Dataset Information

Quantifying the Impact of the Grain-for-Green Program on Ecosystem Health in the Typical Agro-Pastoral Ecotone: A Case Study in the Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia.

ABSTRACT: The Green-for-Grain program (GGP) is the largest environmental restoration program in China. It is effective in controlling land desertification but at the same time is highly affected by regional differences. Ecosystem health, as an important indicator of ecosystem sustainability, can effectively assess the ecological impact of the GGP and provide a basis for follow-up actions. As a typical agro-pastoral ecotone along the Great Wall, the Xilin Gol League has seen increasing land-use intensity, thus, it is crucial to understand the ecological conditions of the region in order to deploy a policy of the GGP in accordance with local conditions. In this study, using remote sensing images and social statistics data from 1990-2015, land-use transformation and the turning point of vegetation coverage was determined. Based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) model, an ecological health evaluation system was constructed to quantify the temporal and spatial variation of ecosystem health. Then, the spatial correlation between the changes in forest and grass coverage, as well as the changes in the ecosystem health index (EHI), was evaluated using GeoDa software. The results showed that (1) grassland was the primary land-use/land-cover (LULC) in the Xilin Gol League. Since 2000, land-use transfer types changed significantly and grassland degradation weakened; landscape connectivity increased, and vegetation coverage increased. (2) Over the past 25 years, the ecosystem in the study area was at a subhealthy level and showed a trend toward a healthy level. (3) The spatial correlation between ?Area% (change in forest and grass coverage) and ?EHI (change in ecosystem health index) was positive between 2000 and 2015 and the correlation gradually increased, indicating that the GGP did enhance the health of the ecosystem of Xilin Gol. This study provided a specific reference for the evaluation of ecosystem health in the agro-pastoral ecotone of China and a theoretical basis for the implementation of sustainable management policies in the study area.

SUBMITTER: Wang Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7459596 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantifying the Impact of the Grain-for-Green Program on Ecosystem Health in the Typical Agro-Pastoral Ecotone: A Case Study in the Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia.

Wang Zhaoyi Z Yu Qianru Q Guo Luo L

International journal of environmental research and public health 20200805 16

The Green-for-Grain program (GGP) is the largest environmental restoration program in China. It is effective in controlling land desertification but at the same time is highly affected by regional differences. Ecosystem health, as an important indicator of ecosystem sustainability, can effectively assess the ecological impact of the GGP and provide a basis for follow-up actions. As a typical agro-pastoral ecotone along the Great Wall, the Xilin Gol League has seen increasing land-use intensity, ...[more]

PMID: 32764220

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Project description:Being subject to climate change and human intervention, the land-use pattern in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northern China has undergone complex changes over the past few decades, which may jeopardize the provision of ecosystem services. Thus, for sustainable land management, ecosystem services should be evaluated and monitored. In this study, based on Landsat TM/ETM data, we quantitatively evaluated the losses of ecosystem service values (ESV) in three sections of the agro-pastoral ecotone from 1980-2015. The results were as follows: (1) the main characteristic of the land conversions was that a large area of grassland was converted into cultivated land in the agro-pastoral ecotone; (2) on the spatial scale, the ESV losses of the agro-pastoral ecotone can be called an "inclined surface" in the direction of the northeast to southwest, and the northeastern section of the agro-pastoral ecotone lost more ESV than the middle and northwest sections (p < 0.05), on the temporal scale, the order of losses was 1990-2000 > 1980-1990 > 2000-2015; (3) the agro-pastoral ecotone lost more ESV, which was mainly due to four kinds of land conversion, which were grassland that was transformed into cultivated land, grassland transformed into unused land, grassland transformed into built-up areas, and cultivated land transformed into built-up areas; (4) although these land conversions were curbed after the implementation of protection policies at the end of the 1990s, due to reduced precipitation and increasing temperatures, the agro-pastoral ecotone will face a more severe situation in the future; and, (5) during the period of 1990-2015, the overall dynamic processes of increasing population gradually expanded to the sparsely populated pastoral area. Therefore, we believe that human interventions are the main cause of ecological deterioration in the agro-pastoral ecotone. This study provides references for fully understanding the regional differences in the ecological and environmental effects of land use change and it helps to objectively evaluate ecological civilization construction in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northern China.

Project description:Biodiversity underpins grassland ecological functions and productive capacities. By studying the mechanisms for the maintenance of species diversity in animal communities, we can provide important theoretical guidance for the optimization of grazing management and biodiversity protection. The typical grassland of Xilingol in Inner Mongolia, China, was used as the experimental area, and a grazing intensity experiment was set up. This consisted of four gradient levels that were grazed by sheep, which were available for continuous monitoring, namely control standard sheep unit·day·hectare-1·year-1 (CK, 0 SSU·d·hm-2y-1), light grazing (LG, 170 SSU·d·hm-2·y-1), moderate grazing (MG, 340 SSU·d·hm-2·y-1), and high grazing (HG, 510 SSU·d·hm-2·y-1). Nine consecutive years of multi-indicator monitoring of vegetation was carried out from 2014-2022, using monitoring data coupled with time series and inter-annual climatic (relative moisture index, RMI) fluctuations. This was done to analyze the impacts of disturbances, such as grazing use and climatic fluctuations, on the diversity of species and above-ground productivity of the community, thereby exploring the relationship between diversity and productivity, and provide possible explanations for the emergence of a range of ecological responses. The statistical analysis methods used were One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), general linear regression and mixed-effects models. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) The grassland in the experimental area under CK had the highest diversity and productivity and the ecosystem was better able to buffer the negative impacts of climatic drought. Furthermore, the effect of climate on productivity and diversity weakened as the intensity of grazing increased. (2) LG to MG had a constant diversity. (3) Grazing utilization changed the relationship between community species diversity and aboveground productivity by releasing spatial community resources, altering the structure of plant communities, weakening competitive exclusion, and strengthening complementary effects. However, under all of the conditions there is a brief stage in the time series when diversity is stimulated to increase, and the higher the grazing intensity, the earlier this occurs.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Hinggan League is located in the Northeast of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the historically endemic area of animal and human brucellosis. In this study, the epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis were analyzed, and the genotypic profile and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Brucella melitensis strains isolated from humans in Hinggan League were investigated. METHODS:The epidemic characteristics were described using case number, constituent ratio, and rate. The 418 human blood samples were collected and tested by bacteriology, and suspect colonies were isolated and identified by conventional biotyping assays, the VITEK 2.0 microbial identification system, and AMOS (Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, B. ovis, and B. suis)-PCR. Subsequently, all strains were genotyped using multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) assays, and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Brucella strains against the 10 most commonly used antibiotics was determined by microdilution method. RESULTS:A total of 22?848 cases of human brucellosis were reported from 2004 to 2019, with an annual average incidence of 87.2/100 000. The incidence rates in developed areas of animal husbandry (Horqin Youyi Qianqi [161.2/100 000] and Horqin Youyi Zhongqi [112.1/100 000]) were significantly higher than those in forest areas (Arxan [19.2/100 000]) (?2?=?32.561, P?<?0.001). In addition, peak morbidity occurred during May-August, accounting for 72.6% (16582/22 848) of cases. The highest number of cases occurred in the 40+ age group, accounting for 44.4% (10?137/22484) of cases, and morbidity in males was significantly higher than that in females in all age groups (?2?=?299.97, P?<?0.001), the most common occupation was farmers. A total of 54 B. melitensis strains were divided into 37 genotypes (GT1-37) with 80-100% genetic similarity. All 25 strains were sensitive to seven tested antibiotics, phenotypic resistance to cotrimoxazole and azithromycin was observed in 5 (20%) and 25 (100%) of the isolates, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:Human brucellosis exhibited a significant increasing trend and B. melitensis is the main pathogen responsible for human brucellosis in this region. Improved surveillance of infected animals (sheep) and limiting their transfer and trade are optional strategies for decreasing the incidence of this disease.

Dataset Information

Quantifying the Impact of the Grain-for-Green Program on Ecosystem Health in the Typical Agro-Pastoral Ecotone: A Case Study in the Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia.

Publications

Quantifying the Impact of the Grain-for-Green Program on Ecosystem Health in the Typical Agro-Pastoral Ecotone: A Case Study in the Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia.

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