Vegetation types of East Ladakh: species and growth form composition along main environmental gradients

Question: The vegetation of high mountain regions in Himalaya remains poorly assessed despite the expected vulnerability of these ecosystems to global change drivers. What are the main vegetation types in East Ladakh and which environmental factors influence the species composition and growth forms distribution? Location: The south‐westernmost extension of the Tibetan Plateau, an arid mountainous area, in East Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir State, India. Methods: Species composition was recorded for 369 plots (each 100 m²). Plots, sampled from 4180 m a.s.l. (bottom of the Indus Valley) up to 6060 m a.s.l. (close to the snowline), covered a wide range of environmental conditions. Results: TWINSPAN clusters discriminated eight ecologically interpretable vegetation types, corresponding to the main habitats in the area: animal resting places, salt marshes, semi‐deserts and steppes, shrublands, alpine screes and boulder fields, alpine grasslands, water bodies and subnival zone. The most important environmental factors influencing the species composition were altitude, soil moisture and salinity. Screes and alpine grasslands were found to be the most species‐rich. The species were ranged into 20 growth forms with regard to life‐form and clonality, with growth forms showing different changes in proportion among vegetation types and along the different environmental gradients. Conclusion: The study summarizes the main vegetation types of East Ladakh in terms of species and growth form compositions. The results can have a heuristic value for designing future monitoring schemes and assess the effects of global change in these diverse, but poorly studied, regions.     

Satellite remote sensing for ecological analysis of forested landscape

The spatial characterisation and vertical analysis are together considered important to evaluate structure of forested landscapes. In recent years, increased human impacts have resulted in changes in landscape and structure of the forest ecosystem. The present study is aimed to analyse impacts of disturbance on landscape structure using satellite remote sensing and a geographic information system (GIS) in Madhav National Park of India. The Landsat TM data have been used to identify vegetation types. The patch characteristics of the vegetation like size, shape, porosity and patch density have been studied. The physical and humanmade features have divided the national park in three zones. These zones are also utilised as management zones by the State Forest Department. The study indicates that the central zone is distinctly different from the south and north zones. The patch size and porosity have been found to be most important parameters to discriminate differences in the ecological status of three different zones of the park. The patchiness and shape provide supportive information and characterise the patches of the zones. The structural analysis of the vegetation revealed effect on species diversity and biomass distribution in the different disturbance regimes.     

植物叶绿素含量的遥感模型及用陆地卫星数据所作的二维分布图

为了确定全球和区域尺度的植物叶绿素含量的多少和分布,遥感方法是一种很好的途径。有些遥感科学家直接利用归一化植被指数(NDVI)等植被指数推算叶绿素含量。实践表明,这种做法的缺点有:1.植被指数NDVI中的近红外波段反射率与叶绿素含量基本无关,这样NDVI中的主信息并没有表达叶绿素含量,其信噪比显著降低;2.存在明显的信息不确定性,同一个植被指数NDVI可能有两种状态:较高叶面积指数伴有较低叶绿素含量或者是较低叶面积指数伴有较高叶绿素含量。通过实践,作者推导出可用LANDSAT和NOAA影像图灰度值推算植被叶绿素含量遥感模型。并在中国科学院禹城遥感实验场实际应用中得到验证:用其模型推算植被叶绿素含量的精度比NDVI有较明显提高,不确定性有明显的降低。     

基于遥感影像的植被指数研究方法述评

随着遥感技术的发展,植被指数作为用来表征地表植被覆盖和生长状况的度量参数,已经在环境、生态、农业等领域有了广泛的应用。本文在分析植被指数形成机制及影响因子的基础上,对其具有一定技术突破的典型植被指数进行了归纳分类与比较分析,并评价了各自的优势和局限性。植被指数按遥感数据采集的平台可以分为航空植被指数和航天植被指数两大类,其中航天植被指数又可以分为基于波段简单线性组合的植被指数、消除影响因子的植被指数和针对高光谱遥感及热红外遥感的植被指数三类。最后就植被指数应用中存在的问题以及发展前景谈了一些看法:植被指数数目繁琐重复,急待规范条理化;植被指数应用领域不同,使用者时要慎重;植被指数影响因子很多,具体使用时应适时修正;植被指数公式繁琐阻碍其应用,应开发植被指数产品;遥感技术日新月异,积极研发新的植被指数。     

北京海淀区植被覆盖的遥感动态研究

 植被覆盖度fg人(植被的垂直投影面积与单位面积之比)是一个十分重要的生态气候参数。为了有效地从遥感资料中提取植被覆盖度,发展了一套计算区域植被覆盖度的亚象元分解模型法。运用该方法对北京市海淀区1975、1991和1997年的植被覆盖度进行了计算,并在此基础上,求得研究区不同植被覆盖等级的变化转移矩阵,分析了海淀区22年来植被覆盖等级变化的空间过程和变化趋势。     

内蒙古锡林郭勒草原植被结构的遥感图象分析

 本文利用遥感图象分析技术对内蒙古锡林郭勒草原植被各层次空间结构(大、中、小、微)及其与相应环境因素之间的关系进行了分析,并对各类草原的地上生物量及理论载畜量给予估算。分析结果表明：锡林郭勒草原植被的地域分异规律明显;植被的大结构主要受大气候因素及大的地貌单元控制：地形、水文网络是影响植被中结构的主要因素;而植被微、小结构的形成主要受局部地形、地表水、基质及人为干扰因素的制约。     

Spatial analysis of rangeland's vegetation intensity as related to selected physical soil variables over ABQAIQ municipality of Saudi Arabia

Through most of the natural rangelands of Saudi Arabia, overgrazing, sand drifting, and off-road vehicles driving are almost the major contributing factors that lead to vegetation damage and land degradation in natural landscapes. The current study aimed at examining the dynamic nature of Abqaiq rangelands' vegetation, generating a vegetation intensity map, and investigating possible impacts caused by the spatial variability of obtained soil texture, sand content (%), and the derived available water capacity (DAW capacity (%)) on the intensity distribution of vegetation cover. Ordinal-nominal correlation type and spatial autocorrelation processes were adopted throughout the study to analyze the spatial correspondences as well as the interrelated patterns of the given variables. The resultant correlation between vegetation and soil texture (ordinal versus nominal variables) has yielded a significant (p-value < 0.001) relevancies, where, silt loam texture class, in particular, has proven to have the most correlated values to the most intensive vegetation habitats, where 5%, 35%, and 28% of the silt loam class were occupied by 80%, 60%, and 40% of vegetation intensities, respectively. Whereas, for the continuous variables, correlation outcomes have achieved a substantial negative spatial autocorrelation concerning vegetation intensity and sand content percentage, revealing a total absence of green biomass over the sandy soils. Additionally, vegetation intensity versus DAW capacity percentage significantly yielded a positive autocorrelation, revealing a high clustering of green biomass cover that associates with high clustering of high-water capacity soils. The autocorrelation strength identifier (Morn's I), produced an approximate value of 0.3 with a pseudo p-value of 0.001, for both relationships. The findings of this study would help researchers and relative authorities to grasp the reasons, consequences and behaviors of rangeland flora, considering Abqaiq's area as an example.     

陆地植被净第一性生产力的研究

回顾了当前国内外陆地植被净第一性生产力（ＮＰＰ） 的研究现状，分析了３ 种生产力模型（ 气候相关模型、过程模型和光能利用率模型） 在应用于全球和区域生产力研究时的长处及不足：气候相关模型在气候变化研究中应用比较多，但计算的只是潜在ＮＰＰ；过程模型着重于植物生长的生理生态过程，但过于复杂，模型中的参数不易获得；光能利用率模型因为可直接利用遥感数据成为ＮＰＰ模型发展的一个主要方面．对国内ＮＰＰ的研究及遥感手段在ＮＰＰ研究中的应用进行了分析．     

Conserving the Himalayan forests: approaches and implications of different conservation regimes

The conservation of Himalayan forests is big concern in view of global agenda. Many studies in this endeavor reported that the rate of forests degradation is posing a severe threat to the landscape and existing biodiversity in the Himalayas. Currently there many conservation approaches exists and of them four are widely recognized (1) Conservation through traditional religious beliefs “traditional conserved forests” (TCF); (2) Conservation through governmental planning and schemes “government conserved forests” (GCF); (3) Conservation through creation of protected areas (PAF); and (4) Conservation through community efforts “community conserved forests” (CCF). Our hypothesis in this direction says that all the conservation approaches lead to same results concerning to forest conservation. To testify our hypothesis we have studied the forests of each conservation regimes and evaluated them based on the identified indicators. We have done empirical studies and following the cloud-free satellite data were used for last three decades (such as Multi-Spectral Scanner, Linear Imaging and Self Scanning, and Enhanced Thematic Mapper ) to study a change in vegetation dynamics of the mountain forests in multi-temporal dimension. Our research concluded that community conservation approach have greater significance for biodiversity conservation and management in the Himalayan region. Here we support the model of CCF for forest ecosystem conservation, alongside the sustainable livelihood of the mountain societies. But every conservation regimes has its own importance in viewpoint of the particular objectives. Therefore, we suggests advancement and revision of PAF and GCF however, some elements of CCF can be introduced in TCF for making up it more sound in view of rapid socio-economic and cultural changes taking place in the communities. An erratum to this article can be found at     

The potential of the satellite derived green chlorophyll index for estimating midday light use efficiency in maize, coniferous forest and grassland

Light use efficiency (LUE) is an important variable in carbon cycle and climate change research. We present an investigation of remotely estimating midday LUE using the green chlorophyll index (CI_green) derived from the cloud-free Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images in maize, coniferous forest and grassland. Similar temporal patterns are observed in both canopy chlorophyll content and midday LUE which indicates that the chlorophyll content in the maize canopy servers as a proxy of midday LUE (R² = 0.736, p < 0.001). Therefore, the CI_green, tested as a good indicator of canopy chlorophyll content (R² = 0.840, p < 0.001), has been demonstrated to be a reliable candidate in providing reasonable estimates of midday LUE with determination coefficient R² equals to 0.820 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.002 mol CO₂ per mol incident photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). Further validation of the prediction model derived from the maize site demonstrates that the CI_green has potential to be applied in the coniferous forest and grassland ecosystems with RMSE of 0.005 and 0.004 mol CO₂ mol⁻¹ PPFD, respectively. A comparison analysis between different vegetation types is included and these results could be helpful in the development of future LUE and terrestrial models.