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Monitoring the Grassland Change in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A Case Study on Aba County

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Abstract

Located on the southeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, Aba County is the core area of the Returning Grazing Land to Grassland Project (RGLGP) on the plateau. For the purpose of monitoring the grassland change before and after the grassland protection project in Aba County, Landsat images acquired in 1996, 2003 and 2009 were analyzed. Using Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) model, sub-pixel fractions of land cover components were obtained: bright vegetation (BV), dark vegetation (DV), bright soil (BS), dark soil (DS) and water. Fraction images present the distribution and proportions of typical land cover components in this study. Fractions BV and BS were chosen as two indicators for grassland degradation. Thereafter, Change Vector Analysis (CVA) model was applied on the two indicators. After the performance of the CVA model, change results which consisted of both grassland degradation and vegetation re-growth were obtained, showing the change patterns of grassland degradation and vegetation re-growing in Aba County between two gaps: from 1996 to 2003 (before the RGLGP) and from 2003 to 2009 (after the RGLGP). The change patterns of grassland degradation and vegetation re-growing can effectively assist in the development of environmental restoration measures and in the RGLGP plans for the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

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Acknowledgements

This study is supported and funded by the National Natural Science Fund of China (Grant No. 41401659; Grant No. 41302282), the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (Grant No. 2017SZ0088; Grant No. 2015JY0145), the Educational Commission of Sichuan Province (Grant No.13ZA0059; Grant No. 13ZB0089), Geological Survey Projects of Ministry of Land and Resources (Grant No. 1212011120019), and the National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation (Grant No. 201510616004). We greatly appreciate the support of the China Scholarship Council, and are thankful for the support of the Scientific Innovation Team of Remote Sensing Science and Technology of Chengdu University of Technology (Grant No. KYTD201501). The authors greatly appreciate Gabriela Shirkey for her editorial advice and comments. We are also grateful for the anonymous reviewer and his insight and critical review of the manuscript. Lastly, Huaiyong Shao, the author is grateful to the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations of Michigan State University for their workspace.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Qiufang Shao, Yue Shi, Huaiyong Shao, Chengying Li & Qiurong Li

  2. School of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhiying Xiang

  3. Key Laboratory of Geoscience Spatial Information Technology of Ministry of Land and Resources, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Huaiyong Shao & Peihao Peng

  4. Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Huaiyong Shao

  5. College of Resources and Environment, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Wei Xian

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  1. Qiufang Shao
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Shao, Q., Shi, Y., Xiang, Z. et al. Monitoring the Grassland Change in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A Case Study on Aba County. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 46, 569–580 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-017-0721-7

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