Vegetation patch structure and dynamics at gudong oil field of the Yellow River Delta, China

Abstract

It is well known that the vegetation communities are damaged and subsided by oil field developments. However, the extending phenomenon of vegetation community caused by oil field explorations is rarely reported. In this paper, we used the high spatial resolution images to describe the patch structure and dynamics. The results indicate that: (1) it is sufficient to identify patch structure and analyze dynamic using high spatial resolution SPOT5 image data. (2) The patches are isodiametric or have irregular circular shapes which represent approximately 10.1% of the study area. (3) Without exogenous disturbance, the patches don't decrease and the time of quick extensions of patches is less than five years, and the new patches don't randomly grow at some certain location. Of course, to further study vegetation ring completeness and spatial distribution and the relationships with soil and water and nutrients benefit the restoration of wetland ecosystems of the study area. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.