scholarly journals Human-animal agency in reindeer management: Sámi herders’ perspectives on vegetation dynamics under climate change

Ecosphere ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e01931 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Horstkotte ◽  
T. Aa. Utsi ◽  
Å. Larsson-Blind ◽  
P. Burgess ◽  
B. Johansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Animal Agency

scholarly journals A vital link: water and vegetation in the Anthropocene

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 3841-3852 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Gerten
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Active Management ◽  
World Population ◽  
Water Limitation ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Co2 Effects ◽  
Water Vegetation

Abstract. This paper argues that the interplay of water, carbon and vegetation dynamics fundamentally links some global trends in the current and conceivable future Anthropocene, such as cropland expansion, freshwater use, and climate change and its impacts. Based on a review of recent literature including geographically explicit simulation studies with the process-based LPJmL global biosphere model, it demonstrates that the connectivity of water and vegetation dynamics is vital for water security, food security and (terrestrial) ecosystem dynamics alike. The water limitation of net primary production of both natural and agricultural plants – already pronounced in many regions – is shown to increase in many places under projected climate change, though this development is partially offset by water-saving direct CO2 effects. Natural vegetation can to some degree adapt dynamically to higher water limitation, but agricultural crops usually require some form of active management to overcome it – among them irrigation, soil conservation and eventually shifts of cropland to areas that are less water-limited due to more favourable climatic conditions. While crucial to secure food production for a growing world population, such human interventions in water–vegetation systems have, as also shown, repercussions on the water cycle. Indeed, land use changes are shown to be the second-most important influence on the terrestrial water balance in recent times. Furthermore, climate change (warming and precipitation changes) will in many regions increase irrigation demand and decrease water availability, impeding rainfed and irrigated food production (if not CO2 effects counterbalance this impact – which is unlikely at least in poorly managed systems). Drawing from these exemplary investigations, some research perspectives on how to further improve our knowledge of human–water–vegetation interactions in the Anthropocene are outlined.

A multiproxy reconstruction of vegetation dynamics in the Eastern Alps (Switzerland): combining paleoecological and paleogenetic approaches.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Dziomber ◽  
Lisa Gurtner ◽  
Maria Leunda ◽  
Christoph Schwörer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ancient Dna ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
The Impact

<p>Current and future climate change is a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystem stability. With a rapid increase of global temperatures by 1.5°C since the pre-industrial period and a projected warming of 1.5-4°C by the end of this century, plant species are forced to either adapt to these changes, shift their distribution range to higher elevation, or face population decline and extinction. Today, there is an urgent need to better understand the responses of mountain vegetation to climate change in order to predict the consequences of the human-driven global change currently occurring during the Anthropocene and maintain species diversity and ecosystem services. However, most predictions are based on short-term experiments. There is, in general, an insufficient use of longer time scales in conservation biology to understand long-term processes. Palaeoecological data are a great source of information to infer past species responses to changing environmental factors, such as climate or anthropogenic disturbances.</p><p>The last climate change of a similar magnitude and rate as projected for this century was the transition between the last Ice Age and the Holocene interglacial (ca. 11,700 years ago). By analyzing subfossil plant remains such as plant macrofossils, charcoal and pollen from natural archives, we can study past responses to climate change. However, until recently it was not possible to reconstruct changes at the population level. With the development of new methods to extract ancient DNA (aDNA) from plant remains and next generation DNA-sequencing techniques, we can now infer past population dynamics by analyzing the genetic variation through time. Ancient DNA might also be able to reveal if species could adapt to climatic changes by identifying intraspecific variation of specific genes related to climatic adaptations.</p><p>We are currently investigating a palaeoecological archive from a high-altitude mountain lake, Lai da Vons (1991 m a.s.l), situated in Eastern Switzerland. We are presenting preliminary macrofossil, pollen and charcoal results to reconstruct local to regional vegetation and fire dynamics with high chronological precision and resolution. In a next step, we will use novel molecular methods, in order to track adaptive and neutral genetic diversity through the Holocene by analyzing aDNA from subfossil conifer needles. The overarching goal of this large-scale, multiproxy study is to better understand past vegetation dynamics and the impact of future climate change on plants at multiple scales; from the genetic to the community level.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Effects of Climate Change on Land Cover Change and Vegetation Dynamics in Xinjiang, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (13) ◽  
pp. 4865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haochen Yu ◽  
Zhengfu Bian ◽  
Shouguo Mu ◽  
Junfang Yuan ◽  
Fu Chen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Extreme Temperature ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Linear Regression Method ◽  
Vegetation Growth

Since the Silk-road Economic belt initiatives were proposed, Xinjiang has provided a vital strategic link between China and Central Asia and even Eurasia. However, owing to the weak and vulnerable ecosystem in this arid region, even a slight climate change would probably disrupt vegetation dynamics and land cover change. Thus, there is an urgent need to determine the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land-use/Land-cover (LULC) responses to climate change. Here, the extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition (ESMD) method and linear regression method (LRM) were applied to recognize the variation trends of the NDVI, temperature, and precipitation between the growing season and other seasons. Combining the transfer matrix of LULC, the Pearson correlation analysis was utilized to reveal the response of NDVI to climate change and climate extremes. The results showed that: (1) Extreme temperature showed greater variation than extreme precipitation. Both the ESMD and the LRM exhibited an increased volatility trend for the NDVI, with the significant improvement regions mainly located in the margin of basins. (2) Since climate change had a warming trend, the permanent snow has been reduced by 20,436 km2. The NDVI has a higher correlation to precipitation than temperature. Furthermore, the humid trend could provide more suitable conditions for vegetation growth, but the warm trend might prevent vegetation growth. Spatially, the response of the NDVI in North Xinjiang (NXC) was more sensitive to precipitation than that in South Xinjiang (SXC). Seasonally, the NDVI has a greater correlation to precipitation in spring and summer, but the opposite occurs in autumn. (3) The response of the NDVI to extreme precipitation was stronger than the response to extreme temperature. The reduction in diurnal temperature variation was beneficial to vegetation growth. Therefore, continuous concentrated precipitation and higher night-time-temperatures could enhance vegetation growth in Xinjiang. This study could enrich the understanding of the response of land cover change and vegetation dynamics to climate extremes and provide scientific support for eco-environment sustainable management in the arid regions.

The impacts of urbanization and climate change on urban vegetation dynamics in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 126764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delong Li ◽  
Shuyao Wu ◽  
Ze Liang ◽  
Shuangcheng Li
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Urban Vegetation

The Struggle for Compassion and Justice through Critical Animal Studies

2015 ◽  
pp. 188-207
Author(s):  
Carol Gigliotti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Critical Animal Studies ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Human Animal

Critical animal studies (CAS) is a critical approach to human-animal relationships and explicitly committed to a global justice for animals, humans, and the earth. This essay argues that the global animal industrial complex, as well as the increasing global cultural push to eat meat, are inordinately causing calamitous current conditions of human-caused climate change and species extinction, as well as increasing poverty, hunger, disease, environmental damage and unprecedented animal misery and slaughter. Influenced by critical theory from the Frankfurt School and feminism, among other sources, CAS specifically critiques capitalism and globalization in its role in the domination of people, animals and the earth, but also sees the intersections of all oppression anywhere and for whatever reason as motivation for employing the powerful forces of compassion and social justice.

scholarly journals Greening Implication Inferred from Vegetation Dynamics Interacted with Climate Change and Human Activities over the Southeast Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 2421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li ◽  
Liu ◽  
Liu ◽  
Li ◽  
Xu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Ecological Environment ◽  
Upstream Region ◽  
High Mountain

Vegetation dynamics are sensitive to climate change and human activities, as vegetation interacts with the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The Yarlung Zangbo River (YZR) basin, with the vulnerable ecological environment, has experienced a series of natural disasters since the new millennium. Therefore, in this study, the vegetation dynamic variations and their associated responses to environmental changes in the YZR basin were investigated based on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) data from 2000 to 2016. Results showed that (1) the YZR basin showed an obvious vegetation greening process with a significant increase of the growing season NDVI (Zc = 2.31, p < 0.05), which was mainly attributed to the wide greening tendency of the downstream region that accounted for over 50% area of the YZR basin. (2) Regions with significant greening accounted for 25.4% of the basin and were mainly concentrated in the Nyang River and Parlung Tsangpo River sub-basins. On the contrary, the browning regions accounted for <25% of the basin and were mostly distributed in the urbanized cities of the midstream, implying a significant influence of human activities on vegetation greening. (3) The elevation dependency of the vegetation in the YZR basin was significant, showing that the vegetation of the low-altitude regions was better than that of the high-altitude regions. The greening rate exhibited a significantly more complicated relationship with the elevation, which increased with elevated altitude (above 3500 m) and decreased with elevated altitude (below 3500 m). (4) Significantly positive correlations between the growing season NDVI and surface air temperature were detected, which were mainly distributed in the snow-dominated sub-basins, indicating that glaciers and snow melting processes induced by global warming play an important role in vegetation growth. Although basin-wide non-significant negative correlations were found between precipitation and growing season NDVI, positive influences of precipitation on vegetation greening occurred in the arid and semi-arid upstream region. These findings could provide important information for ecological environment protection in the YZR basin and other high mountain regions.

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