Location determination of ecologically vulnerable regions in China

doi:10.17520/biods.2015147

Abstract

Abstract:

Ecologically vulnerable regions in China are not only the most serious areas of environmental degradation, but also the most poverty-stricken regions. However, these regions are still undefined. Three typical factors including land desertification, soil erosion and rocky desertification were selected to establish an evaluation model of eco-environmental sensitivity by using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. We conducted a comprehensive research on eco-environmental sensitivity to reveal its spatial features in a quantitative way in China, and redefine the location of ecologically vulnerable regions integrated with the existing relevant government documents and the previous research. Results are demonstrated as follows: the extremely sensitive areas are distributed in northwestern, southwestern, southeastern parts of China and loess hilly regions; the highly sensitive areas are located in the Altai Mountains, the Tianshan Mountains, the southern part of Yinshan Mountains, the Horqin Sandy Land, the Hulun Buir Sandy Land, the western part of Chang Tang Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains and the hilly mountains regions in Southeast China. A total of 18 ecological vulnerable regions in China were defined, comprising a total area of 2.4 million km². The name, type, area, spatial distribution and the main ecological problems of each region were characterized. The spatial distribution map of ecologically vulnerable regions in China can be used as a base map for the redline delimitation of national ecological protection.

Key words: ecologically vulnerable regions, comprehensive ecological sensitivity, RS, GIS, range

Junhui Liu,Changxin Zou,Jixi Gao,Su Ma,Wenjie Wang,Kun Wu,Yang Liu. Location determination of ecologically vulnerable regions in China[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2015, 23(6): 725-732.

Figures/Tables 4

References 22

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	指标 Index	不敏感 Insensitive	轻度敏感 Lightly sensitive	中度敏感 Moderate sensitive	高度敏感 Highly sensitive	极敏感 Extremely sensitive
土地沙化 Land desertification	干燥度指数 Aridity index	≤ 1.0	1.0-1.5	1.5-4.0	4.0-16.0	≥ 16.0
	≥ 6 m/s起沙风天数 Days with wind speed ≥ 6 m/s (d)	≤ 5	5-10	10-20	20-30	≥ 30
	土壤质地 Soil texture	基岩 Bedrock	粘质 Clay	砾质 Gravel	壤质 Loam	砂质 Sandy
	植被覆盖度 Vegetation coverage (%)	≥ 80	60-80	40-60	20-40	≤ 20
水土流失 Soil erosion	降雨侵蚀力 Rainfall erosivity	< 25	25-100	100-400	400-600	> 600
	土壤可蚀性 Soil erodibility	< 0.27	0.27-0.42	0.42-0.52	0.52-0.62	> 0.62
	坡度 Slope (°)	0-8	8-15	15-25	25-35	> 35
	植被覆盖度 Vegetation coverage (%)	≥ 80	60-80	40-60	20-40	≤ 20
石漠化 Rocky desertification	碳酸盐出露面积百分比 Rate of carbonate rock outcropping areas (%)	≤ 10	10-30	30-50	50-70	≥ 70
	坡度 Slope (°)	≤ 5	5-8	8-15	15-25	≥ 25
	植被覆盖度 Vegetation coverage (%)	≥ 80	60-80	40-60	20-40	≤ 20
赋值 Grade		1	3	5	7	9

	指标 Index	不敏感 Insensitive	轻度敏感 Lightly sensitive	中度敏感 Moderate sensitive	高度敏感 Highly sensitive	极敏感 Extremely sensitive
土地沙化 Land desertification	干燥度指数 Aridity index	≤ 1.0	1.0-1.5	1.5-4.0	4.0-16.0	≥ 16.0
	≥ 6 m/s起沙风天数 Days with wind speed ≥ 6 m/s (d)	≤ 5	5-10	10-20	20-30	≥ 30
	土壤质地 Soil texture	基岩 Bedrock	粘质 Clay	砾质 Gravel	壤质 Loam	砂质 Sandy
	植被覆盖度 Vegetation coverage (%)	≥ 80	60-80	40-60	20-40	≤ 20
水土流失 Soil erosion	降雨侵蚀力 Rainfall erosivity	< 25	25-100	100-400	400-600	> 600
	土壤可蚀性 Soil erodibility	< 0.27	0.27-0.42	0.42-0.52	0.52-0.62	> 0.62
	坡度 Slope (°)	0-8	8-15	15-25	25-35	> 35
	植被覆盖度 Vegetation coverage (%)	≥ 80	60-80	40-60	20-40	≤ 20
石漠化 Rocky desertification	碳酸盐出露面积百分比 Rate of carbonate rock outcropping areas (%)	≤ 10	10-30	30-50	50-70	≥ 70
	坡度 Slope (°)	≤ 5	5-8	8-15	15-25	≥ 25
	植被覆盖度 Vegetation coverage (%)	≥ 80	60-80	40-60	20-40	≤ 20
赋值 Grade		1	3	5	7	9

敏感等级 Grade of sensitivity	土地沙化敏感性 Land desertification Sensitivity	水土流失敏感性 Soil erosion sensitivity	石漠化敏感性 Rocky desertification	综合生态敏感性 Comprehensive ecological Sensitivity
不敏感 Insensitive	34.5	33.8	93.2	22.7
轻度敏感 Lightly sensitive	41.3	37.7	1.5	27.1
中度敏感 Moderately sensitive	11.7	13.7	3.4	22.0
高度敏感 Highly sensitive	8.3	9.1	1.6	17.8
极敏感 Extremely sensitive	4.3	5.8	0.4	10.4

敏感等级 Grade of sensitivity	土地沙化敏感性 Land desertification Sensitivity	水土流失敏感性 Soil erosion sensitivity	石漠化敏感性 Rocky desertification	综合生态敏感性 Comprehensive ecological Sensitivity
不敏感 Insensitive	34.5	33.8	93.2	22.7
轻度敏感 Lightly sensitive	41.3	37.7	1.5	27.1
中度敏感 Moderately sensitive	11.7	13.7	3.4	22.0
高度敏感 Highly sensitive	8.3	9.1	1.6	17.8
极敏感 Extremely sensitive	4.3	5.8	0.4	10.4

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