Vertical differentiation of land cover in the central Himalayas

Yili ZHANG; Xue WU; Du ZHENG

doi:10.1007/s11442-020-1765-0

Journals >Journal of Geographical Sciences >Volume 30 >Issue 6 >Page 969 > Article

Journal of Geographical Sciences
Vol. 30, Issue 6, 969 (2020)

Vertical differentiation of land cover in the central Himalayas

Yili ZHANG^1,2,3,*, Xue WU^1,3, and Du ZHENG¹

Author Affiliations

¹. Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Resources Use in Beibu Gulf, the Ministry of Education, Nanning Normal University, Nanning 530001, Guangxi, China

². CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

³. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

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DOI: 10.1007/s11442-020-1765-0 Cite this Article

Yili ZHANG, Xue WU, Du ZHENG. Vertical differentiation of land cover in the central Himalayas[J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(6): 969 Copy Citation Text

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Maps of the study area showing the terrain (a), and the southern and northern slopes of Mt. Qomolangma determined by using three division methods: (b) ridgeline method, (c) sample transect method and (d) sector methodZ

Fig. 1. Maps of the study area showing the terrain (a), and the southern and northern slopes of Mt. Qomolangma determined by using three division methods: (b) ridgeline method, (c) sample transect method and (d) sector methodZ

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Fig. 2. Schematic showing the terminology used to describe the altitudinal distributions of land cover types

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Fig. 3. Schematic showing the vertical distributions of compound dominant land cover types (from left to right: cropland-forest dominant belt, forest-cropland dominant belt, forest dominant belt, forest-cropland dominant belt, cropland-forest dominant belt, and cropland dominant belt)

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Fig. 4. Altitudinal distributions of different land cover types on the southern and northern slopes based on the three slope division methods: (a) sector method; (b) MM sample transect method; (c) MQ sample transect method; (d) MC sample transect method; and (e) ridgeline method

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Fig. 5. Distributions and compositions of different land cover types in different vertical zones on the northern and southern slopes based on different slope division methods: (a) southern slope, sector method; (b) northern slope, sector method; (c) southern slope, MM sample transect method; (d) northern slope, MM sample transect method; (e) southern slope, MC sample transect method; (f) northern slope, MC sample transect method; (g) southern slope, MQ sample transect method; (h) northern slope, MQ sample transect method; (i) southern slope, ridgeline method; and (j) northern slope, ridgeline method

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Fig. 6. Dominant altitudinal band structures of land cover types on the southern and northern slopes of the KRB based on different slope division methods: (a) sector method; (b) sample transect method with MQ, MC, and MM transects; and (c) ridgeline method. For the ridgeline method, both the southern and northern slopes contain unique distribution types in the two directions, which increase the uncertainty in the results. Therefore, the vertical zonation of land cover based on the ridgeline method is not discussed in this paper.Note: code representation in legend: 1-cropland, 2-forest, 3-shrubland, 4-grassland, 5-sparse vegetation, 6-bare land, 7-waterbody, 8-glacier/snow cover, 9-none

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Land cover type	Division method		Southern slope				Northern slope				Area ratio
Land cover type	Division method		Area (km²)		Percentage		Area (km²)		Percentage		Southern slope: northern slope
Cropland	Sector method		374.20		44.94		5.66		1.05		66.11︰1
	MM transect		304.75		27.24		23.35		2.08		13.05︰1
	MQ transect		240.29		19.52		8.21		0.87		29.27︰1
	MC transect		406.96		31.88		9.04		1.02		45.02︰1
	Ridgeline method*		7917.95		26.91		243.64		0.99		32.50︰1
Forest	Sector method		342.38		41.12		-		-		-
	MM transect		516.34		46.16		-		-		-
	MQ transect		559.99		45.50		-		-		-
	MC transect		406.80		31.87		-		-		-
	Ridgeline method		11177		37.99		262.54		1.08		42.60︰1
Shrubland	Sector method		13.62		1.64		-		-		-
	MM transect		38.65		3.45		10.41		0.93		3.71︰1
	MQ transect		34.85		2.83		-		-		-
	MC transect		36.13		2.83		-		-		-
	Ridgeline method		1433.42		4.87		660.56		2.69		2.17︰1
Grassland	Sector method		22.17		2.66		340.08		62.99		0.07︰1
	MM transect		41.97		3.75		553.23		49.38		0.08︰1
	MQ transect		43.26		3.51		522.06		55.10		0.08︰1
	MC transect		106.15		8.31		450.42		50.94		0.24︰1
	Ridgeline method		2041.39		6.94		11886.72		48.40		0.17︰1
Sparse vegetation	Sector method		10.16		1.22		69.57		12.89		0.15︰1
	MM transect		28.04		2.51		96.74		8.63		0.29︰1
	MQ transect		28.56		2.32		72.77		7.68		0.39︰1
	MC transect		66.06		5.17		35.49		4.01		1.86︰1
Land cover type		Division method		Southern slope				Northern slope				Area ratio
Land cover type		Division method		Area (km²)		Percentage		Area (km²)		Percentage		Southern slope: northern slope
		Ridgeline method		1016.77		3.46		1073.82		4.37		0.95︰1
Waterbody		Sector method		9.50		1.14		0.01		0.00		950︰1
		MM transect		9.67		0.86		6.90		0.62		1.40︰1
		MQ transect		7.90		0.64		1.43		0.15		5.52︰1
		MC transect		13.69		1.07		2.40		0.27		5.70︰1
		Ridgeline method		182.87		0.62		152.43		0.62		1.20︰1
Construction land		Sector method		0.32		0.04		1.17		0.22		0.27︰1
		MM transect		0.19		0.02		0.48		0.04		0.40︰1
		MQ transect		-		-		-		-		-
		MC transect		-		-		-		-		-
		Ridgeline method		13.68		0.05		0.79		0.00		17.30︰1
Bare land		Sector method		34.37		4.13		88.18		16.33		0.39︰1
		MM transect		87.34		7.81		277.88		24.80		0.31︰1
		MQ transect		176.45		14.34		192.32		20.30		0.92︰1
		MC transect		145.79		11.42		203.95		23.06		0.71︰1
		Ridgeline method		4010.33		13.63		7750.94		31.56		0.52︰1
Wetland		Sector method		3.18		0.38		14.93		2.77		0.21︰1
		MM transect		8.35		0.75		12.86		1.15		0.65︰1
		MQ transect		9.07		0.74		22.95		2.42		0.40︰1
		MC transect		11.91		0.93		81.77		9.25		0.15︰1
		Ridgeline method		279.49		0.95		787.95		3.21		0.36︰1
Glacier/snow cover**		Sector method		22.83		2.74		20.26		3.75		1.13︰1
		MM transect		83.27		7.44		138.51		12.36		0.60︰1
		MQ transect		130.48		10.60		127.74		13.48		1.02︰1
		MC transect		83.11		6.51		101.19		11.44		0.82︰1
		Ridgeline method		1355.58		4.61		1740.59		7.09		0.78︰1
Total		Sector method		832.73		100.00		539.87		100.00		1.54︰1
		MM transect		1118.57		100.00		1120.36		100.00		1.00︰1
		MQ transect		1230.85		100.00		947.48		100.00		1.30︰1
		MC transect		1276.59		100.00		884.27		100.00		1.44︰1
		Ridgeline method		29428.43		100.00		24559.97		100.00		1.20︰1

Table 1.

Areas and proportions of different land cover types on the northern and southern slopes

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Land cover type	Division method	Southern slope			Northern slope
Class I	-	Elevation range (m)	Core distribution zone (m)	Advantagezone (m)	Elevation range (m)	Core distribution zone (m)	Advantagezone (m)
Cropland	Sector method	100-4000	600-1700	100-1800	4000-4500	4100-4500	-
	MM transect	100-4000	1100-2200	1000-1700	4200-4600	4200-4500	-
	MQ transect	100-4000	700-1500	-	3900-4500	4300-4500	-
	MC transect	200-4000	500-1400	200-1400	4200-4500	4400-4500	-
	Ridgeline method	96-4300	700-1700	100-1500	2300-4500	4100-4500	-
Forest	Sector method	100-4000	500-2000	1800-3600	-	-	-
	MM transect	100-4000	1700-3100	100-10001700-3900	-	-	-
	MQ transect	100-4000	600-1900	100-3700	-	-	-
	MC transect	200-4000	700-2200	1400-3800	-	-	-
	Ridgeline method	100-4000	1100-2600	1500-3800	2100-4000	3200-4000	2300-3900
Shrubland	Sector method	1700-5100	3300-4200	3600-4000	-	-	-
	MM transect	1700-5000	3200-4200	3900-4100	-	-	-
	MQ transect	1600-5000	3700-4200	3700-4200	4300-5300	4500-5000	-
	MC transect	1600-5100	3500-4300	3800-4000	-	-	-
	Ridgeline method	300-4800	3400-4600	3800-4200	2400-4800	4200-4800	3900-4100
Grassland	Sector method	1600-5900	4100-5100	4000-5000	4000-5100	4500-5000	4000-5100
	MM transect	3000-5100	4600-5100		4200-5100	4400-4900	4200-5100
	MQ transect	1500-5100	4100-5000		3900-5100	4400-5000	4000-5100
	MC transect	2500-5100	4300-5000	4000-5000	4200-5100	4300-4700	4400-5000
	Ridgeline method	1400-5100	4400-5000	4400-5000	2500-5100	4400-5000	4100-5100
Sparse vegetation	Sector method	3000-5300	4400-5300	-	4600-5400	5000-5400	5100-5400
	MM transect	3000-5300	4500-5300	-	4700-5300	5000-5300	5100-5300
	MQ transect	3300-5300	4100-4800	-	4700-5300	5200-5300	5100-5300
	MC transect	3100-5300	4500-5200	-	4700-5300	5200-5300	5200-5300
	Ridgeline method	2100-5300	4600-5300	-	4000-5400	5000-5400	5100-5400
Waterbody	Sector method	100-25004200-5300	100-500	-	4200-45005000-5800	4200-4400	-
	MM transect	100-8001400-22004600-5400	4900-5400	-	4200-44005700-6100	4200-4300	-
	MQ transect	100-9003700-5300	100-500	-	4200-5300	4200-43004800-5000	-
	MC transect	200-18004200-5300	200-700	-	4200-44005500-5800	4300-4400	-
	Ridgeline method	96-29003700-5300	200-7004900-5300	-	2200-5300	4100-4600	-
Construction land	Sector method	1000-1700	1100-13001500-1600	-	4200-4400	4300-4400	-
	MM transect	-	-	-	-	-	-
	MQ transect	1500-1700	1500-1600	-	4200-4400	4300-4400	-
Land cover type	Division method	Southern slope			Northern slope
Class I		Elevation range (m)	Core distribution zone (m)	Advantagezone (m)	Elevation range (m)	Core distribution zone (m)	AdvantageZone (m)
	MC transect	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Ridgeline method	400-2400	1000-1600	-	4200-4400	4200-4400	-
Bare land	Sector method	>3000	4800-5900	5000-5700	> 4200	5100-5600	5400-6000
	MM transect	>3000	5000-5900	4100-5500	> 4200	5000-5900	5300-6100
	MQ transect	>3400	4300-5200	4200-5100	> 4300	5100-5700	5300-5900
	MC transect	>3100	5000-5500	5000-5900	> 4300	5000-5800	5000-52005300-6100
	Ridgeline method	>1100	4700-5700	4200-44005000-5700	>3000	5000-5700	5400-6000
Wetland	Sector method	< 2800	100-500	-	4000-5000	4200-4500	-
	MM transect	< 4900	100-1000	-	4200-5200	4200-4500	-
	MQ transect	100-4500	400-1100	-	3900-5300	4000-4400	3900-4000
	MC transect	< 5200	200-1400	-	< 5500	4300-4400	-
	Ridgeline method	< 5100	200-1400	-	3500-5300	4100-4400	-
Glacier/snow cover	Sector method	> 4400	5200-5900	> 5700	> 5100	6000-6600	>6000
	MM transect	> 4800	5100-5800	> 5500	> 5400	6000-6700	>6100
	MQ transect	> 4100	5000-6000	> 5100	> 4300	5200-6300	> 5900
	MC transect	> 4600	4700-5700	> 5900	> 5400	6000-6600	>6100
	Ridgeline method	> 4000	5100-5900	> 5700	>3800	5400-6300	>6000

Table 2.

Altitudinal distributions of different land cover types on the northern and southern slopes based on different slope division methods

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	Vertical climatic zone of MQ (Zheng et al., 1975）		Vertical soil zone of MQ (Gao et al., 1975）		Sector method of MQDominant belt of land cover(this paper)
	Elevation (m)	Vertical climatic zone	Elevation (m)	Vertical soil zone	Advantage zone (m)	Land cover type
Southernslope	1600-2500	Mountain subtropical zone	1600-2500	Mountain yellow-brownsoil	100-1800	Cropland
	2500-3100	Mountain warmtemperate zone	2400-3100	Mountain acid brown soil	1800-3600	Forest
	3100-3900	Mountain cold temperate zone	3100-4100	Mountain bleached podolic soil	3600-4000	Shrubland
	3900-4700	Subalpine cold zone	4100-4500	Subalpine shrub meadow soil
			4100-4500	Subalpine meadow soil	4000-5000	Grassland
			4500-4800	Alpine meadow soil
	4700-5500	Alpine cold zone	4800-5600	Alpine frozen soil	5000-5700	Bare land
	> 5500	Alpine ice-snow belt	> 5600	Ice and snow	> 5700	Glacier/snow cover
Northern slope	4000-5000	Plateau cold zone	4400-4700	Subalpine steppe soil	4000-5100	Grassland
	5000-6000	Alpine cold zone	4700-5200	Alpine meadow-steppe soil	5100-5400	Sparse vegetation
	5000-6000	Alpine cold zone	5200-5500	Alpine frozen soil	5400-6000	Bare land
	> 6000	Alpine ice-snow belt	> 5500	Ice and snow	> 6000	Glacier/snow cover

Table 3.

Comparison of the altitudinal distributions of land cover, climate, and soil on the southern and northern slopes of Mt. Qomolangma

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Vertical distributions of land cover types (this paper)			Vertical distributions of vegetation		(Zhang et al., 1973)
	Advantage zone (m)	Land cover types	Distribution range (m)	Vegetation types
	100-1800	Cropland	< 1000 (1200)	Monsoon forest zone
Southern slope	1000-25002500-3000 (3100)	Evergreen broadleaved forest beltMountain coniferous broadleaved (evergreen,deciduous) mixed-forest zone
	1000-25002500-3000 (3100)			1800-3600	Forest
	3000-3800 (4100)	Subalpine coniferous zone		1800-3600	Forest
	3600-4000	Shrubland	3800-(4100)-4500	Alpine brush
	4000-5000	Grassland	4500-5200	Alpine meadow.
		Sparse vegetation	4500-5200	Alpine meadow.
	5000-5700	Bare land	5200-5500 (5600)	Lichen gravel zone
	> 5700	Glacier/snow cover	> 5500 (5600)	Permanent snow-ice zone
	4000-5100	Grassland	3900-4400	Steppe zone
Northern slope	4000-5100	Grassland	4400-5000	Alpine steppe zone
	5100-5400	Sparse vegetation	5000-5700	Alpine meadows with sparse cushion vegetation zones
	5400-6000	Bare land	5000-5700	Alpine meadows with sparse cushion vegetation zones
	5400-6000	Bare land	5700-5800-(6200)	Lichen, gravel zone
	> 6000	Glacier/Snow cover	> 5800-6200	Frigid zone