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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2024, Vol. 16 Issue (11): 1562-1583    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-024-0088-x    
Research article     
Spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation response to permafrost degradation in Northeast China
QIU Lisha1, SHAN Wei1,2,3,*(), GUO Ying1,2,3, ZHANG Chengcheng1,2,3, LIU Shuai1, YAN Aoxiang1
1Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
2Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, Harbin 150040, China
3Collaborative Innovation Centre for Permafrost Environment and Road Construction and Maintenance in Northeast China, Harbin 150040, China
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Abstract  

Permafrost in Northeast China is undergoing extensive and rapid degradation, and it is of great importance to understand the dynamics of vegetation response to permafrost degradation during different periods in this region. Based on the meteorological station data and MODIS land surface temperature data, we mapped the distribution of permafrost using the surface frost number (SFN) model to analyze the permafrost degradation processes in Northeast China from 1981 to 2020. We investigated the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of vegetation and its response to permafrost degradation during different periods from 1982 to 2020 using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We further discussed the dominant factors influencing the vegetation dynamics in the permafrost degradation processes. Results indicated that the permafrost area in Northeast China decreased significantly by 1.01×105 km2 in the past 40 a. The permafrost stability continued to weaken, with large areas of stable permafrost (SP) converted to semi-stable permafrost (SSP) and unstable permafrost (UP) after 2000. From 1982 to 2020, NDVI exhibited a significant decreasing trend in the seasonal frost (SF) region, while it exhibited an increasing trend in the permafrost region. NDVI in the UP and SSP regions changed from a significant increasing trend before 2000 to a nonsignificant decreasing trend after 2000. In 78.63% of the permafrost region, there was a negative correlation between the SFN and NDVI from 1982 to 2020. In the SP and SSP regions, the correlation between the SFN and NDVI was predominantly negative, while in the UP region, it was predominantly positive. Temperature was the dominant factor influencing the NDVI variations in the permafrost region from 1982 to 2020, and the impact of precipitation on NDVI variations increased after 2000. The findings elucidate the complex dynamics of vegetation in the permafrost region of Northeast China and provide deeper insights into the response mechanisms of vegetation in cold regions to permafrost degradation induced by climate change.

Key words： permafrost degradation      surface frost number (SFN)      normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)      vegetation response      climate change      Northeast China     
Received: 27 April 2024      Published: 30 November 2024
Corresponding Authors: *SHAN Wei (E-mail: shanwei@nefu.edu.cn)
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QIU Lisha
SHAN Wei
GUO Ying
ZHANG Chengcheng
LIU Shuai
YAN Aoxiang
Cite this article:

QIU Lisha, SHAN Wei, GUO Ying, ZHANG Chengcheng, LIU Shuai, YAN Aoxiang. Spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation response to permafrost degradation in Northeast China. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(11): 1562-1583.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-024-0088-x     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2024/V16/I11/1562

Fig. 1 Overview of Northeast China based on the digital elevation model (DEM). The boundary is based on the standard map (GS(2019)1822) of the Map Service System (https://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/), and the boundary has not been modified.
Fig. 2 Spatial distribution and area proportions of SF, UP, SSP, and SP in Northeast China during the periods of 1981-1990 (a), 1991-2000 (b), 2001-2010 (c), and 2011-2020 (d). SF, seasonal frost; UP, unstable permafrost; SSP, semi-stable permafrost; SP, stable permafrost. Note that the distributions of SF, UP, SSP, and SP for each period were based on multi-year average surface frost number (SFN).
Fig. 3 Spatial distribution and chordal plot of conversions between SF, UP, SSP, and SP during the periods of 1981-2000 (a1 and b1), 2001-2020 (a2 and b2), and 1981-2020 (a3 and b3). "/" means "or".
Fig. 4 Temporal variation and mutation point test of NDVI in permafrost (a1 and a2), UP (b1 and b2), SSP (c1 and c2), SP (d1 and d2), and SF (e1 and e2) regions during 1982-2020. Note that the SF, UP, SSP, and SP regions are determined based on the multi-year average SFN.
Fig. 5 Spatial variations in Sen's slope (a1-c1) and change trend (a2-c2) of NDVI as well as the statistics of the area proportion of different trends in the SF, UP, SSP, and SP regions (a3-c3) during the periods of 1982-2000, 2001-2020, and 1982-2020. Note that the SF, UP, SSP, and SP regions for each period were determined by the multi-year average SFN.
Fig. 6 Spatial distributions of the Pearson correlation coefficient, partial correlation coefficient with temperature as the control variable, and partial correlation coefficient with precipitation as the control variable between the NDVI and SFN, as well as the spatial distribution of SF, UP, SSP, and SP during the periods of 1982-2000 (a1-a4), 2000-2020 (b1-b4), and 1982-2020 (c1-c4). Note that the distributions of SF, UP, SSP, and SP for each period were determined based on the multi-year average SFN.
Fig. 7 Area proportions of different trends in the NDVI in regions with different conversions among the SF, UP, SSP, and SP during the periods of 1982-2000 (a), 2000-2020 (b), and 1982-2020 (c). "/" means "or".
Fig. 8 Spatial variations in the dominant factors driving the NDVI changes (a1-c1) and the area proportions of the dominant factors in the SF, UP, SSP, and SP regions (a2-c2) during the periods of 1982-2000, 2000-2020, and 1982-2020
Fig. 9 Area proportions of different dominant factors in areas with different conversions among the SF, UP, SSP, and SP during the periods of 1982-2000 (a), 2000-2020 (b), and 1982-2020 (c). "/" means "or".
Fig. 10 Altitude distributions of the areas showing increase in the NDVI (a and c) and showing decrease in the NDVI (b and d) in the permafrost and SF regions during 1982-2020. The division of the permafrost and SF regions is based on the multi-year average SFN. Figure 10b1 and d1 show the altitude distribution of the areas showing significant decrease in the NDVI, and Figure 10b2 and d2 show the altitude distribution of the areas showing extremely significant decrease in the NDVI.
Fig. 11 Altitude distribution of the areas with various types of permafrost degradation including UP to SF (a), SSP to SF (b), SP to SF (c), SP to SSP (d), SP to UP (e), SSP to UP (f) during 1981-2020
Fig. 12 Altitude distribution of the areas with extremely significant vegetation degradation in the permafrost region (a) during 1982-2020 and the distribution of different conversions among SF, UP, SSP, and SP in the three typical areas (b-d) during 1981-2020. "/" means "or". The boundary is based on the standard map (GS(2019)1822) of the Map Service System (https://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/), and the boundary has not been modified.
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