Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau
Vegetation greening has been widely occurring on the Chinese Loess Plateau, and the contributions of human land-use management have been well-understood. However, the influences of climatic change and CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization on reported vegetation variations remain difficult to dete...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/5/1233 |
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| author | Zhongen Niu Honglin He Pengtao Yu Stephen Sitch Ying Zhao Yanhui Wang Atul K. Jain Nicolas Vuichard Bingcheng Si |
| author_facet | Zhongen Niu Honglin He Pengtao Yu Stephen Sitch Ying Zhao Yanhui Wang Atul K. Jain Nicolas Vuichard Bingcheng Si |
| author_sort | Zhongen Niu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vegetation greening has been widely occurring on the Chinese Loess Plateau, and the contributions of human land-use management have been well-understood. However, the influences of climatic change and CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization on reported vegetation variations remain difficult to determine. Therefore, we quantified the impacts of multiple factors on vegetation changes for the Chinese Loess Plateau from 2000 to 2019 by integrating satellite-based leaf area index (LAI) and simulated LAI from dynamic global vegetation models. More than 96% of the vegetated areas of the Loess Plateau exhibited greening trends, with an annually averaged satellite-based LAI rate of 0.037 ± 0.006 m<sup>2</sup> m<sup>−2</sup> a<sup>−1</sup> (<i>P</i> < 0.01). Human land-use management and environmental change have jointly accelerated vegetation growth, explaining 54% and 46% of the overall greening trend, respectively. CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization and climate change explain 55% and 45% of the greening trend due to environmental change, respectively; solar radiation and precipitation were the main driving factors for climate-induced vegetation greenness (<i>P</i> < 0.05). Spatially, the eastern part of the Loess Plateau was dominated by CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization, while the western part was mainly affected by climate change. Furthermore, solar radiation was the key limiting factor affecting LAI variations in the relatively humid area, while precipitation was the major influencing factor in relatively arid areas. This study highlights the important roles that climate change and CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization have played in vegetation greenness in recent decades of the Loess Plateau, despite strong influences of anthropogenic footprint. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:12:06Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:12:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-04cb705aa56344b4a6bd3f706fe8ae672023-11-17T08:30:14ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-02-01155123310.3390/rs15051233Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess PlateauZhongen Niu0Honglin He1Pengtao Yu2Stephen Sitch3Ying Zhao4Yanhui Wang5Atul K. Jain6Nicolas Vuichard7Bingcheng Si8School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaEcology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, ChinaFaculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UKSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, ChinaEcology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, ChinaDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61821, USALaboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, FranceSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, ChinaVegetation greening has been widely occurring on the Chinese Loess Plateau, and the contributions of human land-use management have been well-understood. However, the influences of climatic change and CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization on reported vegetation variations remain difficult to determine. Therefore, we quantified the impacts of multiple factors on vegetation changes for the Chinese Loess Plateau from 2000 to 2019 by integrating satellite-based leaf area index (LAI) and simulated LAI from dynamic global vegetation models. More than 96% of the vegetated areas of the Loess Plateau exhibited greening trends, with an annually averaged satellite-based LAI rate of 0.037 ± 0.006 m<sup>2</sup> m<sup>−2</sup> a<sup>−1</sup> (<i>P</i> < 0.01). Human land-use management and environmental change have jointly accelerated vegetation growth, explaining 54% and 46% of the overall greening trend, respectively. CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization and climate change explain 55% and 45% of the greening trend due to environmental change, respectively; solar radiation and precipitation were the main driving factors for climate-induced vegetation greenness (<i>P</i> < 0.05). Spatially, the eastern part of the Loess Plateau was dominated by CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization, while the western part was mainly affected by climate change. Furthermore, solar radiation was the key limiting factor affecting LAI variations in the relatively humid area, while precipitation was the major influencing factor in relatively arid areas. This study highlights the important roles that climate change and CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization have played in vegetation greenness in recent decades of the Loess Plateau, despite strong influences of anthropogenic footprint.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/5/1233greeninghuman land-use managementclimate changeCO<sub>2</sub> fertilizationLoess Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Zhongen Niu Honglin He Pengtao Yu Stephen Sitch Ying Zhao Yanhui Wang Atul K. Jain Nicolas Vuichard Bingcheng Si Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau Remote Sensing greening human land-use management climate change CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization Loess Plateau |
| title | Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_full | Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_short | Climate Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Fertilization Have Played Important Roles in the Recent Decadal Vegetation Greening Trend on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_sort | climate change and co sub 2 sub fertilization have played important roles in the recent decadal vegetation greening trend on the chinese loess plateau |
| topic | greening human land-use management climate change CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization Loess Plateau |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/5/1233 |
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