Optimal ranges of social-environmental drivers and their impacts on vegetation dynamics in Kazakhstan
Venkatesh K. John R. Chen J. Xiao J. Amirkhiz R.G. Giannico V. Kussainova M.
15 November 2022Elsevier B.V.
Science of the Total Environment
2022#847
Kazakhstan is part of the Eurasian Steppes, the worlds largest contiguous grassland system. Kazakh grassland systems are largely understudied despite being historically important for agropastoral practices. These grasslands are considered vulnerable to anthropogenic activities and climatic variability. Few studies have examined vegetation dynamics in Central Asia owing to the complex impacts of moisture, climatic and anthropogenic forcings. A comprehensive analysis of spatiotemporal changes of vegetation and its driving factors will help elucidate the causes of grassland degradation. Here, we investigated the individual and pairwise interactive influences of various social-environmental system (SES) drivers on greenness dynamics in Kazakhstan. We sought to examine whether there is a relationship between peak season greenness and its drivers – spring drought, preceding winter freeze-thaw cycles, percent snow cover and snow depth – for Kazakhstan during 2000–2016. As hypothesized, snow depth and spring drought accounted for 60 % and 52 % of the variance in the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in Kazakhstan. The freeze-thaw process accounted for 50 % of NDVI variance across the country. In addition, continuous thawing during the winter increased vegetation greenness. We also found that moisture and topographic factors impacted NDVI more significantly than socioeconomic factors. However, the impacts of socioeconomic drivers on vegetation growth were amplified when they interacted with environmental drivers. Terrain slope and soil moisture had the highest q-values or power of determinant, accounting for ~70 % of the variance in NDVI across the country. Socioeconomic drivers, such as crop production (59 %), population density (48 %), and livestock density (26 %), had significant impacts on vegetation dynamics in Kazakhstan. We found that most of the pairwise interactive influences of the drivers exhibited bi-factor enhancement, and the interaction between soil moisture and elevation was the largest (q = 0.92). Our study revealed the optimal ranges and tipping points of SES drivers and quantified the impacts of various driving factors on NDVI. These findings can help us identify the factors causing grassland degradation and provide a scientific basis for ecological protection in semiarid regions.
Anthropogenic activities , Climate change , Geodetector , Precipitation , Snow , Socioeconomic factors
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Department of Sustainability and Environment, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, 57069, SD, United States
Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, 57069, SD, United States
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48823, MI, United States
Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48823, MI, United States
Earth Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 03824, NH, United States
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Bari A. Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, Bari, 70126, Italy
Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, AgriTech Hub KazNARU, 8 Abay avenue, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Kazakh-German University (DKU), Nazarbaev avenue, 173, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Department of Sustainability and Environment
Department of Biology
Department of Geography
Center for Global Change and Earth Observations
Earth Systems Research Center
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Kazakh National Agrarian Research University
Kazakh-German University (DKU)
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