Vegetation Dynamics and Climatological Drivers in Ethiopia at the Turn of the Century

Muir, Carly; Southworth, Jane; Khatami, Reza; Herrero, Hannah Victoria; Akyapi, Berkay

doi:10.3390/rs13163267

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…For instance, panel multi‐variate regression models use multi‐date observations of the same locations or spatial units to help understand which candidate predictors are most likely responsible for explaining ‘change’ while controlling for time‐invariant factors (e.g. Gaughan et al, 2013; Muir et al, 2021). Among other methods, structural equation models (SEMs) developed from earlier applications of path analysis (Fan et al, 2016; Wright, 1921) have been increasingly used to test hypotheses about direct and indirect relationships among ecological variables.…”

Section: Improving Mechanistic Understanding Of Phenology Across Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote sensing of phenology: Towards the comprehensive indicators of plant community dynamics from species to regional scales

Dronova

Taddeo

2022

Journal of Ecology

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1. Remote sensing of vegetation phenology has long been used to characterize ecosystem functions and responses to climate at spatial and temporal scales unfeasible to field surveys. However, the potential of remote sensing to elucidate mechanistic drivers of phenology and the underlying plant community processes at such scales remains under-discussed.2. This review synthesizes possibilities to advance this knowledge using multitemporal remote sensing and discusses remaining challenges and progress in instruments and analytical tools. Recent evidence indicates that, besides documenting vegetation seasonality and responses to climate, remote sensing of phenology can help meet emerging needs for indicators of plant diversity, vegetation structure and ecosystem change. 3. Responses of phenological metrics to stressors over large, heterogeneous regions may provide clues on ecological resilience manifested in asynchronies, recovery of vegetation cycles and stable microrefugia. At the same time, important barriers persist in relation to choosing among phenological estimation methods and paradigms, characterizing phenological events beyond changes in photosynthetically active biomass, and mechanistic interpretation of phenological patterns. 4. Synthesis. Increasing temporal frequency of products, opportunities for multi-sensor data fusion, and advances in historically less available hyperspectral, active microwave and lidar instruments promise to help navigate these barriers and enable more comprehensive assessments of seasonality. Progress in customizable local platforms such as unoccupied aerial vehicles and phenocams may further enrich ground-level understanding of phenology and validate satellite-based assessments. However, remote sensing analyses alone are insufficient for mechanistic interpretation of phenology, which can be challenged by artefacts in remote sensing data and sensitivity of estimated metrics to landscape structure and spatial resolution of the inputs. Robust and informative phenological assessments call for rigorous collaborations with field ecological studies, strategic selection of ancillary | 1461

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Section: Improving Mechanistic Understanding Of Phenology Across Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote sensing of phenology: Towards the comprehensive indicators of plant community dynamics from species to regional scales

Dronova

Taddeo

2022

Journal of Ecology

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“…Furthermore, Muir et al (2021) investigated vegetation change using MODIS satellite data over the entire country of Ethiopia, observing declines in the NDVI, with the greatest change during the dry season and concentrated in the northern semi-arid regions of the country. Similarly, Measho et al (2019) noted a decreasing NDVI at 57.15% and 58.74% of all the pixels, respectively, for the annual main growing seasons in the semi-arid region of Eritrea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation in response to climate variability in the Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia

et al. 2023

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In this paper, we analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation and its association with climate variables in the Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia. Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, namely, MODIS/TERRA, MOD09Q1 16-day L3 Global 250 m Version 6 from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) United States Geological Survey (USGS), and climate data from 2000 to 2018 obtained from the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia are used to determine the vegetation dynamics both at annual and seasonal timescales. The results indicate that the NDVI varies between .31 and .41, and the study area is dominated by sparse vegetation, especially shrubs and grasslands. The Borana rangelands were previously dominated by open grasslands, perennial herbaceous and woody vegetations, and some encroaching woody vegetations. The NDVI revealed poorer vegetation growth than the vegetation condition index (VCI) between 2000 and 2018, although variations were observed spatiotemporally. Rainfall was more highly variable both at annual and seasonal scales than the temperature during the studied years. The climate variables significantly determined the condition of vegetation, particularly during the growing seasons compared to other periods. A significant strong positive correlation was observed between the NDVI, VCI, and climate variables during the main (Belg) and short (Meher) rainy seasons in the Borana rangelands. The results of this study are beneficial for the development of proper intervention policies and provide information for sustainable rangeland management.

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“…In Ethiopia many studies have highlighted differences in NDVI changes and their response to climatic factors (Kourouma et al 2021;Muir et al 2021;Liou and Mulualem 2019). Therefore, those studies suggested that rainfall is the most crucial elements so as to characterize impact of drought on environment in east Africa, particularly semi-arid region of Ethiopia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Drought on Forest Cover Change in Yabelo Forest in Semi-arid Region of Ethiopia

Wolteji

Gizawu

Gemeda

2022

Preprint

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Drought is a key challenge of third world countries whose economies are based on agriculture. Also, lack of rainfall plays a major role in exacerbating climate change. Drought is resulting in a decline in vegetation greenness and plant mortality specifically in semi-arid region. In this study, satellite-based drought assessment was used to characterize drought, and its impact on forest in semi-arid region of Ethiopia. Drought severity and forest cover change were detected over the period between 2014, and 2022 using geographic information system and remote sensing techniques. Vegetation condition index (VCI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are used to detect drought severity over the past decades. Results show that 2015, 2017, 2019and 2022 were the most drought years. The spatial forest covers is significantly decreased during severe drought years. Minimum dense forest was observed in 2017and 2019 over spatial extend of 0.80 ha and 124.6 ha, respectively during drought years. To evaluate how precipitation deficit affect forest function, simple linear regression is performed. Result of (R2=0.49 and P=0.05) indicate that, nearly 50% of forest greenness is influenced by precipitation deficit. This study suggested that remote sensing indices are very crucial to characterize drought pattern at small “scale” particularly in assessment of drought impact on forest resource.

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Vegetation Dynamics and Climatological Drivers in Ethiopia at the Turn of the Century

Cited by 16 publications

References 70 publications

Remote sensing of phenology: Towards the comprehensive indicators of plant community dynamics from species to regional scales

Remote sensing of phenology: Towards the comprehensive indicators of plant community dynamics from species to regional scales

Spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation in response to climate variability in the Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia

Impact of Drought on Forest Cover Change in Yabelo Forest in Semi-arid Region of Ethiopia

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