Evaluating the cumulative and time-lag effects of drought on grassland vegetation: A case study in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Zhao, Anzhou; Yu, Qiuyan; Feng, Lili; Zhang, Anbing; Pei, Tao

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110214

Cited by 114 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The climate data were derived from the daily dataset value from the China Meteorological Data Network (http://data.cma.cn, accessed on 15 January 2020) over the period time of 2000-2018. Previous studies have pointed out that the change of climate conditions in autumn and winter of the previous year will produce hysteresis and accumulation effect to the following year's vegetation growth [23][24][25]. The period the accumulation effect is 5 to 10 months, and the period the hysteresis effect is 2-3 months [24].…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have pointed out that the change of climate conditions in autumn and winter of the previous year will produce hysteresis and accumulation effect to the following year's vegetation growth [23][24][25]. The period the accumulation effect is 5 to 10 months, and the period the hysteresis effect is 2-3 months [24]. In addition, considering that the vegetation EOS in the Loess Plateau mainly occurs from early September to early October, the extreme climate determined in this study is from September 1 of the previous year to August 31 of the current year [23].…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Sensitivity of Vegetation Phenology to Extreme Climate Indices in the Loess Plateau, China

Pei

Chen

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Climate changes, especially increased temperatures, and precipitation changes, have significant impacts on vegetation phenology. However, the response of vegetation phenology to the extreme climate in the Loess Plateau in Northwest China remains poorly quantified. The research described here analyzed the spatial change in vegetation phenology and the response of vegetation phenology to climate change in the Loess Plateau from 2001 to 2018, using data from seven extreme climate indices based on the ridge regression method. The results showed that extreme climate indexes, TNn (yearly minimum value of the daily minimum temperature), TXx (yearly maximum value of the daily maximum temperature), and RX5day (yearly maximum consecutive five-day precipitation) progressively increased from 2001 to 2018 in the Loess Plateau region, but decrease trend was found in DRT (diurnal temperature range). The start of the growing season (SOS) of vegetation gradually advanced with precipitation from northwest to southeast, and the rate was +0.38 d/a. The overall vegetation end of the growing season (EOS) was delayed, and the trend was −2.83 d/a. The sensitivity of the different vegetation phenology to different extreme weather indices showed obvious spatial differences, the sensitivity coefficient of SOS being mainly positive in the region, whereas the sensitivity coefficient of EOS was negative generally. More sensitivity was found in the EOS to extreme climate indexes than in the SOS. Forest, shrubland and grassland have similar responses to DRT and TNn; namely, both SOS and EOS are advanced with the increase in DRT and delayed with the increase in TNn (the sensitivity coefficient is quite different) but have different responses to RX5day and TXx. These results reveal that extreme climate events have a greater impact on vegetation EOS than on vegetation SOS, with these effects varying with vegetation types. This research can provide a scientific basis for formulating a scientific basis for regional vegetation restoration strategies and disaster prediction on the Loess Plateau.

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Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sensitivity of Vegetation Phenology to Extreme Climate Indices in the Loess Plateau, China

Pei

Chen

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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“…A previous study also found that drought at short time-scales had the most serious im- pact on vegetation in the arid areas of the Loess Plateau (Zhao et al, 2018a). The impacts of drought at a 1-mon time-scale did not have the largest impact on vegetation, which indicated that vegetation was not mostly affected by climate conditions in the current month, and the accumulation of climate impacts was important (Zhao et al, 2020). Therefore, when quantifying the contribution of climate change to vegetation change, we must take into account the cumulative effects of climate change; otherwise, we underestimate the impact of climate.…”

Section: Relationship Between Vegetation Cover Change and Droughtmentioning

confidence: 82%

Response of Vegetation Cover Change to Drought at Different Time-scales in the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Region, China

et al. 2021

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Dominated by an arid and semiarid continental climate, the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Region (BTSSR) is a typical ecologically fragile region with frequently occurring droughts. To provide information for regional vegetation protection and drought prevention, we assessed the relations between vegetation cover change (measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at different time-scales, in different growth stages, in different subregions and for different vegetation types based on the Pearson's correlation coefficient in the BTSSR from 2000 to 2017. Results showed that 88.19% of the vegetated areas experienced increased NDVI in the growing season; 48.3% of the vegetated areas experienced significantly increased NDVI (P < 0.05) and were mainly in the south of the BTSSR. During the growing season, a wetter climate contributed to the increased vegetation cover from 2000 to 2017, and NDVI anomalies were closely related to SPEI. The maximum correlation coefficient in the growing season (Rmax) was significantly positive (P < 0.05) in 97.84% of the total vegetated areas. In the vegetated areas with significantly positive Rmax, pixels with short time-scales (1-3 mon) accounted for the largest proportion (33.9%). The sensitivity of vegetation to the impact of drought rose first and then decreased in the growing season, with a peak in July. Compared with two subregions in the south, subregions in the north of the BTSSR were more sensitive to the impacts of drought variations, especially in the Xilingol Plateau and Wuzhumuqin Basin. All four major vegetation types were sensitive to the effects of drought variations, especially grasslands. The time-scales of the most impacting droughts varied with growth stages, regions, and vegetation types. These results can help us understand the relations between vegetation and droughts, which are important for ecological restoration and drought prevention.

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“…Climate change is expected to increase rainfall variability as well as the frequency of extreme drought (Min et al 2011;Smith 2011;IPCC 2013;Hoover et al 2016), with some regions already experiencing such changes (Williams et al 2020). In grasslands, drought can alter community composition and structure, decrease aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), and shift biomass allocation patterns (Frank 2007;Evans et al 2011;Hoover et al 2014;Meng et al 2019;Zhang et al 2019;Zhao et al 2020); however, grasslands are also highly resilient ecosystems. Previous studies suggested that ANPP can completely recover to pre-drought levels within one year after drought (Hoover et al 2014;Wilcox et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy Effects of Extreme Drought on the Belowground Bud Bank of Bunchgrass and Rhizomatous Steppe Communities in Inner Mongolia

Luo¹,

Qian

Guo

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Belowground bud banks play a crucial role in plant population regeneration, community dynamics and ecosystem functions in response to environmental change and disturbance. In mesic grasslands, belowground bud banks are largely resistant to short-term drought. The sensitivity of belowground bud banks to long-term extreme drought in semiarid steppes is less understood. Here, we investigated the legacy effects of a 4-year experimental drought (i.e., 66% reduction in growing season precipitation) on belowground bud density, aboveground shoot density and their relationship (represented by the meristem limitation index-MLI) in two temperate semiarid steppes with different dominated plant growth forms (i.e., bunchgrass vs. rhizomatous grass). Measurements were made during the first recovery year following drought; thus, we reported the legacy effects of drought on belowground bud bank. Results showed that at community level the densities of both belowground buds and aboveground shoots decreased while there was no change in MLI. However, drought had no significant influences on belowground buds, aboveground shoots and MLI of the dominant plant growth form. The legacy effects of drought were largely dependent on plant community type and growth form. Specifically, due to their cluster/phalanx clonal growth, bunchgrasses and communities they dominated were characterized by greater meristem limitation compared with rhizomatous grasses. Our study implies that integrating belowground bud bank demography into the predictive model of community dynamics and ecosystem functions in response to climate change should be considered to understand the differing responses among community type and dominant plant groups.

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Evaluating the cumulative and time-lag effects of drought on grassland vegetation: A case study in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Cited by 114 publications

References 52 publications

The Sensitivity of Vegetation Phenology to Extreme Climate Indices in the Loess Plateau, China

The Sensitivity of Vegetation Phenology to Extreme Climate Indices in the Loess Plateau, China

Response of Vegetation Cover Change to Drought at Different Time-scales in the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Region, China

Legacy Effects of Extreme Drought on the Belowground Bud Bank of Bunchgrass and Rhizomatous Steppe Communities in Inner Mongolia

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