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Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Arid Environments

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaridenv

Changes in vegetation and landscape patterns with altered river water-flow

in arid West China
W. Kong a, d, O.J. Sun b, *, W. Xu a, Y. Chen c
a
State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
b
Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of Education, College of Forest Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
c
Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
d
Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Landsat TM images of Tarim Basin in western China for 1986, 1999 and 2004 were analyzed for quan-
Received 12 September 2007 tifying the patterns of landscape change relating to changes in water supply. Results showed that
Received in revised form vegetation area and NDVI mostly decreased from 1986 to 1999, and increased from 1999 to 2004, while
2 October 2008
changes in desert area displayed an inverse pattern. Saline alkali soil showed a tendency of increase from
Accepted 3 October 2008
Available online 18 November 2008
1999 to 2004. Spatially, percentage of vegetation area decreased and percentage of desert area increased
with distance from the river in the upper section, while such patterns were not observed for both the
middle and the lower sections. Landscape displayed a pattern of fragmentation from 1986 to 1999 and
Keywords:
Arid regions integration from 1999 to 2004. Shape of vegetation patches tended to become more regular from 1986 to
Groundwater 1999 and more irregular from 1999 to 2004. Our results indicated hydrological control of spatio-temporal
Hydrology variations of vegetation and landscape pattern in arid regions. Water diversion can be effective for raising
Landscape pattern the local groundwater level and improving plant growth, but its effect is largely restricted to areas
TM imagery analysis adjacent to the water pathway.
Tarim River Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction vegetation on groundwater and consequence of declining

In arid environment, water is the most limiting factor to plant
growth, and the spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation are
therefore largely determined by water availability (Li et al., 2001;
Elmore et al., 2006). Understanding the relationship between water
supply and spatio-temporal variations of vegetation and landscape
pattern is critically important to developing and implementing
strategies for biodiversity conservation and maintenance of
ecosystem structure and function in arid regions (Wu and Hobbs,
2002a).
The amount and frequency of rainfall are highly variable and
scarce in arid regions, and the direct effects of precipitation on
vegetation growth can be very weak (Chen et al., 2004c; Elmore
et al., 2006). Therefore, groundwater plays a predominant role in
supporting plant communities. In recent years, intensified
anthropogenic activities have accelerated the depletion of
groundwater worldwide, resulting in rapid decline of vegetation
cover and changes in plant community structures (Stromberg et al.,
1996; Muñoz-Reinoso, 2001; Naumburg et al., 2005; Elmore et al.,
2006). Several recent studies have shown the dependence of
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sunjianx@bjfu.edu.cn (O.J. Sun).
groundwater level to vegetation cover and ecosystem functioning
in arid and semiarid regions. For example, using 16-year record of
plant cover derived from satellite data, Elmore et al. (2006) showed
that the plant community in the Owens Valley of California, USA,
was groundwater dependent and groundwater extraction
adversely affected the plant cover. In the Doñana National Park of
Spain, Muñoz-Reinoso (2001) found that declining groundwater
level resulted in changes of vegetation to more xerophytic
communities over a 30-year period. Changes in riparian vegetation
of semiarid regions due to declining groundwater level have also
been reported (Stromberg et al., 1996). The above-mentioned
studies have helped with gaining the recognition of the impact of
declining groundwater to vegetation succession and cover change
in arid and semiarid regions. However, little is known on whether
the process could be reversed by a recovery in groundwater level.
What could be effective mechanisms in restoring groundwater
level in arid regions? There appears a need for continued efforts in
elucidating the relationship between groundwater level and
vegetation in regions of water limitation.
In an attempt to conserving declining plant resources and
stabilize the socio-economic development of the arid region, the
Chinese government has in recent years implemented several key
initiatives targeted at environmental protection. One of the initia-
tives is concerned with restoring vegetation in areas of high

0140-1963/$ – see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2008.10.003
 Author's personal copy
W. Kong et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313
ecological significance through emergency water diversion, such as
that in Tarim Basin western China, where annual precipitation is
often less than 50 mm (Chen et al., 2004c). Because of the scarce
rainfall, plant growth in the Tarim Basin is predominantly
controlled by groundwater supplies (Chen et al., 2004b,c, 2006;
Zhuang and Chen, 2006), and much of the local vegetation are
distributed along the Tarim River or places where water supplies
are readily available through snowmelts or seasonal flooding. Since
1950s, ecological processes along the Tarim River changed drasti-
cally under intensified human activities related to water exploita-
tion for socio-economic development of the region (Chen et al.,
2003a). Interruptions of water supplies to the lower reaches of the
Tarim River due to construction of a dam in 1972 at the upper
section, the Daxihaizi, greatly affected the vegetation along the
river drainage area, which has been known as a ‘‘Green Corridor’’
separating the Takelamakan and Kuluktag deserts (Chen et al.,
2003a). For the purpose of conserving and restoring the local
ecosystems, an emergency water diversion project was imple-
mented for transferring water from the Lake Bosten to the Daxihaizi
Reservoir, and then to the downstream section of the Tarim River,
beginning in 2000. In total, 1.8 billion m3 of water was delivered to
the downstream river system of the Daxihaizi Reservoir on six
separate occasions until 2004 (Xu et al., 2007), resulting in effec-
tively raised groundwater level and apparently improved vegeta-
tion growth in the river drainage area (Chen et al., 2003b, 2004c).
Field survey along the lower reaches of the Tarim River
following water diversion indicates a strong influence of ground-
water on plant community structure and species diversity (Chen
et al., 2004c, 2006). However, the effect of hydrology at larger
spatial scale is not easily obtainable through field investigation.
Remote sensing imagery analysis can assist with studying vegeta-
tion and landscape patterns at larger spatio-temporal scales
(Palmer and Van Rooyen, 1998; Wolter and White, 2002; Wu et al.,
2002b; Zha et al., 2003; Elliott et al., 2004). There are now many
satellite remote sensing-derived vegetation indices available for
characterizing vegetation cover, e.g. the normalized difference
vegetation index (NDVI), the perpendicular vegetation index (PVI),
the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and the soil adjusted vege-
tation index (SAVI) (Gilabert et al., 2002). Among those indices,
NDVI has been the most frequently used for studying changes in
vegetation cover in response to anthropogenic and environmental
perturbations (e.g. Palmer and Van Rooyen, 1998; Weiss et al.,
2004; Anyamba and Tucker, 2005). For coarser spatial resolution
(>250 m), NOAA-AVHRR and MODIS offer direct NDVI data sources.
For NDVI at finer resolution, Landsat TM or ETM imagery appears to
be widely used products (Zha et al., 2003).
In this study, we quantified changes in vegetation cover and
other major landscape features in the lower reaches of the Tarim
River from 1986 to 1999 (i.e. during the period of declining water
supply) and from 1999 to 2004 (i.e. during the period of increasing
water supply) using Landsat TM imagery analysis. The primary
objectives of our study were to: (a) examine how and in what ways
regional vegetation and landscape responded to the two contrast-
ing periods of changes in water supply to the lower reaches of the
Tarim River drainage area; and (b) assess at a relatively larger
spatial scale, the effectiveness of the emergency water diversion
project in restoring the local ecosystem and its management
implications.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
The study area extends from the Daxihaizi Reservoir down-
stream to the end of Tarim River (39 340 –40 400 N, 87 210 –88 270 E)
in central Xinjiang Autonomous Region, western China. This area is
307
surrounded by Takelamakan Desert in the south and Kuluktag
Desert in the north and is among the most arid areas in China (Chen
et al., 2006). Annual rainfall ranges from 17.4 to 42.0 mm (Chen
et al., 2004c).
Vegetation is mainly composed of halophytic plants in fami-
lies of Salicaceae, Tamaricaceae, Leguminosae, Apocynaceae and
Gramineae (Zhang and Chen, 2004). Tree species is predomi-
nately Populus euphrarica, which forms the most important
vegetation type along the Tarim River, pure or in mixture with
Tamarix spp. Shrub species include Nitraria sibirica, Tamarix
ramosissima, Tamarix hispida, Tamarix spp. and Halimodendron
halodendron. Phragmites communis dominates the herbage
species and co-occurs with other herbaceous plants including
Glycyrrhiza inflata and Alhagi sparsifolia, which collectively form
the halophytic meadow distributing extensively in this area
(Song, 1999). Desert covers the largest area in the lower Tarim
River, with euphrate poplar forests, Tamarix bush, halophytic
meadow, desert, saline alkali soil and water body being other
dominant land cover types.
A dam was built at Daxihaizi in 1972 for creating a reservoir,
consequently causing interruptions of water-flow to the down-
stream river system. In 2000, an emergency water diversion
project was implemented for transferring water from the Dax-
ihaizi Reservoir to the lower reaches. The initial water diversion
was made through the Qiwenkuor River channel. In 2003,
a second river path, known as the old Tarim River was opened for
transferring part of the water in a ‘‘double-bridge’’ water trans-
ferring scheme for expanding the spatial coverage of the target
areas (Xu et al., 2007). Until 2004, water diversions were made
on six separate occasions, delivering a total of 1.8 billion m3
water to the downstream river system (Xu et al., 2007), and
raised groundwater level along the river drainage area (Chen
et al., 2003b, 2004c).
For convenience of data analysis and assessment of spatial
features of vegetation change during the study periods, we arbi-
trarily divided the whole study area into the upper, middle and
lower sections longitudinally along the river channel. The upper
section is from the Daxihaizi Reservoir to Kardayi where the first
water diversion reached; the middle section is from Kardayi to
Alagan where the old Tarim River and the Qiwenkuor River meet;
and the lower section extends from Alagan to the terminal lake of
Tarim River (see Chen et al., 2006). Each side of the Qiwenkuor
River is further divided into different zones based on distance from
the river channel: zone 0, 0–1 km; zone 1, 1–2 km; zone 2, 2–5 km;
and zone 3, 5–10 km (labeled as E and W, indicating the east and
west of the river channel).
2.2. Remote sensing products and buffer zone making
Landsat 5 TM images of 1986, 1999 and 2004 were used in this
study. All images were multi-spectral data with all bands 1–7 at
28.5 m spatial resolution, and acquired between end of July and
mid-September (i.e. the period of peak growth of plants in the
region). Those images were provided by the China Remote Sensing
Satellite Ground Station (RSGS). Geometric corrections of the
images were made against a geometrically corrected TM image of
2001 for the same area from the Maryland University (http://glcf.
umiacs.umd.edu/data), which was corrected with ground control
points in polynomial transformation method with correction
precision to one pixel. All images were projected in Albers equal
area conic projection. An ERDAS 8.4 image processing system was
used for all image data processing. Images were selected with
regard to the availability and quality of satellite data, seasonal
patterns of vegetation, and occurrence of maximum NDVI to
ascertain a fair comparison of images obtained at different times.
 Author's personal copy
308 W. Kong et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313
Frequent sandstorms have been a major constraint for selecting
images with close matching of the sampling dates.
We drew the Qiwenkuor River way using vector function in
ERDAS 8.4 based on the image of 2004. Buffers for the subdivided
zones relative to the river channel were produced with the buffer
making function in ArcGIS 8.3 and ERDAS 8.4.
2.3. Computation of NDVI
NDVI is defined by the spectral reflectance in the band 3 (red
band, 0.63–0.69 mm) and the band 4 (near IR band, 0.76–0.90 mm)
as:
NDVI ¼ ðnear IR band  red bandÞ=ðnear IR band þ red bandÞ
The original TM images record the radiance value reflected by
ground objects as DN (digital number) value, which is affected
by sensor and the atmosphere (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2000).
Therefore radiometric calibration and atmospheric correction are
both necessary in NDVI calculation (Zha et al., 2003; Tachiiri,
2005). In this study, the atmospheric correction of NDVI imagery
2 " !#
Pm Pm Pm
i¼1 k¼1 ðPi Þ gik = k¼1 gik
6 7
6 7
CONTAG ¼ 61 þ
4 2lnðmÞ
was attempted without causing apparent impact, and the
radiometric calibration alone was proven effective in detecting
the effect of altered water-flow on NDVI. The pixel-based NDVI
was calculated and used for computation of mean NDVI for each
of the subdivided zones.
2.4. Image classification and calculation of landscape indices
Based on knowledge of cover types, we constructed training
data sets. The study area was classified into six land cover
types, i.e. desert, saline alkali soil, euphrate poplar forest,
Tamarix bush, halophytic meadow, and river way, using
supervised classification (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2000). In the
classification training we used the 5–4–3 false color composite
of the TM images which matches most closely with the nature
color of the ground objects. To ensure high classification
accuracy, contingency matrixes were used to evaluate the
signature, and only signatures with contingency matrix value
greater than 90% were used for classification. All images were
classified using the maximum likelihood and supervised
classification method (Tobler et al., 2003). Accuracy assessment
of classification was made with the 2005 field survey data on
41 geo-referenced vegetation plots and information for 40
points from the Google Earth based on 2004 imagery of 1.0 m
or 0.61 m resolution. The field survey plots were within 1 km2
of the river channel along nine transects perpendicular to the
river. More detailed information on those field plots is given in
Chen et al. (2006).
Using software FRAGSTATS 3.3 (McGarigal et al., 2002, http://www.
umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/fragstats.html), we calculated
landscape indices (Wu, 2000) for all zones in 1986, 1999, and 2004.
The indices were calculated from thematic categorical map, and
included class area (CA), patch density (PD), shape index (mean value of
shape index of patches was used in this study) and contagion index
(CONTAG).
The CA was calculated as:
 
n
X
1
CA ¼ aij
10; 000
j¼1
where aij is the area (m2) of the patch ij.
The PD was calculated as:
N
PD ¼ ð10; 000Þ  ð100Þ
A
where N is the total number of patches in the landscape, and A is
the total landscape area (m2).
The shape index was calculated as:
Pij
SHAPE ¼
min pij
where Pij is the perimeter of the patch ij in terms of number of cell
surfaces and min Pij is the minimum perimeter of the patch ij in
terms of number of cell surfaces.
The contagion index was calculated as:
" !#3
Pm
 lnðPi Þ gik = k¼1 gik
7  100
5
where Pi is proportion of the landscape occupied by the patch type
I, and gik the number of adjacencies between pixels of the patch
types i and k based on double-count method, and m the number of
patch types present in the landscape.
In an attempt to separate effects of groundwater change and
changes in climate, we analyzed the inter-annual variations of
temperature and precipitation for the study period by using
meteorological data from the Tikanlik Meteorological Station
(40 380 N, 87420 E) near our study area.
3. Results
3.1. Classification map
Classification maps of 1986, 1999 and 2004 show that desert is
the main cover type across all subdivided sections in the study area.
Vegetation occurs mainly along the river in clump formation. In the
upper section, euphrate poplar forest is the major vegetation type
close to the river, and the Tamarix bush occurs in zones further
away, with the halophytic meadow distributed in random pattern.
Halophytic meadow predominates along the old Tarim River in the
middle section; whilst in the lower section, Tamarix bush
predominates along the river, and vegetation is almost not
detectable in regions beyond 2 km of the river way. Water body
appears only on the 2004 imagery in the river channel. Saline alkali
soils (SAS) are mostly observable in the upper and lower sections.
3.2. Land cover type
Different land cover types showed different patterns of change
in area between the two study periods and among the subdivided
sections and zones (Table 1 and Fig. 1). Total vegetation area, which
is defined as the area with apparent presence of vegetation from
the TM imagery analysis, decreased from 1986 to 1999 by 30%
(Table 1), with the change occurring predominantly in the zone 0,
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W. Kong et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313 309

Table 1 3.3. NDVI

Total area (104 ha) of different land cover types for the study area in the lower
reaches of Tarim River in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, West China.
1986 1999 Rate of change 2004
from 1986 to 1999
Desert 36.27 38.01 4.8% 34.87
Saline alkali soil 2.52 3.14 24.6% 3.05
Vegetation 7.86 5.49 30% 8.10
Water body 0 0 – 0.62
E2, and E3 of the upper section, and the zone 0 of the lower section
(Fig. 2). From 1999 to 2004, the total vegetation area increased by
48% (Table 1), with the most noticeable changes occurring in zone
0 for the upper section, zones 0 and W3 for the middle section, and
zone 0 for the lower section (Fig. 2).
The desert area increased by 4.8% from 1986 to 1999 at an average
rate of 1338 ha per annum, and decreased by 8.3% from 1999 to 2004
at an average rate of 6280 ha per annum (Table 1). Increases of the
desert area from 1986 to 1999 occurred most noticeably in zones 0,
E1, and E2 in the upper section, and zone 0 in the lower section;
whilst decreases of the desert area from 1999 to 2004 occurred
predominantly in zone 0 across the three longitudinally subdivided
sections, i.e. in the areas immediately along the river area (Fig. 1).
The SAS area increased by 108% from 1986 to 1999, and
decreased by 14.6% from 1999 to 2004 in the upper section; in the
middle section, it increased by 131% from 1986 to 1999 and by
23.3% from 1999 to 2004; whilst in the lower section, it decreased
by 25.6% from 1986 to 1999 and by 20.4% from 1999 to 2004.
Changes in the SAS area from 1999 to 2004 were most apparent in
zone 0 across all three sections, and in zone W3 of the upper and
middle sections immediately adjacent to the old Tarim River
(Fig. 1). Overall, there was an increase in the SAS area by nearly 25%
from 1986 to 1999 and then a decrease by about 3% from 1999 to
2004 for the entire study area (Table 1).
Spatially, the vegetation area decreased and the desert area
increased with distance from the river channel in the upper section
of the study area from 1986 to 2004, while such patterns were
lacking for both the middle and the lower sections.
Mean NDVI varied markedly both spatially and temporally
Rate of change from across the study area (Fig. 3). Spatially, it was highest in the upper
1999 to 2004
section and lowest in the lower section. Temporally, changes in
8.3% mean NDVI varied with subdivision of sections and zones.
3.2%
In the upper section, the mean NDVI declined by 23% to nearly
48%
– 50% from 1986 to 1999, and increased by 34% to as much as 300%
from 1999 to 2004. The middle section displayed similar patterns of
temporal change in the mean NDVI for all but zones E2 and E3, with
an average of decline by 25% from 1986 to 1999 and an average
increase by about 30%. In the lower section, the apparent decline of
mean NDVI from 1986 to 1999 and the subsequent recovery from
1999 to 2004 only occurred along the river channel and in zones
immediately adjacent to the river channel (Fig. 3).
3.4. Landscape pattern
3.4.1. Patch density
Patch density varied both spatially and temporally within the
study area, but displayed different patterns of spatial variations for
the three different vegetation types (Fig. 4). For all the three
vegetation types, the patch density generally increased from 1986
to 1999 and decreased from 1999 to 2004 with very few exceptions.
Spatially, the euphrate poplar forest displayed an apparent
tendency of decreasing patch density with distance from the river
channel in both the upper and the lower sections; whilst a similar
pattern of spatial change was observed for the Tamarix bush only in
the upper section. The halophytic meadow was not observable in
the lower section of the study area.
3.4.2. Shape index
Shape index was less variable spatially compared with other
measures of landscape features. However, the temporal change of
the shape index varied with vegetation types (Fig. 5). For euphrate
poplar forest, the shape index decreased from 1986 to 1999 in all
zones with apparent exception of zone W1 in the upper section,
and mostly increased from 1999 to 2004. Temporal changes in the

Upper section Middle section Lower section

100
1986
% of vegetation

80
1999
60 2004
40

20

100

80
% of desert

60

40

20
% of salt alakali soil

100

20

0
W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 E3 W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 W2 W1 0 E1 E2

Fig. 1. Percentage of vegetation, desert and saline alkali soil (SAS) over total area in individual zones in the upper, middle and lower sections of the lower reaches of Tarim River in
Xinjiang Autonomous Region, West China.
 Author's personal copy

310 W. Kong et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313

Upper section Middle section Lower section

Vegetation area change

6000
from 1986 to 1999
4000 from 1999 to 2004

2000

-2000

-4000
W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 E3 W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 W2 W1 0 E1 E2

Fig. 2. Area change of the vegetation type in the upper, middle, and lower sections of the lower reaches of Tarim River in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, West China, between 1986
and 1999 and between 1999 and 2004.

shape index for Tamarix bush were variable across sections and
zones, with the general pattern showing a decrease from 1986 to
1999 and an increase from 1999 to 2004. The shape index for
halophytic meadow increased from 1986 to 1999 and decreased
from 1999 to 2004 in the upper section with exception of zones E2
and E3; whereas there was no apparent trend of temporal change in
the middle section.
Previous field investigations showed that improved vegetation
following the emergency water diversion was closely related to the
rise in groundwater table in our study area (Chen et al., 2004b,c,
2006). Precipitation in the area ranged form 3.4 to 31.2 mm per
annum during the period of water diversion, far from being
adequate for sustaining plant growth. Elmore et al. (2006) found
that the alkali meadow in California, USA, with average

3.4.3. Contagion index

The contagion index varied both spatially and temporally but
.16
without apparent patterns of temporal change among the three
1986 upper section
longitudinally subdivided sections along the Qiwenkuor River .14
1999
(Fig. 6). In the upper section, there was a tendency of gradually
.12 2004
increasing values of the contagion index with distance from the
river channel; in the middle section, the contagion index was .10
lowest in the zone 0 and increased abruptly in other zones without
transition; whilst there was no clear spatial pattern for the value of .08
contagion index in the lower section. The temporal change in the
.06
contagion index differed between two sides of the Qiwenkuor River
in the upper and middle sections: in zones on the east side of the .04
Qiwenkuor River channel, the contagion index decreased from
.02
1986 to 1999 and to 2004 in the upper section with exception of
zone W3 and in the middle section with exception of zone W1. The 0.00
value of the contagion index increased from 1986 to 1999 and .16
decreased from 1999 to 2004 in zone E1 of all sections and in zone Middle section
.14
E2 of the upper section, and increased from 1986 to 1999 and to
2004 in zone E3 of the upper section and zone E2 of the middle and .12
Mean NDVI

lower sections. .10

.08

.06
4. Discussion
.04
In arid and semiarid regions, vegetation and landscape patterns
.02
can be highly susceptible to both anthropogenic and environmental
perturbations. Changes in vegetation and landscape patterns can 0.00
affect plant growth and ecosystem structures and function (Chen .16
Lower section
et al., 2004b; Naumburg et al., 2005; Zhou et al., 2006, 2007; .14
Zhuang and Chen, 2006). One of the environmental perturbations,
the groundwater fluctuation, has proven a key factor in influencing .12
vegetation and landscape patterns in arid and semiarid regions .10
(Muñoz-Reinoso, 2001; Naumburg et al., 2005; Elmore et al., 2006).
In the lower reaches of the Tarim River in West China, contrasting .08
changes in groundwater level were shown between the periods .06
1986–1999 and 1999–2004 as shown in field survey (Chen et al.,
2004c). In the present study, we found that overall both vegetation .04
cover and NDVI decreased for the period 1986–1999 and increased .02
for the period 1999–2004, while the desert area displayed an
inverse pattern of change. Landscape patterns also displayed con- 0.00
W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 E3
trasting trends of change between the two periods, indicating the
apparent impact of groundwater fluctuation to vegetation and Fig. 3. Mean NDVI in the upper, middle, and lower sections of the lower reaches of
landscape patterns in this region. Tarim River in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, West China, for 1986, 1999, and 2004.
 Author's personal copy

W. Kong et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313 311

Upper section Middle section Lower section

1986

Euphrate poplar
30
1999

forest
20 2004

10
Patch density (n/100ha)

0
30
Tamarix bush

20

10

0
Halophytic meadow

30
20
10

0
W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 E3 W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 W2 W1 0 E1 E2

Fig. 4. Patch density of euphrate poplar forest, Tamarix bush and halophytic meadow in the upper, middle and lower sections of the lower reaches of Tarim River in Xinjiang
Autonomous Region, West China for 1986, 1999 and 2004.

precipitation of 130 mm per annum and snowmelt replenishment
in spring and summer, was weakly related to precipitation only
when groundwater was lower than 2.5 m below the surface. In this
study, the most notable change of vegetation was identified to have
occurred in areas near the river channel. Percentage of vegetation
cover decreased with distance from the Qiwenkuor River in the
upper and lower sections. It is clear from results of the present
study and those from previous field investigations (e.g. Chen et al.,
2004b,c, 2006) that changes in vegetation cover were closely
associated with changes in groundwater level. Based on previous
field surveys and results in this study, two conclusions may be
drawn: (1) that the changes in water-flow to the lower reaches of
the Tarim River affected the groundwater mostly in areas adjacent
to the river channel; and (2) that vegetation near the river channel
are more groundwater dependent than those farther away, hence
are more susceptible to groundwater fluctuations.
In this study, increases in vegetation cover during the period of
water diversion appeared to be attributable mainly to the euphrate
poplar forests and Tamarix bushes, and changes in the halophytic
meadow were only observable in only a few zones. This is consis-
tent with results from the field studies (Chen et al., 2004c).
A previous study by Chen et al. (2004a) has shown that the func-
tional groundwater depth is w5 m for Tamarix spp., w4.5 m for
P. euphratica (4.5 m), and w3.5 m for P. communis. Therefore,
a reversion in groundwater table by the emergency water diversion
project would be expected to benefit Tamarix spp. first then fol-
lowed by P. euphratica in the sequence of vegetation recovery. In
our study area, the euphrate poplar forests mainly exist as mature
trees and regenerating stands are rare (Chen et al., 2005). The
observed increases in vegetation cover are thus likely to result from
a ‘‘greening-up’’ of the recovering trees rather than an increase in
regeneration.

Upper section Middle section Lower section

Euphrate poplar

1.6
forest

1.4
1.2
1.0
0.2

0.0
Shape index
Tamarix bush

1.6
1.4
1.2
0.2

0.0
Halophytic meadow

1.6 1986
1999
1.4 2004
1.2
0.2

0.0
W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 E3 W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 W2 W1 0 E1 E2

Fig. 5. Shape indices of euphrate poplar forest, Tamarix bush and halophytic meadow in the upper, middle and lower sections of the lower reaches of Tarim River in Xinjiang
Autonomous Region, West China, for 1986, 1999 and 2004.

312 W. Kong et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 73 (2009) 306–313
Upper section
100
Contagion index
80
60
40
20
0
W3 W2 W1
Fig. 6. Contagion index for the upper, middle and lower sections of the lower reaches of Tarim River in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, West China, in 1986, 1999 and 2004.
Temporally, mean NDVI decreased in all zones from 1986 to
1999, indicating the dependency of vegetation on groundwater. The
change was different among the three sections, possibly related to
the difference of cover type and lack of effective groundwater
recovery downstream. Spatially, mean NDVI decreased from the
upper section downward to the lower section, displaying apparent
trend with distance from the river channel in each of the sections
except only a few zones (Fig. 3). Zones with higher NDVI away from
the river channel generally had meadow components as shown on
the vegetation classification map. The values of NDVI reflect the
extent of coverage for ground vegetation as well as the vigor of
vegetation growth. Meadows in this area are usually clumped and
therefore are shown with higher coverage than forests and shrubs,
which could explain the irregular distribution of the mean NDVI
farther away from the river channel. Moreover, those zones are also
special zones in the water division. Zones E2 and E3 in the upper
section are irrigated as part of water diversion plan to restore
vegetation. Zone W3 in the middle section overlaps with the old
Tarim River, which was also the water delivery pathway in the fifth
diversion.
Compared with the conventional ground-based surveys, remote
sensing imagery analysis offers an effective tool for assessing
vegetation at a much broader spatial scale. Our results showed that
the emergency water diversion from 2000 to 2004 has a much
wider effect spatially than the ground-based investigations (Chen
et al., 2004c) and the effects differed with sections and zones.
Vegetation in zones outside of the groundwater-affected area
decreased from 1986 to 1999 and to 2004. A general trend of
decreasing precipitation may have caused the declining vegetation
far from the river system.
Along with changes in vegetation, landscape features during the
two study periods also changed. From 1986 to 1999, vegetation
tended to be fragmented as indicated by results of patch density;
shape of vegetation patches tended to be regular as shown by shape
index; and landscape patches distributed more unevenly, as shown
by contagion index. In contrast, the changes from 1999 to 2004
occurred in the opposite directions: vegetation tended to be inte-
grative; shape of vegetation patches tended to be irregular; and
landscape patches distributed more evenly.
Results on the shape change of patches revealed a very
complicated picture. The overall trend of change suggested that the
shape of patches became regular from 1986 to 1999 and irregular
from 1999 to 2004. Among the three vegetation types halophytic
meadow changed differently from the euphrate poplar forests and
the Tamarix bush in the upper section. The shape of vegetation
patches changed heterogeneously and had no apparent spatial
change tendency. Previous studies have generally focused on the
impact of anthropogenic activity on landscape shape and the
available results have shown that the shape of human-disturbed
landscape is more regular than natural landscape, but differed
among disturbance activity (plantation or farming, etc.) (Saura and
Carballel, 2004). Our study showed that under the declining
groundwater availability, the shape of vegetation patches tended to
be regular. This may be because plants on the patch margin are
Author's personal copy
Middle section Lower section
1986
1999
2004
0 E1 E2 E3 W3 W2 W1 0 E1 E2 W2 W1 0 E1 E2
limited by resources and this made it easily influenced by envi-
ronmental perturbation. Changes in landscape shape meant that
the patch shape was influenced more by environment than their
individual characteristics. Turner (1989) noted that the shape of
landscape influenced by natural rather than anthropogenic
disturbances may respond differently, with natural disturbances
increasing landscape complexity. Our study showed, however, that
the same factors that operate in different directions could lead to
either increased or decreased landscape complexity.
Management strategies for restoring groundwater level are
necessary for conserving plant resources in arid regions. Results
from this study indicate strongly the hydrological control of spatio-
temporal variations of vegetation and landscape pattern in arid
regions. Our overall findings suggest that water diversion to
previously drained water channel is effective for raising the local
groundwater level and improving plant growth, but its effect is
largely restricted to areas adjacent to the water pathway. For long-
term conservation of plant resources in arid regions, conserving
water usage and keeping the source of groundwater supply intact
should be taken as preferred management options. Temporary
measures such as the emergency water diversion project in the
lower reaches of the Tarim River should only be used where long-
term conservation of plant resources is socially justifiable, and
economically and environmentally sustainable.
Acknowledgement
This study was supported by the Knowledge Innovation Project
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (90502004) and the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (30500081). We thank Peter
Barry, T. Wang, and Q. Li for technical help with using the software
FRAGSTATS, and Professor J. Ni for supplying meteorological data.
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