The dominant influencing factors of desertification changes in the source region of Yellow River: Climate change or human activity?

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 813; p. 152512
• Main Authors: Guo, Bing, Wei, Cuixia, Yu, Yang, Liu, Yifeng, Li, Jialin, Meng, Chao, Cai, Yumei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 20.03.2022
• Subjects: Anthropogenic Effects; China; Climate Change; Conservation of Natural Resources; Desert Climate; Desertification; Environmental Monitoring; Feature space; Geodetector; Rivers; Source region of Yellow River; Spatial and temporal pattern; China; Geodetector; Feature space; Spatial and temporal pattern; Source region of Yellow River; Desertification
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152512

Due to the combined effects of global warming and human activities, the ecological environment of the Yellow River source area has undergone profound changes and desertification has become increasingly prominent. In this study, an optimal desertification monitoring index based on feature space was proposed for the Yellow River source area, and constructed using Landsat images. Then, the spatial and temporal variation of desertification in the Yellow River source area and its driving mechanism were studied using Geodetector. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The newly proposed feature space-based desertification monitoring index has good applicability in the study area. The best inversion accuracy of the point-to-point Albedo-NDVI feature space model was 88.4%. (2) Desertification in the eastern and southern regions of the Yellow River source area has a tendency to increase, while the desertification situation in the central region is relatively stable. (3) From 1995 to 2015, there was a significant improvement in desertification in the study area, as evidenced by a decrease in desertification intensity. (4) As the intensity of human disturbance increases, the influence of natural factors on desertification gradually diminishes. The interaction of natural and anthropogenic factors has greater explanatory power for desertification than that of individual natural or anthropogenic factors. The research results can be used as a reference for decision-making on desertification control in the Three-River Source Region. [Display omitted] •A novel remote sensing monitoring index of desertification based on feature space model has been proposed.•The point-to-point Albedo-NDVI feature space model has the best inversion precision of 88.4%.•Human disturbance had gradually become the dominant factors.•The explanatory power of the interaction of natural factors and human factors was greater than that of any individual one.