Study On The Vegetation Conservation Effectiveness And Influencing Factors Of Protected Areas In The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Conservation effectiveness assessment is an important tool to comprehensively grasp the conservation effectiveness of protected areas in terms of biodiversity and ecological environment quality,and can help guide nature reserve managers to formulate effective conservation management measures.Understanding the conservation effectiveness of nature protected areas on a regional macro scale can help identify the shortcomings of nature protected areas,differences in conservation effectiveness and problems However,it is difficult to conduct a detailed survey for each nature reserve at the regional scale to meet the needs of implementing conservation effectiveness evaluation,and it is crucial to select suitable indicators for larger areas to assess the conservation effectiveness of protected areas.Since human interference is the main driver of biodiversity loss,and effective management of protected areas can curb the impact of human activities on protected areas,quantitative research on the factors influencing the conservation effectiveness of protected areas can provide insight into the pathways and intensity of influencing factors on protected areas.Vegetation ecosystem is the main conservation object of most of the protected areas and can provide habitat for living organisms.Vegetation index is often used to assess the conservation status of regional protected areas and indirectly reflect the conservation effectiveness of regional protected areas.More than 300 protected areas have been established on the Tibetan Plateau,including national parks,protected areas,and nature parks,with a total area of more than 30% of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,which are natural habitats for rare and endangered wildlife and gene pools of plateau species,as well as important ecological security barriers in China and Asia.In this study,we used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)long time series data from 2010 to 2020 to study the conservation effectiveness of protected areas on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.The relationship between management capacity and vegetation conservation effectiveness of different protected areas was compared by analyzing the management capacity of national protected areas.At the same time,a multiple regression research model was constructed by using natural factors such as temperature,rainfall and altitude,human disturbance factors such as population density and road density,and management factors such as the type of institution and funding of the reserve,to quantitatively analyze the influence of each factor on the NDVI of national protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau,and to provide a scientific basis for improving the management of protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau.The main findings are as follows:(1)The distribution of NDVI in protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau shows a decrease from the southeast to the southwest,and the overall trend from 2010 to 2020 shows an increase.Spatial analysis results reveal that 83.99% of the regions exhibit an improvement in NDVI,and 1.88% of the areas showed a significant decline,and the change rate of most of the protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau showed an increasing state.(2)There are four levels of management organizations in the 53 national nature reserves on the Tibetan Plateau: bureau level(1),division level(35),section level(16),and unit level(1).Among these institutions,42 were independent management institutions and 12 were non-independent management institutions co-located with other institutions.The administrative level and independent properties affected the conservation effectiveness,and the higher administrative level and independent management institutions had better conservation effectiveness.Nature reserves differed greatly from the national average in terms of unit management funds,per capita management area and patrol area,and there was a general lack of professional talents..(3)A multivariate linear model was used to study the relationship between the conservation effectiveness of national nature reserves and the influencing factors,and the effects of natural environment,management and disturbance factors on the conservation effectiveness of the reserves NDVI were comprehensively analyzed.The contribution rates of management,environment and disturbance to conservation effectiveness were 46%,37.5% and 16.5%,respectively.For environmental factors,latitude,longitude,altitude and precipitation had significant effects on the effectiveness of the reserve;for management factors,province,per capita management area and patrol enforcement had significant effects on the effectiveness of the reserve,and per capita management area had significant negative effects on the effectiveness of the reserve;for disturbance factors,population density had significant effects on the effectiveness of the reserve,while road density,mining rights,temperature,management institutions and education had The effects of population density on the effectiveness of the reserve were not significant.This study provides a quantitative approach for evaluating vegetation conservation effectiveness in protected areas on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and offers insights for enhancing management capacity.Based on the research findings,it is recommended to establish a vertical management mechanism between management agencies and divisions,elevate the administrative level of nature reserve management institutions,and improve the management capacity and standards of protected areas in the QinghaiTibetan Plateau from multiple aspects.