largest terrestrial ecosystem and a fundamental land resource for human survival and development.Although grassland degradation is a recognized and crucial ecological problem,there is no consensus on the area,scope,and degree of its global degradation trends,making the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)15.3 for achieving a land degradation-neutral world uncertain.This study quantitatively explored global grassland degradation trends from 2000 to 2020 by coupling vegetation growth and its response to climate change.Furthermore,the driving factors behind these trends were analyzed,especially in hotspots.Results show that the improvement in global grassland has been remarkable since 2000,with a 1.92 times larger area than degrading grassland,amounting to 372.47×10^(4) and 193.57×10^(4) km^(2),respectively.Africa and Asia lead in global grassland degradation and improvement,respectively.Globally,the combined effects of climate change and human activities are the main driving factors for grassland degradation and improvement,accounting for 84.72 and 87.76%,respectively.Notably,human activities played a crucial role in reversing the trend of grassland degradation in some hotspots.Finally,this study provides an essential scientific reference and support for realizing SDG 15.3 on global and regional scales.

Estimation of Grassland Production in Central and Eastern Mongolia from 2006 to 2015 via Remote Sensing

Mongolia is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative"China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor"and a region that has been severely affected by global climate change.Changes in grassland production have had a profound impact on the sustainable development of the region.Our study explored an optimal model for estimating grassland production in Mongolia and discovered its temporal and spatial distributions.Three estimation models were established using a statistical analysis method based on EVI,MSAVI,NDVI,and PsnNet from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)remote sensing data and measured data.A model evaluation and accuracy comparison showed that an exponential model based on MSAVI was the best simulation(model accuracy 78%).This was selected to estimate the grassland production in central and eastern Mongolia from 2006 to 2015.The results show that the grassland production in the study area had a significantly fluctuating trend for the decade study;a slight overall increasing trend was observed.For the first five years,the grassland production decreased slowly,whereas in the latter five years,significant fluctuations were observed.The grassland production(per unit yield)gradually increased from the southwest to northeast.In most provinces of the study area,the production was above 1000 kg ha with the largest production in Hentiy,at 3944.35 kg ha.The grassland production(total yield)varied greatly among the provinces,with Kent showing the highest production,2341.76x1〇4 t.Results also indicate that the trend in grassland production along the China-Mongolia railway was generally consistent with that of the six provinces studied.