Effect of fencing on regional ecological networks in the northern Tibetan Plateau

Yifei Zhao; Shiliang Liu; Yuhong Dong; Fangfang Wang; Hua Liu; Yixuan Liu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1051881

Effect of fencing on regional ecological networks in the northern Tibetan Plateau

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jan 31:14:1051881. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1051881. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yifei Zhao¹, Shiliang Liu¹, Yuhong Dong², Fangfang Wang¹, Hua Liu¹, Yixuan Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
² Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Fencing is an essential measure for the rehabilitation and conservation of grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, its construction could change the distribution and migration of wildlife, thus affecting the integrity of the ecological networks for local wild animal movement. It is of great significance to quantify the potential impact of fencing on ecological network connectivity associated with land-use changes at regional scale. In this study, taking the northern Tibetan Plateau as the study area, we explored the ecological network change using circuit theory approach under different scenarios at county scale. Among them, this study set up four different scenarios according to the economic growth rate, population growth rate and the sustainable development of society and environment. The results showed that: 1) with increased grazing intensity and enhanced human activities from 1990 to 2015, the grasslands of the northern Tibetan Plateau were greatly degraded, most of which was converted into the barren land, and the conversion proportion was as high as 90.84%, which lead to a decreasing trend of the current density of ecological network in most counties and deterioration of ecological connectivity; 2) fencing construction has reduced regional current density, while fencing intensity is positively correlated with current density loss at county scale. Among them, the counties with serious current density loss were distributed in the northwest and southeast regions. The maximum loss ratio is 39.23%; 3) under four different future land use scenarios, coordinated economic, social and environmental development will have a positive effect on the ecological network. The results of the study have important ecological significance for developing reasonable conservation measures for grassland restoration, protecting wildlife, and maintaining regional ecological balance.

Keywords: circuit theory; ecological network; fencing; grazing; land use change; the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the second scientific expedition to the Qinghai Tibet Plateau (No. 2019QZKK0405-05), the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 41571173), and National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2022YFF1303204 ).