Vertical distribution changes in land cover between 1990 and 2015 within the Koshi River Basin, Central Himalayas

doi:10.1007/s11442-021-1904-2

摘要/Abstract

Abstract:

The study of mountain vertical natural belts is an important component in the study of regional differentiation. These areas are especially sensitive to climate change and have indicative function, which is the core of three-dimensional zonality research. Thus, based on high precision land cover and digital elevation model (DEM) data, and supported by MATLAB and ArcGIS analyses, this paper aimed to study the present situation and changes of the land cover vertical belts between 1990 and 2015 on the northern and southern slopes of the Koshi River Basin (KRB). Results showed that the vertical belts on both slopes were markedly different from one another. The vertical belts on the southern slope were mainly dominated by cropland, forest, bare land, and glacier and snow cover. In contrast, grassland, bare land, sparse vegetation, glacier and snow cover dominated the northern slope. Study found that the main vertical belts across the KRB within this region have not changed substantially over the past 25 years. In contrast, on the southern slope, the upper limits of cropland and bare land have moved to higher elevation, while the lower limits of forest and glacier and snow cover have moved to higher elevation. The upper limit of alpine grassland on the northern slope retreated and moved to higher elevation, while the lower limits of glacier and snow cover and vegetation moved northward to higher elevations. Changes in the vertical belt were influenced by climate change and human activities over time. Cropland was mainly controlled by human activities and climate warming, and the reduced precipitation also led to the abandonment of cropland, at least to a certain extent. Changes in grassland and forest ecosystems were predominantly influenced by both human activities and climate change. At the same time, glacier and snow cover far away from human activities was also mainly influenced by climate warming.

Key words: vertical belt, land cover, Central Himalayas, Koshi River Basin, climate change

. [J]. 地理学报(英文版), 2021, 31(10): 1419-1436.

WU Xue, PAUDEL Basanta, ZHANG Yili, LIU Linshan, WANG Zhaofeng, XIE Fangdi, GAO Jungang, SUN Xiaomin. Vertical distribution changes in land cover between 1990 and 2015 within the Koshi River Basin, Central Himalayas[J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2021, 31(10): 1419-1436.

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参考文献 45

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Land cover	Southern slope						Northern slope
	1990			2015			1990			2015
	Altitude range	Core distribution zone	Dominant belt	Altitude range	Core distribution zone	Dominant belt	Altitude range	Core distribution zone	Dominant belt	Altitude range	Core distribution zone	Dominant belt
Cropland	96-4300	800-1800	100-700	96-4300	600-1800	100-1000	2300-4600	4100-4400	-	2200-4600	4100-4400	-
Forest	96-4200	800-3000	700-2000	96-4200	900-2700	1000-3900	2100-4200	3200-4100	2100-4000	2100-4200	3200-4100	2100-3900
Shrub land	100-5100	600-2200 3400-4500	2000-3700	100-5100	2100-4500	-	2300-5000	4200-4900	4000-4100	2400-4800	4200-4900	3900-4100
Grassland	200-5300	3700-5300	3700-4000	1400-5300	4300-5100	-	2500-5300	4400-5000	4100-5300	2600-5300	4400-5000	4100-5100
Sparse vegetation	2100-5500	4800-5500	-	2100-5500	4700-5500	-	2500-5500	5000-5500	-	2500-5500	5000-5300	5100-5300
Waterbody	100-5600	200-800 5000-5300	-	100-5600	200-1000 4800-5600	-	2200-5600	4100-4500	-	2200-5600	4100-4600	-
Built-up area	400-700 1400-2400	1400-1600 2200-2400	-	400-4400	1000-2000	-	4200-4400	4200-4400	-	3500-4400	4200-4400	-
Bare land	Over 200	4300-5600	4000-5400	Over 200	4400-5700	3900-5700	Over 2200	5000-5900	-	Over 2200	4900-5900	-
Wetland	Less than 5400	200-1700	-	Less than 5500	200-1800	-	3500-5700	4100-4400	5300-5900	3500-5700	4200-4500	5500-6000
Glacier and snow cover	Over 3700	5000-5900	Over 5400	Over 4000	5000-6000	Over 5700	Over 3600	5500-6500	Over 5900	Over 3600	5600-6500	Over 6000

Land cover on southern slope	Variable	β	S.E.	Wald	Sig (p)	Odds ratio
Glacier and snow cover	TMP	70.084	28.101	6.220	0.013	2.735
	TMX	458.526	152.815	9.003	0.003	1.366
	TMN	-705.254	216.345	10.627	0.001	0.000
Forest	PRE	-0.008	0.012	0.508	0.047	0.992
Forest	TMN	93.948	72.954	1.658	0.019	6.326
Cropland	PRE	0.138	0.034	16.884	0.000	1.148
	TMP	305.274	93.714	10.611	0.001	3.790
	TMN	-219.798	100.111	4.820	0.028	0.000
	TMX	-877.120	240.970	13.249	0.000	0.000
Bare land	TMN	-120.064	61.371	3.827	0.050	0.000
Bare land	TMX	187.431	93.069	4.056	0.044	2.513
Land cover on northern slope	Variable	β	S.E.	Wald	Sig (p)	Odds ratio
Glacier and snow cover	TMN	454.324	139.590	10.593	0.001	2.043
Glacier and snow cover	TMX	-759.591	180.584	17.693	0.000	0.000
Grassland	TMP	-76.096	14.043	29.365	0.000	0.000
Grassland	TMN	-271.772	155.047	3.072	0.080	0.000