ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Temporal and spatial changes of karst rocky desertificationin ecological reconstruction region of Southwest China

Qiyong Yang • Zhongcheng Jiang • Daoxian Yuan •

Zulu Ma • Yunqiu Xie

Received: 2 May 2013 / Accepted: 12 May 2014

� Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Abstract Karst rocky desertification (KRD), as a process

of soil degradation, is a limiting factor on enhancing the

life condition of people in Southwest China. Fortunately,

Chinese governments at different levels had taken it seri-

ously, and the ‘Green for Grain’ program was initiated to

treat and protect the fragile environment. In order to assess

the dynamic change of KRD and improve the treatment of

it in the future, Pingguo County, one of the ‘one hundred

typical counties for karst rocky desertification control in

China,’ was chosen as the study area. The results indicated

that the evolution process of KRD landforms in the county

might be divided into two phases: degradation phase

(1994–2001) and ecological reconstruction phase

(2001–2009). In the degradation phase, the area of non-

KRD landform decreased from 1,132.02 km2 in 1994 to

1,056.42 km2 in 2001. In this phase, the area of non-KRD

landform lost 5.51 % to KRD landforms, which mainly

transferred to slight KRD landform with an area of

35.55 km2 counting for 3.14 %. In another hand, the area

of non-KRD gained 27.85 km2, mainly from the slight

KRD landform. As a result the area of non-KRD was

reduced, meaning that the evolution of KRD became

serious. In this phrase, the dynamic change degree of the

slight KRD landform was the minimum, and the area of it

was the largest among the three KRD landforms.

Therefore, transition of slight KRD landform was the main

transition type in this phase. The area of slight KRD

landforms increased 38.77 km2 in the county, which

mostly took place in the middle and southwest karst

regions. In ecological reconstruction phase, the area of

non-KRD landform increased to 1,091.90 km2 in 2009. In

this phase, non-KRD landform gained an area of 22.82 km2

and lost an area of 26.73 km2, major of which from or to

the slight KRD landform. Therefore, the area of non-KRD

landform was increased, implying that the evolution of

KRD became alleviated. In this phase, transition of slight

KRD landform was also the dominant transition type. The

decreased area of slight KRD landform was the largest

among severe, moderate and slight KRD cases in the

southwest karst region, where the ecological reconstruction

projects were initiated. The efficient degrees of KRD

landforms in southwest karst region were the largest in the

four karst regions in this county. This study results may

provide a consultant for rocky desertification control and

ecological restoration in the future.

Keywords Ecological reconstruction � Karst rocky

desertification (KRD) � GIS � Dynamic change �Remote sensing

Introduction

Karst landform is a distinctive topography resulting from

the solution process of acidic water acting on carbonate

bedrocks (Yang et al. 2011a). The concept of karst rocky

desertification (KRD) was firstly proposed in the early

1980s (Williams 1993) and was then defined as a process

of land degradation involving serious soil erosion, exten-

sive exposure of bedrock, a drastic decrease in land

Q. Yang (&) � D. Yuan

School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University,

Chongqing 400715, China

e-mail: yangqiyong0739@163.com

Q. Yang � Z. Jiang (&) � D. Yuan � Z. Ma � Y. Xie

Key Laboratory of Karst Ecosystem and Treatment of Rocky

Desertification, Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of

Geological Sciences, Guilin 541004, China

e-mail: zhjiang@karst.ac.cn

123

Environ Earth Sci

DOI 10.1007/s12665-014-3348-9

productivity and the appearance of a desert-like landscape

(Li et al. 2009; Wang et al. 2004). Among the three largest

continuous karst regions in the world, Southwest China

boasts the largest area of exposed carbonate and the most

complete array of karst landscape types (Yuan 1993, 1997),

which has become one of the most serious areas of poverty

and environmental degradation in China (Zhang et al.

2010). The region is also overpopulated, and the social

economy is laggard (Zhang et al. 2011). Therefore, people

have to overexploit forest for cultivated land and firewood,

leading to serious land degradation in the form of KRD.

Fortunately, the central and local governments had taken it

seriously, and the ‘Green for Grain’ program was initiated

to protect the fragile environment. After the Chinese gov-

ernment had appointed ‘one hundred typical counties for

karst rocky desertification control,’ they appointed another

‘two hundred typical counties for karst rocky desertifica-

tion control’ in 2011 and a series of important projects have

been carried out.

Many studies on the KRD about the definition (Wang

et al. 2004), causes (Liu et al. 2008; Xiong et al. 2008),

ecological-environmental effects (Zhang et al. 2011) and

preventive strategies (Jiang et al. 2008) have been done. In

addition, some studies about the spatial variability (Huang

and Cai 2006) and temporal variability (Yang et al. 2011a)

of KRD have been conducted. However, study on spatio-

temporal variability of KRD is rare, especially in the area

of KRD control. In this study, a typical county for karst

rocky desertification control, Pingguo County in Guangxi

Zhuang Autonomous Region of Southwest China, was

selected as the study area. The objectives of the study were

(1) to reveal the spatial–temporal variability of KRD in the

area of KRD treatment, and (2) to better understand the

transformation among all types of KRD landforms and to

master the treatment effect of KRD.

Study area

Pingguo County is located in the southwest portion

of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of Southwest

China (106�3602.5600–106�36028.3600E, 23�53025.8800–23�53040.9400N). It covers approximately an area of

2,485 km2 and includes twelve towns (Fig. 1). It has a

subtropical monsoon humid climate with a mean annual

temperature of 13–14 �C, and an annual mean precipitation

is 1,331 mm for the period from 1958 to 2006. The pre-

cipitation is abundant but seasonally uneven, over 86 % of

which falls during the rainy season (April–October). The

topography is characterized by typical karst peak-cluster

depression landscape (a combination of clustered peaks

with a common base) with the altitude ranging from 110 to

935 m above sea level. The bedrock includes limestone,

dolomite and impure carbonate rock. Karst soil is generally

thin and has an uneven distribution due to a slow soil

formation speed and large spatial variation across the ter-

rain (Li et al. 2003; Wang et al. 2008). Generally, soil

depth is about 20–40 cm on peak-cluster and 100 cm in

depression (Zhang et al. 2006).

With regards to population, this region was reported to

support 496,000 inhabitants in 2009, 82.71 % of which is

agricultural population. The capita farmland area is

0.041 ha, a figure much lower than that of the Chinese

national average of 0.117 ha. Per capita annual net income

of rural households was about 3,451 Yuan in 2009. The

study area is short of surface water resources, cultivated

land and firewood. It is considered to be one of the most

impoverished karst agricultural regions in the world and

was identified as one of the key districts targeted by the

Chinese central government for eliminating poverty in

‘China’s Agenda in twenty-first Century’.

Karst landform is widely spread in this county,

accounting for 62.28 % of the total area, which can be

divided into four karst regions: northeast, middle, east and

southwest karst regions (Fig. 1). The ecological construc-

tion projects were firstly implemented in Guohua Town in

the southwest karst region, then throughout the county. In

2001, The Guohua Ecological Experimental Area was

founded in southwest karst region in Pingguo County. In

the past, the vegetation coverage of southwest karst region

was only 10 % (Jiang et al. 2008), and the area of KRD

landforms accounted 45.22 % (severe, moderate and slight

KRD landforms accounted 2.14, 8.17 and 34.91 %,

respectively). After a series of important ecological

Fig. 1 The location of Pingguo County

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123

construction projects, such as artificial induction of affor-

estation, karst water exploitation and storage, cultivating

ecological industry, karst soil improvement and grass

breeding, had been carried out, the vegetation coverage of

southwest karst region increased from 50 to 70 % in 2005

(Jiang et al. 2008). Today, the knowledge of protecting

karst environment was trained and propagandized widely

in the local people, and the ecological construction projects

have gradually popularized throughout the county.

Materials and methods

Data source and procession

Remote sensing data of November 5, 1994, November 16,

2001 and January 30, 2009 (synthesized satellite TM 5, 4, 3

images), geological map and digital elevation model

(DEM) with the spatial resolution of 30 m of Pingguo

County were adopted in the present case study. Geographic

information systems (GIS), remote sensing and statistical

techniques were utilized to examine the evolution. The

extraction of KRD was realized on the Environment for

Visualizing Images (ENVI4.6) by compiling programs

with Interactive Data Language (IDL). Spatial analyses of

transition matrix and thematic map were completed on GIS

environment (Arcmap9.2).

Karst rocky desertification (KRD)

KRD distribution was obtained by interpreting Landsat

Images from 1994, 2001 and 2009 in Pingguo County,

according to bedrock exposure rate and slope (Table 1).

The steps used to classify KRD landforms follow (Yang

et al. 2013): (a) extract slope data from DEM; (b) calculate

rock desertification index with desertification index model

(Fraster et al. 1992; Tong 2003; Yang et al. 2012) and

calculate bedrock exposure rate (Price 1993; Zhou et al.

2008; Yang et al. 2012); (c) interpret KRD.

With the data of slope and bedrock exposure rate, the

decision tree of remote sensing interpretation of KRD was

established according to classification standard, and the

areas of KRD landforms were classified into three types:

slight, moderate and severe KRD landforms (Fig. 2).

Transition matrix of KRD landform in different phrases

The most pragmatic way to analyze karst landform change

is to do the following (Robert et al. 2004): (a) obtain maps

from time 1 and time 2; (b) examine the changes with a

transition matrix to identify the most important transitions;

and (c) research the processes that generate the transitions.

The traditional transition matrix was calculated as:

B ¼

B11

B21

� � �B41

B12

B22

� � �B42

� � �� � �� � �� � �

B1n

B2n

� � �Bnn

26664

37775 ð1Þ

Table 1 Classification standard of KRD

KRD types Bedrock exposure rate (%) Slope (�)

Slight KRD 30–50 12–25

Moderate KRD 51–70 26–35

Severe KRD [70 [35

Fig. 2 Maps of KRD landforms for three temporal phases in Pingguo County, China

Environ Earth Sci

123

wherein the rows display the area percentage of KRD

types of time 1 and the columns display the types of time

2. The notation Bij denotes the area percentage of the

landscape that experiences a transition from type i to type

j where the number of types is J. Entries on the diagonal

indicate persistence; thus, Bij denotes the area percentage

of the landscape that shows persistence of type j. Entries

off the diagonal indicate a transition from type i to a dif-

ferent type j.

Dynamic change degree of KRD

In order to reflect the changes of KRD spanning 15 years

and to assess the effect of KRD control, analysis of

dynamic degree and efficient degree was used in this study.

Dynamic degree of KRD mainly reflects the changes of

KRD landforms in a certain period of time in the study

area. Efficient degree is used to assess the effect of KRD

control after the ecological reconstruction projects had

been carried out in the county. They could be described as

follows (Li et al. 2008; Yang et al. 2011b):

Ki ¼Ub � Ua

Ua

� 1

T� 100 % ð2Þ

Ei ¼Ub � Ua

U� 100 % ð3Þ

where Ki is singer dynamic change degree of KRD; Ua and Ub

are the areas of time 1 and time 2 of KRD; T is the time span

from Ua and Ub; Ei is efficient degree of the control effect of

KRD; U is the area of the corresponding karst region.

Results

For purpose of understanding the spatiotemporal variability

of KRD in Pingguo County, it is necessary to first generally

describe KRD evolution from 1994 to 2009. Through

examining the evolution and transition process of KRD

landforms that took place in the year of 1994 and 2009, it

was found that the areas of KRD landforms reached a peak

in 2001 and then gradually decreased in the county

(Table 2). This trend was closely related to the policies

applied in karst areas of China. So, the evolution process of

KRD in the county was divided into two phases: degra-

dation phase (1994–2001) and ecological reconstruction

phase (2001–2009). And the slight KRD landform was the

major degradation type in the study area, not only because

of its largest area among the KRD landforms but of its

transition taking place (Tables 2, 4). Therefore, the fol-

lowing analysis was on the base of the two phases, and

analysis of slight KRD landform was used to illustrate

variability in the general KRD.

Quantity variability of KRD landforms

Generally, the area of KRD landform in karst areas of

Pingguo County tended to increase in the time period

spanning 15 years (1994–2009). However, the evolution of

KRD landforms was different in the two phases. In deg-

radation phase (1994–2001), the area of KRD increased

and the percentage of it increased from 26.86 to 31.74 %,

and the area of slight, moderate and severe KRD cases

increased from 279.40, 100.64 and 35.68 km2 to 318.17,

122.33 and 50.81 km2, respectively. In ecological recon-

struction phase (2001–2009), ecological reconstruction

measures have played an increasingly important role in the

study area. Percentage of area of KRD landform decreased

to 29.45 %, and the area of slight, moderate and severe

KRD landforms decreased to 304.94 km2, 110.12 and

40.77 km2, respectively (Fig. 2; Table 2).

Spatial characteristics of KRD landforms

KRD landforms in the 3 years had the same spatial dis-

tribution in the Pingguo County (Fig. 2). The areas of each

KRD landforms in the four karst regions were summarized

in Table 2. Severe KRD landforms mainly distributed in

middle and northeast karst regions, while moderate and

slight KRD cases distributed in middle and southwest

regions. In the four karst regions, the slight KRD landform

was the major degradation type, the areas of which were

larger than the sum of the other two KRD cases in the time

period spanning 15 years.

However, significant changes in spatial site and area for

various types of KRD landforms were obvious in the two

Table 2 Statistics of the KRD areas and the area percentage for

different KRD types in Pingguo County (km2)

Year Karst regions Severe Moderate Slight Non-KRD

1994 East 0.11 0.67 3.14 34.03

Middle 16.25 51.39 125.14 135.17

Northwest 12.76 23.57 48.17 591.15

Southwest 6.56 25.01 102.94 371.45

Pingguo County 35.68 100.64 279.40 1,132.02

2001 East 0.13 0.72 4.12 32.98

Middle 22.53 63.59 144.19 97.65

Northwest 18.14 31.22 55.39 570.91

Southwest 10.02 26.80 114.47 354.67

Pingguo County 50.81 122.33 318.17 1,056.42

2009 East 0.09 0.57 3.97 33.32

Middle 20.35 61.07 143.29 103.24

Northwest 16.95 26.42 54.59 577.70

Southwest 3.38 22.06 103.08 377.44

Pingguo County 40.77 110.12 304.94 1,091.90

Environ Earth Sci

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phases. Table 3 summarized the areas changed of KRD

landforms in the four karst regions. In the degradation

phase, the areas of each KRD landforms increased in the

four karst regions. Except for the northeast region, the

increased areas of slight KRD landforms were larger than

those of severe and moderate KRD cases in the other three

karst regions. The area of slight KRD landforms increased

38.77 km2 in the county, which mostly occured in the

middle and southwest karst regions. In the ecological

reconstruction phase, the areas of the three KRD landforms

decreased 35.48 km2 in the four karst regions. The

decreased area of slight KRD landform was larger than that

of severe and moderate KRD cases and mainly took place

in southwest karst region. The decreased areas of the other

two KRD cases took place mostly in the middle and

southwest karst regions.

Types transition of KRD landforms

The transition of various types of KRD landforms for the

two phrases in Pingguo County is described as Table 4.

In the degradation phase, the area of non-KRD landform

in Pingguo County lost 62.37 km2 accounting 5.51 % of

non-KRD landform, which mainly transferred to slight and

moderate KRD landforms. The areas transferred to slight

and moderate karst KRD landforms accounted for 3.14 and

1.56 %, respectively. Meanwhile, the area of non-KRD

landform gained 27.85 km2, which mainly from slight and

moderate KRD landforms, counting for 1.58 and 0.68 %. So

the area of non-KRD landform was reduced, meaning that

the evolution of KRD landform became more serious. This

reason was that the gain areas of slight, moderate and severe

KRD landforms are larger than the loss areas. For example,

the area of slight KRD landform lost 2.24 %, while the area

of the case gained 2.35 %. In this phase, the loss and gain

percentage of slight KRD landform was the most obvious

among severe, moderate and slight KRD landforms.

In the ecological reconstruction phase, the area of non-

KRD landform in this county lost 26.73 km2 areas accounting

for the percentage of non-KRD landform 2.53 %, which

mainly transferred to slight and moderate KRD landforms.

The areas transferred to slight and moderate karst KRD

landforms accounted for 1.63 and 0.67 %, respectively. At the

same time, the area of non-KRD landform gained 41.73 km2

accounting for 3.95 %, which mainly gained from slight and

moderate KRD landforms, counting for 2.16 and 1.16 %,

respectively. Therefore, the area of non-KRD was increased,

indicating that the evolution of KRD landform became alle-

viated. This can also be seen from the transition of slight,

moderate and severe KRD landforms. In this phase, the loss

and gain percentage of slight KRD landform was also the

largest one among the three KRD landforms, and the loss of it

was greater than its gain by 0.52 %.

Dynamic degree of KRD landforms

Dynamic degrees of KRD landforms were calculated dur-

ing the two phases according to formula (2). As shown in

Table 5, in the degradation phase, except for non-KRD

landform, dynamic degrees of the three KRD landforms

were positive, which meant that the areas of all KRD

landforms increased in the phase. Though the dynamic

degree of slight KRD landform was the smallest with an

average annual 1.98 % rate, the increased area of it was the

largest one. While in the ecological reconstruction phase,

dynamic degrees of the three KRD landforms were nega-

tive, meaning that the area of KRD landforms decreased.

The dynamic degree of severe KRD landform was the

greatest, attaining -2.82 %; however, the decreased area

of it was the smallest one, because of too small initial area.

In the two phases, dynamic degree of slight KRD landform

was the smallest, but its area of transition was the largest.

Table 6 provides descriptive statistics related to the effi-

cient degree for the four karst regions. In the ecological

reconstruction phase, the decreased areas of each KRD

landforms in southwest karst region were not always the

largest one among the four karst regions (Table 3), but the

efficient degrees in this region were the largest. Both the

decreased area and efficient degree of the slight KRD land-

forms were the largest in the four karst regions. The results

indicate that karst rocky desertification is manageable and

the slight KRD landform was relatively easy to control.

Discussions

Pingguo County, a poor and undeveloped county of

Southwest China, is a typical peak-cluster depression area.

Table 3 Spatial changes of KRD in the degradation phase and eco-

logical reconstruction phase (km2)

Phases Karst

regions

Severe Moderate Slight Non-

KRD

1994–2001 East 0.02 0.05 0.98 -1.05

Middle 6.28 12.20 19.05 -37.52

Northwest 5.37 7.65 7.22 -20.24

Southwest 3.46 1.79 11.53 -16.78

Pingguo

County

15.13 21.69 38.77 -75.61

2001–2009 East -0.04 -0.15 -0.15 0.34

Middle -2.18 -2.52 -0.90 5.60

Northwest -1.19 -4.81 -0.79 6.79

Southwest -6.64 -4.74 -11.39 22.76

Pingguo

County

-10.04 -12.21 -13.23 35.48

Environ Earth Sci

123

In degradation phase (1994–2001), the areas of KRD

landforms increased and the percentage of it increased

from 26.86 to 31.74 %, and 5.51 % percentages of non-

KRD landform became into slight, moderate and severe

KRD cases. Because in a condition of poor and undevel-

oped, it required for the people to accelerate forest cutting

and firewood collecting to obtain more cultivated lands and

firewood. And after repeated felling, continuous reclama-

tion and herding, the soil gradually erodes and rock

exposes, and non-KRD transferred to KRD landforms. The

transformation from non-KRD to slight case was the largest

one, though the dynamic change degree of it was the

smallest one among severe, moderate and slight KRD

landforms. Destruction activities of people played an

important role on the evolution of desertification, which

was the main driving factor of KRD.

In ecological reconstruction phase (2001–2009), the

cycle of ‘poverty-destruction-KRD-more poverty’ attracted

high attention of the central and local governments, and the

‘Green for Grain’ program was initiated to protect the

fragile environment. This county has been appointed as one

of the ‘one hundred typical counties for karst rocky

desertification control in China,’ and many ecological

reconstruction measures have been carried out firstly in

southwest karst region. The Guohua Ecological Experi-

mental Area was founded in 2001 in southwest karst region

of Pingguo County, and a series of important projects have

been carried out since 2000, such as ‘Technology Devel-

opment and Demonstration of Karst Ecological Recon-

struction in China’s Tropical and Subtropical Karst Areas,’

‘Demonstration of Ecological Reconstruction of Karst

Peak-cluster depression’ and ‘National ‘Eleventh Five-

Year’ Plan Technology Support Program issues—fragile

ecosystems reconstruction of Karst mountain peak-cluster

areas’ (Jiang et al. 2009). A composite three-dimensional

eco-agricultural model for karst peak-cluster depression

was established in Guohua. The farmers’ income increased

by more than 20 %, and they need not to overexploit forest

for cultivated land and firewood. Therefore, the areas of

KRD landforms became reduced, and the area of slight,

moderate and severe KRD landform decreased to 2.63,

7.12 and 19.70 %, respectively. Therefore, measures of

ecological restoration are effective and obvious, and karst

rocky desertification is manageable.

Conclusions

1. The development of KRD over the 15-year span as a

whole underwent an evolution from fast to slow.

Table 4 Transition matrix of

KRD type comparing two maps

from different points in time in

Pingguo County (%)

Year Non-KRD Severe Moderate Slight Total Loss

1994–2001

Non-KRD 77.75 0.81 1.56 3.14 83.26 5.51

Severe 0.2 0.69 0.43 0.12 1.44 0.75

Moderate 0.68 0.25 2.58 0.54 4.05 1.47

Slight 1.58 0.3 0.36 9.01 11.25 2.24

Total 80.21 2.05 4.93 12.81 100 9.97

Gain 2.46 1.36 2.35 3.80 9.97

2001–2009

Non-KRD 77.69 0.23 0.67 1.63 80.22 2.53

Severe 0.63 1.06 0.25 0.11 2.05 0.99

Moderate 1.16 0.17 3.31 0.29 4.93 1.62

Slight 2.16 0.18 0.21 10.25 12.8 2.55

Total 81.64 1.64 4.44 12.28 100 7.69

Gain 3.95 0.58 1.13 2.03 7.69

Table 5 Dynamic change degree of KRD in Pingguo County (%)

Year Severe Moderate Slight Non-KRD

1994–2001 6.06 3.08 1.98 -0.95

2001–2009 -2.82 -1.43 -0.59 0.48

Table 6 Efficient degree of control KRD in the ecological reconstruction

phase (%)

Karst regions Severe Moderate Slight Non-KRD

East -0.10 -0.39 -0.40 0.88

Middle -0.66 -0.77 -0.27 1.71

Northwest -0.18 -0.71 -0.12 1.00

Southwest -1.31 -0.94 -2.25 4.50

Pingguo County -0.65 -0.79 -0.86 2.29

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123

Severe KRD landform mainly distributed in middle

and northeast karst regions, while moderate and slight

KRD cases distributed in middle and southwest

regions. The evolution process of KRD in the county

might be divided into degradation phase and ecological

reconstruction phase. The slight KRD landform was

the main transition type with maximum area of gained

and lost in the two phases.

2. In the degradation phase, the process of KRD in Pingguo

County was faster than for the recovery process and the

situation of KRD had become worse. The area of KRD

landform increased by 75.59 km2 with an average annual

2.27 % rates. The area of slight KRD landforms

increased 38.77 km2 in the county, which mostly occu-

red in the middle and southwest karst regions.

3. In ecological reconstruction phase, the process of KRD

in the study area was slower than for the recovery

process and the situation of KRD had become better.

The area of KRD landform decreased by 35.48 km2

with an average annual 0.90 % rates. The decreased

area of slight KRD landform was larger than that of

severe and moderate KRD cases and mainly took place

in southwest karst region.

Acknowledgments This research was jointly sponsored by the

Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (Grant No.

2012GXNSFAA053186), and the Institute of Karst Geology, CAGS

(Grant No. 2012015), the Ministry of Water resources of China (Grant

No. 2005SBKK05), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China

(Grant No. 2010BAE00739), the Remote Sensing Survey and Ground

Monitoring on Karst Rocky Desertification in Southwest China (No.

1212011220958), and the Dynamic Assess and Survey on Under-

ground Stream in Representative Karst Area (NO. 1212011220959).

The authors sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors

for their constructive comments and suggestions on how to improve

the manuscript.

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