Quantifying influences of physiographic factors on temperate dryland vegetation, Northwest China

Du, Zheng; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Xu, Xiaoxia; Zhai, Hong; Wu, Zhitao; Pang, Jing

doi:10.1038/srep40092

Cited by 30 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Furthermore, land vegetation is largely dependent on and sensitive to a variety of factors of natural environment and human activities, reflecting the effects of climate change and human activities over a short period of time [3,4]. Vegetation also affects the economic structure and economic development of a country or region, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, where agricultural and livestock production are the main economic activities [5]. Therefore, investigating the relationship between land cover change with respect to climate change and human activities is important for assessing economic development and understanding ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Vegetation NDVI Changes and the Driving Forces in Mongolia during 1982–2015

et al. 2020

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As a result of the unique geographical characteristics, pastoral lifestyle, and economic conditions in Mongolia, its fragile natural ecosystems are highly sensitive to climate change and human activities. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was employed in this study as an indicator of the growth status of vegetation. The Sen's slope, Mann-Kendall test, and geographical detector modelling methods were used to assess the spatial and temporal changes of the NDVI in response to variations in natural conditions and human activities in Mongolia from 1982 to 2015. The corresponding individual and interactive driving forces, and the optimal range for the maximum NDVI value of vegetation distribution were also quantified. The area in which vegetation was degraded was roughly equal to the area of increase, but different vegetation types behaved differently. The desert steppe and the Gobi Desert both in arid regions have degraded significantly, whereas the meadow steppe and alpine steppe showed a significant upward trend. Precipitation can satisfactorily account for vegetation distribution. Changes of livestock quantity was the dominant factor influencing the changes of most vegetation types. The interactions of topographic factors and climate factors have significant effects on vegetation growth. In the region of annual precipitation between 331 mm and 596 mm, forest vegetation type and pine sandy soil type were found to be most suitable for the growth of vegetation in Mongolia. The findings of this study can help us to understand the appropriate range or type of environmental factors affecting vegetation growth in Mongolia, based on which we can apply appropriate interventions to effectively mitigate the impact of environmental changes on vegetation.With the continuous development of earth observation system technology and the continuous enrichment of statistical models, the research content and methods of the relationships between vegetation, climate change, and human activities have become increasingly diverse. The normalized density vegetation index (NDVI), derived from infrared channel and near-infrared channel remote sensing data, is a good indicator of vegetation growth status and spatial distribution density of vegetation, and is linearly related to vegetation distribution density [6,7]. A large number of ecological studies have been carried out related to vegetation change and its influencing factors using NDVI and statistical models. Temperature and precipitation, as important factors in the natural environment, are often used as research priorities to assess their impact on vegetation. However, the dominant factors contributing to NDVI in different regions vary considerably. The variety in vegetation and its connection to climate change have been investigated by Du et al. [5] and Zheng et al. [8] in China. These studies identified precipitation as the key climatic factor governing variation in NDVI. However, Guo et al. [9] found that temperature was the dominant factor on vegetation (NDVI) growth ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the dominant factors contributing to NDVI in different regions vary considerably. The variety in vegetation and its connection to climate change have been investigated by Du et al [5] and Zheng et al [8] in China. These studies identified precipitation as the key climatic factor governing variation in NDVI.…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Vegetation NDVI Changes and the Driving Forces in Mongolia during 1982–2015

et al. 2020

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“…However, prior knowledge or the optimal classification methods (natural breaks, etc.) for variables helped us to identify the relatively optimal q-statistic (Wang et al, 2017;Du et al, 2017). Additionally, we conducted the Geodetector five times (five q-statistics) to obtain the average q-statistic to ensure the results were robust for the entire basin and sub-basins.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial associations between NDVI and environmental factors in the Heihe River Basin

et al. 2019

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The Heihe River Basin is located in the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China. Here, the terrestrial ecosystem is vulnerable, making it necessary to identify the factors that could affect the ecosystem. In this study, MODIS-NDVI data with a 250-m resolution were used as a proxy for the terrestrial ecosystem. By combining these with environmental factors, we were able to explore the spatial features of NDVI and identify the factors influencing the NDVI distribution in the Heihe River Basin during the period of 2000-2016. A geographical detector (Geodetector) was employed to examine the spatial heterogeneity of the NDVI and to explore the factors that could potentially influence the NDVI distribution. The results indicate that: (1) the NDVI in the Heihe River Basin appeared high in the southeast while being low in the north, showing spatial heterogeneity with a q-statistic of 0.38. The spatial trend of the vegetation in the three sub-basins generally increased in the growing seasons from 2000 to 2016; (2) The results obtained by the Geodetector (as denoted by the q-statistic as well as the degree of spatial association between the NDVI and environmental factors) showed spatial heterogeneity in the associations between the NDVI and the environmental factors for the overall basin as well as the sub-basins. Precipitation was the dominant factor for the overall basin. In the upper basin, elevation was found to be the dominant factor. The dominant factor in the middle basin was precipitation, closely followed by the soil type. In the lower basin, the dominant factor was soil type with a lower q-statistic of 0.13, and the dominant interaction between the elevation and soil type was nonlinearly enhanced (q-statistic = 0.22).

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“…It is generally acknowledged that since the 1980s vegetation greenness has tended to increase at both global and continental scales [46]. The growing season NDVI increased continuously during the period 2001-2012, in China [3].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Driving Force Analysis of NDVI Dynamics in the Trans-Boundary Tumen River Basin between 2000 and 2015

et al. 2017

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Vegetation dynamics in relation to climatic changes and anthropogenic activities is critical for terrestrial ecosystem management. The objective of this study was to investigate spatiotemporal change of vegetation and their driving forces during growing seasons (between April and October and including the spring, summer and autumn) in the Tumen River Basin (TRB) using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and climate data spanning from 2000 to 2015. A linear regression, Pearson correlation coefficients and the residual trend (RESTREND) was applied for this study. Our results demonstrate that vegetation increased during different periods of the growing season in most of the areas of the TRB over 16 years. Our results demonstrate that vegetation increased during different periods of the growing season in most of the areas of the TRB over 16 years; those in growing season (spring, summer, and autumn) were characterized by the increase in rates by 0.0012/year, 0.0022/year, 0.0011/year, and 0.0019/year, respectively. Forested regions are characterized by the largest increase (0.0021/year) in NDVI compared with other vegetation types across the entire study area. The trends in NDVI across the study area were influenced by both climatic variations and human disturbances. The human activities such as reforestation and agricultural practices are the primary driver, greater than climatic factors, during growing season, including summer and autumn. Temperature and precipitation has had a significant influence on NDVI in a limited area (temp = 0.86%, p < 0.05 and precipitation = 1.93%, p < 0.05) during growing season. The significant role of precipitation on NDVI change throughout growing season and the summer is larger than that of temperature across the TRB, although the influence of the latter becomes most significant during the spring and autumn. The RESTREND method shows that human activity during the growing season, including the spring, summer, and autumn, have led to enhancements in NDVI across more than 70% of the TRB over the last 16 years, with the most significant improvements seen in forested land and farmland. At the same time, a significant reduction in residual (i.e., degraded areas) NDVI values for different growing seasons had characterized farmland and urban land at low altitudes. This study provides important background information regarding the influence of human activities on land degradation and provides a scientific foundation for the development of ecological restoration policies within the TRB. We found that the RESTREND method can be used to detect human drivers of vegetation in the regions with semi-humid and humid monsoon, where the significant correlation between NDVI and climatic factors exists.

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Quantifying influences of physiographic factors on temperate dryland vegetation, Northwest China

Cited by 30 publications

References 56 publications

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Vegetation NDVI Changes and the Driving Forces in Mongolia during 1982–2015

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Vegetation NDVI Changes and the Driving Forces in Mongolia during 1982–2015

Spatial associations between NDVI and environmental factors in the Heihe River Basin

The Driving Force Analysis of NDVI Dynamics in the Trans-Boundary Tumen River Basin between 2000 and 2015

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