Quantifying Grass Coverage Trends to Identify the Hot Plots of Grassland Degradation in the Tibetan Plateau during...

Grassland covers 54% of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and suffered overgrazing and degradation problems during past decades. To alleviate these problems, a series of policy measures have been implemented during recent two decades and inevitably caused changes of the grassland. To this end, this study quantitatively analyzed the grassland changes and the effects of reduced grazing intensity, and identified the hot plots of grassland degradation in the TP during 2000-2019. The grassland status was indicated by the Fractional Vegetation Cover in the green grass period (GP), i.e., FVC_GP, and its changes and spatial variations were detected by analyzing the FVC_GP trends and their distribution, using the Mann-Kendal, Sen's Slope, and ArcGIS buffering methods, and data of the MOD13Q1 Collection 6 products and other sources. The results showed that 62.12% of the grasslands were significantly increased in the FVC_GP, and 28.34% had no apparent changes. The remaining 9.54% of the grassland significantly decreased in the FVC_GP, mainly occurring in the areas nearby roads, rivers, and lakes, and distributed mostly in a point pattern. Of the total FVC_GP decreased grassland area, 27.03% was clustered and identified as the hot plots of grassland degradation in six main regions. Decreased grazing intensity and increased precipitation contributed to the increase of grassland FVC in the TP, while local overgrazing could be the main cause of the FVC decrease. To strength the grassland restoration in the TP, the government supports and supervision should be enhanced to further mitigate the grassland pressure of animal grazing, particularly in the hot plot areas of degradation.