Impact of water supply on the restoration of the severely damaged riparian plants along the Tarim River in Xinjiang, Northwest China

作者：Jian Song, Florian Betz, Tayierjiang Aishan, Ümüt Halik, Abdulla Abliz · 发表于：Ecological Indicators · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111570 · 被引用次数：36 · 研究领域：Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies、Soil erosion and sediment transport、Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes

Restoring degraded ecosystems in drylands is challenging because of low precipitation and high evapotranspiration. Water availability determines the existence and spatiotemporal distribution patterns of key endangered species struggling to survive in the severely damaged desert riparian ecosystem of the lower Tarim River (LTR) in NW China. Ecological water flow restoration measures with high costs and uncertainties have been implemented since 2000. The key task for scientists is to assess the success and drawbacks of this restoration project and propose specific recommendations for stakeholders to optimize the ecological benefits of the project in a cost-effective manner. In this study, Landsat time-series data from 1990 to 2020 were used to extract vegetation index values from river corridors along the LTR and explore the spatiotemporal patterns of desert riparian forest (DRF) vegetation. Based on land use and surface water data, we extracted the interannual spatial distribution range of vegetation and surface water, and selected several sample plots to demonstrate the influence of surface water and groundwater on vegetation change trends. The study results showed the following. 1) From 1990 to 1999, the vegetation slowly degraded; from 2000 to 2012, the extent of vegetation restoration was approximately 1 km from the river; and from 2013 to 2020, the extent of vegetation restoration at the Yingsu and Karday sections increased to 4.5–6.0 km, while that at the Arghan and Yiga...