Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China
Since the beginning of the 21st century in Shaanxi Province, China, ecological restoration has increased fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and decreased soil and water erosion. The climate and topography will be critical factors for maintaining vegetation coverage in the future. Based on the moderat...
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/20/11532 |
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| author | Yuanyuan Li Jingyan Sun Mingzhu Wang Jinwei Guo Xin Wei Manoj K. Shukla Yanbing Qi |
| author_facet | Yuanyuan Li Jingyan Sun Mingzhu Wang Jinwei Guo Xin Wei Manoj K. Shukla Yanbing Qi |
| author_sort | Yuanyuan Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the beginning of the 21st century in Shaanxi Province, China, ecological restoration has increased fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and decreased soil and water erosion. The climate and topography will be critical factors for maintaining vegetation coverage in the future. Based on the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, we monitored FVC variations in Shaanxi Province, China, as well as in three subregions of the Loess Plateau (LOP), Qinling–Bashan Mountain (QBM), and Guanzhong Plain (GZP). Using Sen+Mann–Kendall, correlation analysis, and geodetector methods, we detected trends and responses to climate change and topographical characteristics in Shaanxi Province from 2000 to 2018. The results indicated that 73.86% of the area in Shaanxi Province exhibited an increasing FVC with a growth rate of 0.0026 year<sup>−1</sup> from 2000 to 2018. The FVC in the three subregions varied, as QBM (87.24–91.47%) > GZP (47.45–66.93%) > LOP (36.33–49.74%), which displayed a significant increase, slight increase, and slight decrease, respectively. The variation of FVC was significantly positively correlated with climate factors (precipitation, temperature, sunshine duration) at monthly and seasonal scales. The time-lag duration between FVC and climate factors was 1–3 months except for the conjunctional areas of GZP with the LOP and QBM, which exhibited a time-lag of 5–6 months. Topographically, the landform of hills had the highest FVC increase at an altitude of 500–1500 m and a slope of 2°–6°. The dominant driving factors affecting FVC variation in Shaanxi Province and LOP area were climatic factors. In the QBM area, the dominant factors were related to topography (relief, elevation, slope), whereas in the GZP area, they were relief and sunshine duration. We can conclude that local topography characteristics are important in implementing revegetation projects because they strongly influence water, temperature, and sunshine redistribution. |
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| language | English |
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| spelling | doaj.art-f234c841463740caa6a4c26aedeca4a72023-11-19T15:33:28ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-10-0113201153210.3390/app132011532Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, ChinaYuanyuan Li0Jingyan Sun1Mingzhu Wang2Jinwei Guo3Xin Wei4Manoj K. Shukla5Yanbing Qi6College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Humanities & Social Development, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaDepartment of Plant and Environmental Science, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88001, USACollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaSince the beginning of the 21st century in Shaanxi Province, China, ecological restoration has increased fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and decreased soil and water erosion. The climate and topography will be critical factors for maintaining vegetation coverage in the future. Based on the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, we monitored FVC variations in Shaanxi Province, China, as well as in three subregions of the Loess Plateau (LOP), Qinling–Bashan Mountain (QBM), and Guanzhong Plain (GZP). Using Sen+Mann–Kendall, correlation analysis, and geodetector methods, we detected trends and responses to climate change and topographical characteristics in Shaanxi Province from 2000 to 2018. The results indicated that 73.86% of the area in Shaanxi Province exhibited an increasing FVC with a growth rate of 0.0026 year<sup>−1</sup> from 2000 to 2018. The FVC in the three subregions varied, as QBM (87.24–91.47%) > GZP (47.45–66.93%) > LOP (36.33–49.74%), which displayed a significant increase, slight increase, and slight decrease, respectively. The variation of FVC was significantly positively correlated with climate factors (precipitation, temperature, sunshine duration) at monthly and seasonal scales. The time-lag duration between FVC and climate factors was 1–3 months except for the conjunctional areas of GZP with the LOP and QBM, which exhibited a time-lag of 5–6 months. Topographically, the landform of hills had the highest FVC increase at an altitude of 500–1500 m and a slope of 2°–6°. The dominant driving factors affecting FVC variation in Shaanxi Province and LOP area were climatic factors. In the QBM area, the dominant factors were related to topography (relief, elevation, slope), whereas in the GZP area, they were relief and sunshine duration. We can conclude that local topography characteristics are important in implementing revegetation projects because they strongly influence water, temperature, and sunshine redistribution.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/20/11532FVC variationtime lag durationclimate changetopographyShaanxi Province |
| spellingShingle | Yuanyuan Li Jingyan Sun Mingzhu Wang Jinwei Guo Xin Wei Manoj K. Shukla Yanbing Qi Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China Applied Sciences FVC variation time lag duration climate change topography Shaanxi Province |
| title | Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal Variation of Fractional Vegetation Cover and Its Response to Climate Change and Topography Characteristics in Shaanxi Province, China |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal variation of fractional vegetation cover and its response to climate change and topography characteristics in shaanxi province china |
| topic | FVC variation time lag duration climate change topography Shaanxi Province |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/20/11532 |
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