Evaluation of Vegetation Restoration Effectiveness along the Yangtze River Shoreline and Its Response to Land Use Changes

Abstract

Abstract Assessing the effectiveness of vegetation restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline and exploring the relationship between vegetation restoration and land use changes are essential for providing recommendations for sustainable management and environmental protection. However, the effect of vegetation restoration after the implementation of the Yangtze River Conservation Project is not well known. In this study, based on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery before (2016) and after (2022) the Yangtze River Conservation Project, as well as Dynamic World land use data, pixel-based binary models, transition matrices, and geographically weighted regression models were used to analyze the state and evolution of vegetation coverage in the Yangtze River shoreline region. The results indicated that there had been an increase in the area covered by high and high-medium vegetation levels. The proportion of vegetation cover shifting to better was 35.68%. Hotspots of vegetation coverage improvement were primarily distributed along the Yangtze River. In areas with vegetation coverage improvement, the main types of land use changes included the conversion of water to crops (22.79%), trees to crops (10.76%), crops to built area (10.76%). Conversion between crops and built area was a significant factor influencing vegetation coverage improvement, with average regression coefficients of 0.68 and 0.50, respectively.