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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 94-102.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.213

• Biology and Pedology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Influences of ecological water conveyance on Populus euphratica forest restoration in the middle reaches of Tarim River

WANG Zhen1,2(),LI Junli1,3(),ZHANG Jiudan1,2,WU Haoru1,2,GUO Xuefei4   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, 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 of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    4. College of Life Sciences, Tarim University, Aral 843300, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2022-05-11 Revised:2022-07-17 Online:2023-01-25 Published:2023-02-21

Abstract:

Ecological water conveyance is an important measure in the special action of Populus euphratica forest protection, and the analysis of the effect of submerged irrigation on the restoration of P. euphratica forest is critical for evaluating the effect of ecological restoration. We select the National Nature Reserve of P. euphratica in Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China, as the study area. Based on dense time-series remote sensing data, NDWI threshold segmentation and human-computer interaction were used to extract the overflowing surface of ecological water conveyance, and the modified maximal gradient difference model was used to retrieve the vegetation coverage of the P. euphratica forest. Geographical information system spatial analysis and regression analysis were used to dynamically monitor the ecological water conveyance since the implementation of the special action for P. euphratica forest protection in 2016 and quantitatively analyze the impact of the submerged irrigation area and frequency on the restoration of the P. euphratica forest vegetation coverage. The results are as follows: (1) The submerged irrigation area is mainly rising from the end of July to the beginning of August, reaching the maximum overflow area in September. In 2017, the area of ecological water conveyance was the largest, reaching 246.7 km2, and the ecological water conveyance force in 2018—2021 was reduced compared with the previous two years. The smallest area in 2020 was 70.5 km2. There is a tendency for the spatial distribution to be more in the north and less in the south and for downstream to be greater than upstream. (2) The vegetation coverage of the National Nature Reserve of P. euphratica in Tarim, increased from 18.88% to 19.61% from 2016 to 2021. The north side of the Tarim River with a greater submerged irrigation area shows an increasing trend, whereas the P. euphratica forest on the south side of the Tarim River with less ecological water conveyance still exhibits a degradation trend. (3) The restoration degree of vegetation coverage of the P. euphratica forest increased significantly with an increase in the ecological water submerged irrigation frequency. When the submerged irrigation frequency exceeded three times, the growth rate of vegetation coverage of the P. euphratica forest was approximately 0.93%·a-1-1.11%·a-1, which was 4-5 times higher than that of the nonecological water conveyance overflow area. This study provides a new idea for the evaluation of ecological water conveyance benefits of the P. euphratica forest and is of great significance for evaluating the effectiveness of the special action of P. euphratica forest protection and developing a more rational water transport strategy.

Key words: National Nature Reserve of Populus euphratica in Tarim, ecological water conveyance, vegetation coverage, ecological assessment