Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China

Understanding the impacts of drought and climate change on vegetation dynamics is of great significance in terms of formulating vegetation management strategies and predicting future vegetation growth. In this study, Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlations between droug...

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Main Authors: Weixia Jiang, Zigeng Niu, Lunche Wang, Rui Yao, Xuan Gui, Feifei Xiang, Yuxi Ji
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-02-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/4/930
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author Weixia Jiang
Zigeng Niu
Lunche Wang
Rui Yao
Xuan Gui
Feifei Xiang
Yuxi Ji
author_facet Weixia Jiang
Zigeng Niu
Lunche Wang
Rui Yao
Xuan Gui
Feifei Xiang
Yuxi Ji
author_sort Weixia Jiang
collection DOAJ
description Understanding the impacts of drought and climate change on vegetation dynamics is of great significance in terms of formulating vegetation management strategies and predicting future vegetation growth. In this study, Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlations between drought, climatic factors and vegetation conditions, and linear regression analysis was adopted to investigate the time-lag and time-accumulation effects of climatic factors on vegetation coverage based on the standardized evapotranspiration deficit index (SEDI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and gridded meteorological dataset in the Yellow River Basin (YLRB) and Yangtze River Basin (YTRB), China. The results showed that (1) the SEDI in the YLRB showed no significant change over time and space during the growing season from 1982 to 2015, whereas it increased significantly in the YTRB (slope = 0.013/year, <i>p</i> < 0.01), and more than 40% of the area showed a significant trend of wetness. The NDVI of the two basins, YLRB and YTRB, increased significantly at rate of 0.011/decade and 0.016/decade, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.01). (2) Drought had a significant impact on vegetation in 49% of the YLRB area, which was mainly located in the northern region. In the YTRB, the area significantly affected by drought accounted for 21% of the total area, which was mainly distributed in the Sichuan Basin. (3) In the YLRB, both temperature and precipitation generally had a one-month accumulated effect on vegetation conditions, while in the YTRB, temperature was the major factor leading to changes in vegetation. In most of the area of the YTRB, the effect of temperature on vegetation was also a one-month accumulated effect, but there was no time effect in the Sichuan Basin. Considering the time effects, the contribution of climatic factors to vegetation change in the YLRB and YTRB was 76.7% and 63.2%, respectively. The explanatory power of different vegetation types in the two basins both increased by 2% to 6%. The time-accumulation effect of climatic factors had a stronger explanatory power for vegetation growth than the time-lag effect.
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spelling doaj.art-63e73d5bd48c4b87ac47cb6a4b54af3f2023-11-23T21:54:19ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922022-02-0114493010.3390/rs14040930Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, ChinaWeixia Jiang0Zigeng Niu1Lunche Wang2Rui Yao3Xuan Gui4Feifei Xiang5Yuxi Ji6Hunan Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Ecological Environment in Dongting Lake Area, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHunan Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Ecological Environment in Dongting Lake Area, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHunan Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Ecological Environment in Dongting Lake Area, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHunan Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Ecological Environment in Dongting Lake Area, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHunan Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Ecological Environment in Dongting Lake Area, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHunan Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Ecological Environment in Dongting Lake Area, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, ChinaWuhan Geomatics Institute, Wuhan 430022, ChinaUnderstanding the impacts of drought and climate change on vegetation dynamics is of great significance in terms of formulating vegetation management strategies and predicting future vegetation growth. In this study, Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlations between drought, climatic factors and vegetation conditions, and linear regression analysis was adopted to investigate the time-lag and time-accumulation effects of climatic factors on vegetation coverage based on the standardized evapotranspiration deficit index (SEDI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and gridded meteorological dataset in the Yellow River Basin (YLRB) and Yangtze River Basin (YTRB), China. The results showed that (1) the SEDI in the YLRB showed no significant change over time and space during the growing season from 1982 to 2015, whereas it increased significantly in the YTRB (slope = 0.013/year, <i>p</i> < 0.01), and more than 40% of the area showed a significant trend of wetness. The NDVI of the two basins, YLRB and YTRB, increased significantly at rate of 0.011/decade and 0.016/decade, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.01). (2) Drought had a significant impact on vegetation in 49% of the YLRB area, which was mainly located in the northern region. In the YTRB, the area significantly affected by drought accounted for 21% of the total area, which was mainly distributed in the Sichuan Basin. (3) In the YLRB, both temperature and precipitation generally had a one-month accumulated effect on vegetation conditions, while in the YTRB, temperature was the major factor leading to changes in vegetation. In most of the area of the YTRB, the effect of temperature on vegetation was also a one-month accumulated effect, but there was no time effect in the Sichuan Basin. Considering the time effects, the contribution of climatic factors to vegetation change in the YLRB and YTRB was 76.7% and 63.2%, respectively. The explanatory power of different vegetation types in the two basins both increased by 2% to 6%. The time-accumulation effect of climatic factors had a stronger explanatory power for vegetation growth than the time-lag effect.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/4/930droughtvegetation growthYellow River BasinYangtze River Basintime-lag effectstime-accumulation effects
spellingShingle Weixia Jiang
Zigeng Niu
Lunche Wang
Rui Yao
Xuan Gui
Feifei Xiang
Yuxi Ji
Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China
Remote Sensing
drought
vegetation growth
Yellow River Basin
Yangtze River Basin
time-lag effects
time-accumulation effects
title Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China
title_full Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China
title_fullStr Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China
title_short Impacts of Drought and Climatic Factors on Vegetation Dynamics in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, China
title_sort impacts of drought and climatic factors on vegetation dynamics in the yellow river basin and yangtze river basin china
topic drought
vegetation growth
Yellow River Basin
Yangtze River Basin
time-lag effects
time-accumulation effects
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/4/930
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