IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i10p3435-d172208.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relative Importance of Climatic and Anthropogenic Drivers on the Dynamics of Aboveground Biomass across Agro-Ecological Zones on the Mongolian Plateau

Author

Listed:
  • Xiang Zhou

    (Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan)

  • Yasushi Yamaguchi

    (Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan)

Abstract

The dynamics of aboveground biomass (AGB) are driven by both climate variation and anthropogenic modification, however, few studies have evaluated the relative importance of these two drivers, especially in a heterogeneous landscape. Taking the Mongolian Plateau as a case study and employing the vegetation optical depth retrieval as a proxy of AGB, this study aimed to determine the relative importance of climatic and anthropogenic drivers on the dynamics of AGB in Mongolia (ML) and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IM), China. Spatial panel data model specific to each agro-ecological zone was employed to fulfill the task. The results revealed that: (1) Since the socio-institutional transition in the early 1990s, AGB declined in most parts of the grazing zone of Mongolia. The reduction of precipitation, the rise of temperature and the intensification of livestock grazing were the major drivers behind it. Ranked by their relative importance, the order in the grazing zone with relatively humid climate was: Precipitation ≈ temperature > livestock grazing; the order in the grazing zone with relatively arid climate was: Precipitation > temperature > livestock grazing; (2) Since the implementation of a series of ecological restoration programs in the early 2000s, AGB increased in most parts of the grazing zone of IM, and the increase of precipitation was the dominant driver behind it; (3) Since the early 2000s, AGB increased in most parts of the grazing-farming zone of IM. The increase of precipitation, the decline of temperature and the intensification of grain production were the major drivers behind it. Ranked by their relative importance, the order was: Precipitation > grain production > temperature; (4) Since the early 2000s, AGB increased in most parts of the farming zone of IM. The increase of precipitation and the intensification of grain production were the major drivers behind it. Ranked by their relative importance, the order was: Grain production > precipitation.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiang Zhou & Yasushi Yamaguchi, 2018. "Relative Importance of Climatic and Anthropogenic Drivers on the Dynamics of Aboveground Biomass across Agro-Ecological Zones on the Mongolian Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3435-:d:172208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3435/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3435/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Allington, Ginger R.H. & Li, Wei & Brown, Daniel G., 2017. "Urbanization and environmental policy effects on the future availability of grazing resources on the Mongolian Plateau: Modeling socio-environmental system dynamics," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 35-46.
    2. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2009. "Education And Income Inequality In The Regions Of The European Union," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 411-437, August.
    3. Deng, Xiangzheng & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott & Uchida, Emi, 2008. "Growth, population and industrialization, and urban land expansion of China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 96-115, January.
    4. Auffhammer, Maximilian & Carson, Richard T., 2008. "Forecasting the path of China's CO2 emissions using province-level information," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 229-247, May.
    5. Cheng Hsiao, 2007. "Panel data analysis—advantages and challenges," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, May.
    6. J. Paul Elhorst, 2003. "Specification and Estimation of Spatial Panel Data Models," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 244-268, July.
    7. Manfred M. Fischer & Arthur Getis (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of Applied Spatial Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-642-03647-7, October.
    8. Zhiyuan Ma & Huiying Liu & Zhaorong Mi & Zhenhua Zhang & Yonghui Wang & Wei Xu & Lin Jiang & Jin-Sheng He, 2017. "Climate warming reduces the temporal stability of plant community biomass production," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, August.
    9. Federico Belotti & Gordon Hughes & Andrea Piano Mortari, 2017. "Spatial panel-data models using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(1), pages 139-180, March.
    10. Cheng Hsiao, 2007. "Rejoinder on: Panel data analysis—advantages and challenges," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 16(1), pages 56-57, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Seydou Coulibaly & Abdramane Camara, 2021. "Working Paper 354 - Taxation, Foreign Direct Investment and Spillover Effects in the Mining Sector," Working Paper Series 2480, African Development Bank.
    2. Fang Yin & Zhanli Sun & Liangzhi You & Daniel Müller, 2024. "Determinants of changes in harvested area and yields of major crops in China," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(2), pages 339-351, April.
    3. Guangdong Li & Chuanglin Fang, 2014. "Analyzing the multi-mechanism of regional inequality in China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(1), pages 155-182, January.
    4. Roger Bivand & Giovanni Millo & Gianfranco Piras, 2021. "A Review of Software for Spatial Econometrics in R," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-40, June.
    5. Marcos Sanso-Navarro & María Vera-Cabello & Miguel Puente-Ajovín, 2020. "Regional convergence and spatial dependence: a worldwide perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(1), pages 147-177, August.
    6. Nadine LEVRATTO, 2014. "Does firm creation depend on local context? A focus on the neighbouring effects," Working Papers 40, Réseau de Recherche sur l’Innovation. / Research Network on Innovation.
    7. Hany Eldemerdash & Hugh Metcalf & Sara Maioli, 2014. "Twin deficits: new evidence from a developing (oil vs. non-oil) countries’ perspective," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 825-851, November.
    8. Ding Luo & Oded Cats & Hans Lint, 2020. "Can passenger flow distribution be estimated solely based on network properties in public transport systems?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 2757-2776, December.
    9. Marzieh Ronaghi & Michael Reed & Sayed Saghaian, 2020. "The impact of economic factors and governance on greenhouse gas emission," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(2), pages 153-172, April.
    10. Li, Larry & McMurray, Adela & Sy, Malick & Xue, Jinjun, 2018. "Corporate ownership, efficiency and performance under state capitalism: Evidence from China," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 747-766.
    11. Almudena Moreno-Mínguez & Marta Ortega-Gaspar & Carlos Gamero-Burón, 2018. "A Socio-Structural Perspective on Family Model Preferences, Gender Roles and Work–Family Attitudes in Spain," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, December.
    12. Dzintra Atstāja & Edmira Cakrani, 2024. "Impact of Climate Change on International Tourism Evidence from Baltic Sea Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-16, June.
    13. Susanne Fricke & Lodovico Muratori, 2017. "Spatial price transmission and trade policies: new evidence for agricultural products from selected sub-Saharan African countries with high frequency data," Working Papers 5/17, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    14. Lynn, Peter & Bosch, Oriol, 2021. "Methodological lessons from the pilot longitudinal survey on debt advice," ISER Working Paper Series 2021-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    15. Mehmet H. TOPAL & Özlem S. GÜL, 2016. "The Effect of Country Risk on Foreign Direct Investment: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis for Developing Countries," Journal of Economics Library, KSP Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 141-155, March.
    16. Yasser Razak Hussain & Pranab Mukhopadhyay, 2023. "How Much do Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India? A Panel Data Analysis Disaggregated by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    17. Wambua, Dennis Kyalo, 2017. "Influence Of Social Capital And Networks On Marketing Performance Of Smallholder Grain Farmer Groups In Tharaka North And Tharaka South Sub-Counties, Kenya," Research Theses 276430, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    18. Alice Hengevoss, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Nonprofit Organizations on Multi-Actor Global Governance Initiatives: The Case of the UN Global Compact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-13, June.
    19. Baltagi, Badi H. & Fingleton, Bernard & Pirotte, Alain, 2014. "Spatial lag models with nested random effects: An instrumental variable procedure with an application to English house prices," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 76-86.
    20. Trabelsi, Emna & Hichri, Walid, 2021. "Central Bank Transparency with (semi-)public Information: Laboratory Experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3435-:d:172208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.