Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping

The patterns of interaction between terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere are complex, and some are poorly understood. Linear or general linear methods have been widely used to explore the dynamics of vegetation and climate changes. However, linear thinking may hinder our understanding of comple...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jiapei Wu, Yuke Zhou, Han Wang, Xiaoying Wang, Jiaojiao Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10287326/
_version_ 1827783666198118400
author Jiapei Wu
Yuke Zhou
Han Wang
Xiaoying Wang
Jiaojiao Wang
author_facet Jiapei Wu
Yuke Zhou
Han Wang
Xiaoying Wang
Jiaojiao Wang
author_sort Jiapei Wu
collection DOAJ
description The patterns of interaction between terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere are complex, and some are poorly understood. Linear or general linear methods have been widely used to explore the dynamics of vegetation and climate changes. However, linear thinking may hinder our understanding of complex nonlinear systems, and it is difficult to extract the underlying causality of linear correlations directly from observational data. In this study, we aimed to quantify the interactions between vegetation and climate, using nonlinear dynamical methods based on state-space reconstruction and datasets from Chinese meteorological stations and remote sensing data during 1982–2015 in Northeast China (NEC). Specifically, we identified the causal links between meteorological factors (temperature and precipitation) and the vegetation index (NDVI) by reconstructing the state space from historical records. During the study period, vegetation exhibited a strong bidirectional causal relationship with both temperature and precipitation across Northeast China. The NDVI can be accurately reconstructed from the state information of meteorological factors (temperature and precipitation). The results of the multivariate EDM scenarios reveal varying sensitivities of different vegetation types to meteorological factors. Overall, slight temperature changes have a stronger impact on vegetation compared to precipitation. Mixed forest and broad-leaved forest demonstrate lower sensitivity to precipitation changes compared to other vegetation types. This study on the causal relationship between vegetation and meteorological factors in Northeast China contributes to a deeper understanding of climate change and vegetation feedback in middle and high latitudes. Our work demonstrates that the EDM-based convergent cross-mapping nonlinear causal analysis method is valuable for comprehending the interactions within complex systems in earth science.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T15:50:41Z
format Article
id doaj.art-25ec81bcd37d4b80a9d46b81a59bc449
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2169-3536
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T15:50:41Z
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Access
spelling doaj.art-25ec81bcd37d4b80a9d46b81a59bc4492023-10-25T23:00:35ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362023-01-011111536711537910.1109/ACCESS.2023.332548510287326Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-MappingJiapei Wu0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0038-0823Yuke Zhou1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2559-0241Han Wang2Xiaoying Wang3Jiaojiao Wang4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7098-7504Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaInstitute of Atmospheric Environment, CMA, Shenyang, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaThe patterns of interaction between terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere are complex, and some are poorly understood. Linear or general linear methods have been widely used to explore the dynamics of vegetation and climate changes. However, linear thinking may hinder our understanding of complex nonlinear systems, and it is difficult to extract the underlying causality of linear correlations directly from observational data. In this study, we aimed to quantify the interactions between vegetation and climate, using nonlinear dynamical methods based on state-space reconstruction and datasets from Chinese meteorological stations and remote sensing data during 1982–2015 in Northeast China (NEC). Specifically, we identified the causal links between meteorological factors (temperature and precipitation) and the vegetation index (NDVI) by reconstructing the state space from historical records. During the study period, vegetation exhibited a strong bidirectional causal relationship with both temperature and precipitation across Northeast China. The NDVI can be accurately reconstructed from the state information of meteorological factors (temperature and precipitation). The results of the multivariate EDM scenarios reveal varying sensitivities of different vegetation types to meteorological factors. Overall, slight temperature changes have a stronger impact on vegetation compared to precipitation. Mixed forest and broad-leaved forest demonstrate lower sensitivity to precipitation changes compared to other vegetation types. This study on the causal relationship between vegetation and meteorological factors in Northeast China contributes to a deeper understanding of climate change and vegetation feedback in middle and high latitudes. Our work demonstrates that the EDM-based convergent cross-mapping nonlinear causal analysis method is valuable for comprehending the interactions within complex systems in earth science.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10287326/Vegetation dynamicclimate changecausal linksconvergent cross mappingempirical dynamic model
spellingShingle Jiapei Wu
Yuke Zhou
Han Wang
Xiaoying Wang
Jiaojiao Wang
Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping
IEEE Access
Vegetation dynamic
climate change
causal links
convergent cross mapping
empirical dynamic model
title Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping
title_full Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping
title_fullStr Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping
title_short Assessing the Causal Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Northeast China Using Convergence Cross-Mapping
title_sort assessing the causal effects of climate change on vegetation dynamics in northeast china using convergence cross mapping
topic Vegetation dynamic
climate change
causal links
convergent cross mapping
empirical dynamic model
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10287326/
work_keys_str_mv AT jiapeiwu assessingthecausaleffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinnortheastchinausingconvergencecrossmapping
AT yukezhou assessingthecausaleffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinnortheastchinausingconvergencecrossmapping
AT hanwang assessingthecausaleffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinnortheastchinausingconvergencecrossmapping
AT xiaoyingwang assessingthecausaleffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinnortheastchinausingconvergencecrossmapping
AT jiaojiaowang assessingthecausaleffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinnortheastchinausingconvergencecrossmapping