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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (6): 1824-1835.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.082

• Earth Information Sciences • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effectiveness assessment of ecological restoration of Populus euphratica forest in the Tarim River Basin during 2013—2020

ZHANG Jiudan1,2,3(),LI Junli1,3(),BAO Anming1,3,BAI Jie1,3,LIU Tie1,3,HUANG Yue1,3   

  1. 1. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3. Key Laboratory of GIS & RS Application Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2022-03-04 Revised:2022-04-01 Online:2022-11-25 Published:2023-02-01
  • Contact: Junli LI E-mail:zjd0901@126.com;lijl@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

As the main constructive species of desert riparian forest in Xinjiang of western China, the Populus euphratica forest is of great importance to ecological balance maintenance, desertification control and biodiversity protection. Ecological water conveyance is the main way to promote ecological restoration of degraded Populus euphratica in the Tarim River Basin. Ecological monitoring and assessment are critical to optimizing water conveyance strategy and improving ecological restoration systems. In this study, the changes in vegetation area, NDVI and vegetation coverage in eight key Populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin were monitored based on medium-high resolution time-series remote sensing, and the relation between ecological restoration level and ecological water conveyance areas was discussed. The results show that the accumulative maximum water conveyance area was 2172.96 km2 in the Populus euphratica forest of the Tarim River Basin since 2016, accounting for 4.39% of the total forest area, mainly distributed within 10 km from both sides and the end of water conveyance channels. During 2013—2020, the vegetation in the forest showed a trend from degradation to restoration before and after water conveyance, and the restoration degree was significantly positively correlated with the annual maximum water conveyance area. The comprehensive assessment of vegetation restoration in different forest regions showed that the cumulative water conveyance area and the perfection of water conveyance channels are the determinants of ecological restoration degree in the degraded Populus euphratica forest regions. For example, the most significant restoration regions were the middle and upper reaches of the Tarim River and the Xiamal forest farm at the lower reaches of the Yarkand River. However, the Populus euphratica far away from water conveyance channels is still degraded. It is crucial for ecological restoration of Populus euphratica forest far away from the water conveyance channels to plan rationally the construction of ecological water conveyance channels and increase the water conveyance area of damaged Populus euphratica forest.

Key words: ecological water conveyance, vegetation growth, fractional vegetation cover, ecological assessment, Tarim River Basin