Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Land-cover changes of national nature reserves in China

  • Published:
Journal of Geographical Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

For preventing ecosystem degradation, protecting natural habitats and conserving biodiversity within the habitats, 2588 nature reserves have been established in China at the end of 2010. The total area is up to 149.44 million ha and covers over 15% of Chinese terrestrial surface. Land-cover change, as the primary driver of biodiversity change, directly impacts ecosystem structures and functions. In this paper, 180 National Nature Reserves (NNRs) are selected and their total area is 44.71 million ha, accounting for 29.9% of all NNRs in China. In terms of the ecosystem characteristics and their major protected object, all selected NNRs are classified into 7 types. A Positive and Negative Change Index of Land-cover (PNCIL) was developed to analyze the land-cover change of each NNRs type from the late 1980s to 2005. The results show that the land-cover of all selected NNRs types have degradated to a certain degree except the forest ecosystem reserves with a decreasing rate, but the rate of degradation alleviated gradually. The mean positive and negative change rates of land-cover in all core zones decreased by 0.69% and 0.16% respectively. The landscape pattern of land-cover in the core zones was more stable than that in the buffer zones and the experimental zones. Furthermore, the ecological diversity and patch connectivity of land-cover in selected NNRs increased generally. In short, the land-cover of 180 selected NNRs in China had a beneficial change trend after NNRs established, especially between 1995 and 2005.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andelman S J, Willig M R, 2003. Present patterns and future prospects for biodiversity in the Western Hemisphere. Ecology Letters, 6: 818–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araújo M B, Alagador D, Cabeza M et al., 2011. Climate change threatens European conservation areas. Ecology Letters, 14: 484–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bing L F, Shao Q Q, Liu J Y, 2011.Characteristic of land cover changes in the Yellow River Headwaters Region over the past 30 years. Journal of Geo-information Sciences, 13(3): 289–296. (in Chinese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolliger J, Bättig M, Gallati J et al., 2011. Landscape multifunctionality: A powerful concept to identify effects of environmental change. Regional Environment Change, 11: 203–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner A G, Gullison R E, Rice R E et al., 2001. Effectiveness of parks in protecting tropical biodiversity. Science, 291: 125–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chape S, Harrison J, Spalding M et al., 2005. Measuring the extent and effectiveness of protected areas as an indicator for meeting global biodiversity targets. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 360: 443–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin III F S, Zavaleta E S, Eviner V T et al., 2000. Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature, 405: 234–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y H, Tang Z Y, Fang J Y, 2009. Distribution of nature reserves and status of biodiversity protection in China. Biodiversity Science, 17(6): 664–674. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Defrires R, Hansen A, Turner B L et al., 2007. Land use change around protected areas: Management to balance human needs and ecological function. Ecological Applications, 17(4): 1031–1038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobson A P, Rodriguez J P, Roberts W M, 2001. Synoptic tinkering: Integrating strategies for large-scale conservation. Ecological Applications, 11(4): 1019–1026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dockerty T, Lovett A, Watkinson A, 2003. Climate change and nature reserves: Examining the potential impacts, with examples from Great Britain. Global Environmental Change, 13: 125–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ervin J, 2003. Protected area assessments in perspective. BioScience, 53(9): 819–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figueroa F, Sánchez-Cordero V, 2008. Effectiveness of natural protected areas to prevent land use and land cover change in Mexico. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17: 3223–3240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley J A, DeFries R, Asner G P et al., 2005. Global consequences of land use. Science, 309: 570–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamison E, 2003. Protected area assessments in perspective. BioScience, 53(9): 819–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • John A W, Mark G A, Timothy B, 2006. Land cover and conservation: From protected areas to landscapes. In: Jonathan H S (eds.). Proceedings of the North American Land Cover Summit (20 September): 153–168.

  • John A W, Nathaniel E S, Dennis J, 2011. Protected areas in climate space: What will the future bring? Biological Conservation, 144: 219–2125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klorvuttimontara S, McClean C J, Hill J K, 2011. Evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas for conserving tropical forest butterflies of Thailand. Biological Conservation, 144: 2534–2540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J G, Linderman M, Ouyang Z Y et al., 2001. Ecological degradation in protected areas: The case of Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas. Science, 292: 98–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J Y, Zhang Z X, Xu X L et al., 2009. Spatial patterns and driving forces of land use change in China in the early 21st century. Acta Geographica Sinica, 64(12): 1411–1420. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu J Y, Zhuang D F, Luo D et al., 2003. Land cover classification of China: Integrated analysis of AVHRR imagery and geophysical data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 24(12): 2485–2500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, 2010. Environment in China 2010. (in Chinese)

  • Mirjam M, Harald S, Matthias B et al., 2011. Climate change and nature conservation in Central European forests: A review of consequences, concepts and challenges. Forest Ecology and Management, 261: 829–843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Risser P G, Karr J R, Forman R T T, 1984. Landscape Ecology: Directions and Approaches. Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publication Number 2, Illinois.

  • Sala O E, Chapin F S, Armesto J J et al., 2000. Biodiversity biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science, 287: 1770–1774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott J M, Davis F W, McGhie R G et al., 2001. Nature reserves: Do they capture the full range of America’s biological diversity? Ecological Applications, 11(4): 999–1007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shao Q Q, Zhao Z P, Liu J Y et al., 2010. The characteristics of land cover and macroscopical ecology changes in the source region of three rivers on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during last 30 years. Geographical Research, 29 (8): 1439–1451. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Trudie D, Andrew L, Andrew W, 2003. Climate change and nature reserves: Examining the potential impacts, with examples from Great Britain. Global Environmental Change, 13: 125–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNEP-WCMC about Protected Areas. Dudley N (eds.), 2008. Guidelines for Appling Protected Areas Management Categories (IUCN: Switzerland, 2008), 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations, 2011. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011.

  • Vasconcelos M J P, Mussá Biai J C, Araújo A et al., 2002. Land cover change in two protected areas of Guinea-Bissau (1956–1998). Applied Geography, 22(2): 139–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek P M, Mooney H A, Lubchenco J et al., 1997. Human domination of earth’s ecosystems. Science, 277: 494–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wade A, Theobald D M, Laituri M J, 2011. A multi-scale assessment of local and contextual threats to existing and potential U.S. protected areas Alisa. Landscape and Urban Planning, 101: 215–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens J A, 2009. Landscape ecology as a foundation for sustainable conservation. Landscape Ecology, 24: 1053–1065.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens J A, Anderson M G, Boucher T, 2008. Land cover and conservation: From protected areas to landscapes. In: Campbell J C, Jones K B, Smith J H et al. (eds.). North American land cover summit. Association of American Geographers, Washington D.C., 153–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, 2010. Surface Modeling: High Accuracy and High Speed Methods. New York: CRC Press, Talyor & Francis Group, 39–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, Fan Z M, Chen C F et al., 2011. Surface modelling of global terrestrial ecosystems under three climate change scenarios. Ecological Modelling, 222: 2342–2361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, Fan Z M, Liu J Y, 2005. Changes of major terrestrial ecosystems in China since 1960. Global and Planetary Change, 48: 287–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, Fan Z M, Liu J Y, 2007. Scenarios of land cover in China. Global and Planetary Change, 55: 317–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, Liu J Y, Jørgensen S E et al., 2001. Changes of Holdridge life zone diversity in all of China over half a century. Ecological Modelling, 144: 153–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, Xu B, Liu J Y, 2004. A patch connectivity index and its change on a newly born wetland at the Yellow River Delta. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25(21): 4617–4628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Z P, Liu J Y, Shao Q Q, 2010. Characteristic analysis of land cover change in nature reserve of Three River’s Source Regions. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 30(3): 415–420. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Zemeng Fan, Xuan Zhang, Jing Li, Tianxiang Yue, Jiyuan Liu & Wenhui Kuang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xuan Zhang & Jing Li

  3. Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Bao Xiang

Authors
  1. Zemeng Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xuan Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jing Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tianxiang Yue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jiyuan Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Bao Xiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Wenhui Kuang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zemeng Fan.

Additional information

Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41271406; No.40801150; China National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, No.40825003; National Basic Research Program of China, No.2009CB421105; No.2010CB95090403; Youth Science Funds of State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, CAS

Author: Fan Zemeng, Ph.D, specialized in ecological modelling and system simulation.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fan, Z., Zhang, X., Li, J. et al. Land-cover changes of national nature reserves in China. J. Geogr. Sci. 23, 258–270 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-013-1008-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-013-1008-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation