| Research Articles |
|
|
|
|
| Spatial-temporal dynamics of desert vegetation and its responses to climatic variations over the last three decades: a case study of Hexi region in Northwest China |
| YANG Xuemei1,2, LIU Shizeng1*, YANG Taibao2, XU Xianying1, KANG Caizhou1, TANG Jinnian1, WEI Huaidong1, Mihretab G GHEBREZGABHER2,3, LI Zhiqi4 |
1 State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Desertification and Aeolian Sand Disaster Combating, Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, Lanzhou 730070, China;
2 Institute of Glaciology and Ecogeography, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;
3 Eritrea Institute of Technology, College of Education, Mai-Nefhi 12676, Eritrea;
4 Wuwei Natural Protection Station, the Management Bureau of Gansu Qilianshan National Nature Reserve, Wuwei 733000, China |
|
|
|
Abstract Analysis of spatial-temporal variations of desert vegetation under the background of climate changes can provide references for ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid areas. In this study, we used the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI data from 1982 to 2006 and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI data from 2000 to 2013 to reveal the dynamics of desert vegetation in Hexi region of Northwest China over the past three decades. We also used the annual temperature and precipitation data acquired from the Chinese meteorological stations to analyze the response of desert vegetation to climatic variations. The average value of NDVImax (the maximum NDVI during the growing season) for desert vegetation in Hexi region increased at the rate of 0.65×10–3/a (P<0.05) from 1982 to 2013, and the significant increases of NDVImax mainly appeared in the typical desert vegetation areas. Vegetation was significantly improved in the lower reaches of Shule and Shiyang river basins, and the weighted mean center of desert vegetation mainly shifted toward the lower reaches of the two basins. Almost 95.32% of the total desert vegetation area showed positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation, indicating that precipitation is the key factor for desert vegetation growth in the entire study area. Moreover, the areas with non-significant positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation mainly located in the lower reaches of Shiyang and Shule river basins, this may be due to human activities. Only 7.64% of the desert vegetation showed significant positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation in the Shule River Basin (an extremely arid area), indicating that precipitation is not the most important factor for vegetation growth in this basin, and further studies are needed to investigate the mechanism for this phenomenon.
|
|
Received: 04 August 2015
Published: 10 August 2016
|
| Fund: The Opening Foundation of the State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Desertification and Aeolian Sand Disaster Combating, Gansu Desert Control Research Institute (GSDC201503), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271024, 31260129, 31360204) and the Program for Innovative Research Group of Gansu Province, China (1506RJIA155). |
|
Corresponding Authors:
LIU Shizeng
E-mail: shzliu@126.com; yxm9693@163.com
|
| Cite this article:
YANG Xuemei, LIU Shizeng, YANG Taibao, XU Xianying, KANG Caizhou, TANG Jinnian, WEI Huaidong, Mihretab G GHEBREZGABHER, LI Zhiqi. Spatial-temporal dynamics of desert vegetation and its responses to climatic variations over the last three decades: a case study of Hexi region in Northwest China. Journal of Arid Land, 2016, 8(4): 556-568.
URL:
http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-016-0046-3 OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2016/V8/I4/556
|
|
|
| Chen Y H, Li X B, Shi P J. 2001. Variation in NDVI driven by climate factors across China, 1983–1992. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica, 25(6): 716–720. (in Chinese)Dai S P, Zhang B, Wang H J. 2010. Spatio-temporal change of vegetation index NDVI in Northwest China and its influencing factors. Journal of Geo-Information Science, 12(3): 315–321. (in Chinese)Deng C P. 2006. Research on vegetation changing and reaction to climate in Northwest China in the past 22 years. MSc Thesis. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University. (in Chinese)Gerten D, Schaphoff S, Haberlandt U, et al. 2004. Terrestrial vegetation and water balance-hydrological evaluation of a dynamic global vegetation model. Journal of Hydrology, 286(1–4): 249–270. Guo N, Zhu Y J, Wang J M, et al. 2008. The relationship between NDVI and climate elements for 22 years in different vegetation areas of Northwest China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 32(2): 319–327. (in Chinese)Guo W, Ni X N, Jing D Y, et al. 2014. Spatial-temporal patterns of vegetation dynamics and their relationships to climate variations in Qinghai Lake Basin using MODIS time-series data. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 24(6): 1009–1021.Han K S, Park Y Y, Yeom J M. 2015. Detection of change in vegetation in the surrounding desert areas of Northwest China and Mongolia with multi-temporal satellite images. Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 51(2): 173–181. Jamali S, Seaquist J, Eklundh L, et al. 2014. Automated mapping of vegetation trends with polynomials using NDVI imagery over the Sahel. Remote Sensing Environment, 141: 79–89. Jeong S J, Ho C H, Brown M E, et al. 2011. Browning in desert boundaries in Asia recent decades. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116(D2), doi: 10.1029/2010JD014633. Jiang X. 2003. Relationship between climate and geographic distribution of some plant species and prediction of species potential distribution in the arid land, Northwest China. MSc Thesis. Beijing: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (in Chinese)Jiapaer G, Chen X, Ma Z G, et al. 2007. Classification of sparse desert riparian forest in extreme arid region. Journal of Desert Research, 29(6): 1153–1161. (in Chinese)Lei H M, Yang D W, Huang M Y. 2014. Impacts of climate change and vegetation dynamics on runoff in the mountainous region of the Haihe River basin in the past five decades. Journal of Hydrology, 511: 786–799. Li Q H, Chen Y N. 2014. Response of spatial and temporal distribution of NDVI to hydrothermal condition variation in arid regions of Northwest China during 1981–2006. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 36(2): 327–334. (in Chinese)Li X B, Shi P J. 2000. Sensitivity analysis of variation in NDVI, temperature and precipitation in typical vegetation types across China. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica, 24(3): 379–382. (in Chinese)Li X H, Shi Q D, Guo J, et al. 2009. The response of NDVI to climate variability in Northwest Arid Area of China from 1981 to 2001. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 23(2): 12–16. (in Chinese)Li X R, Tan H J, He M Z, et al. 2009. Patterns of shrub species richness and abundance in relation to environmental factors on the Alxa Plateau: Prerequisites for conserving shrub diversity in extreme arid desert regions. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 52(5): 669–680.Li Z, Yan F L, Fang X T. 2005. The variability of NDVI over Northwest China and its relation to temperature and precipitation. Journal of Remote Sensing, (3): 308–313. (in Chinese)Liu X F, Ren Z Y. 2012. Vegetation coverage change and its relationship with climate factors in Northwest China. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 45(10): 1954–1963. (in Chinese)Liu X L. 2001. Landscape pattern and systems coupling of the meta-ecosystem consisted of mountain, desert and oasis in Hexi Corridor, Gansu, China. PhD Dissertation. Lanzhou: Gansu Agricultural University. (in Chinese)Mao D H, Luo L, Wang Z M, et al. 2015. Variations in net primary productivity and its relationships with warming climate in the permafrost zone of the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 25(8): 967–977.Meng X J, Zhang S F, Zhang Y Y, et al. 2013. Temporal and spatial changes of temperature and precipitation in Hexi Corridor during 1955–2011. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 23(4): 653–667. Mu S J, Li J L, Chen Y Z, et al. 2012. Spatial differences of variations of vegetation coverage in Inner Mongolia during 2001–2010. Acta Geographica Sinica, 67(9): 1255–1268. (in Chinese)Murray S J, Watson I M, Prentice I C. 2013. The use of dynamic global vegetation models for simulating hydrology and the potential integration of satellite observations. Progress in Physical Geography, 37(1): 63–97. Piao S L, Friedlingstein P, Ciais P, et al. 2006. Effect of climate and CO2 changes on the greening of the Northern Hemisphere over the past two decades. Geophysical Research Letters, 33(23), doi: 10.1029/2006GL028205. Song K S, Zhang B, Duan H T, et al. 2005. Dynamic changes of forest in mid-east Jilin Province in the past 20 years. Resources Science, 27(2): 77–82. (in Chinese)Wang H J, Jin X H, Li H L, et al. 2010. NDVI variation and coupling analysis with climate change in Northwest of China based on GIS and RS. Transactions of the CSAE, 26(11): 194–203. (in Chinese)Wang H L, Chen A F, Wang Q F, et al. 2015. Drought dynamics and impacts on vegetation in China from 1982 to 2011. Ecological Engineering, 75: 303–307. Wang J Y, Chang X X, Ge S L, et al. 2001. Vertical distribution of the vegetation and water and heat conditions of Qilian Mountain (Northern Slope). Journal of Northwest Forestry University, 16(Suppl.): 1–3. (in Chinese)Wei Z F, Wang D G, Zhang C, et al. 2014. Response of vegetation cover to climate change and human activities in Northwest China during 1999–2010. Journal of Desert Research, 34(6): 1665–1670. (in Chinese)Xin Z B, Xu J X, Zheng W. 2007. Spatiotemporal variations of vegetation cover on the Chinese Loess Plateau (1981–2006): Impacts of climate changes and human activities. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 51(1): 67–78. Yang X M, Yang T B, Ji Q, et al. 2014. Regional-scale grassland classification using moderate-resolution imaging spectrometer datasets based on multistep unsupervised classification and indices suitability analysis. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 8(1): 083548, doi: 10.1117/1.JRS.8.083548. Zhang B Q, Wu P T, Zhao X N. 2011. Detecting and analysis of spatial and temporal variation of vegetation cover in the Loess Plateau during 1982–2009. Transactions of the CSAE, 27(4): 287–293. (in Chinese)Zhang G L, Xu X L, Zhou C P, et al. 2011. Responses of vegetation changes to climatic variations in Hulun Buir grassland in past 30 years. Acta Geographica Sinica, 66(1): 47–58. (in Chinese) Zhang T Y, Wang H S. 2015. Trend patterns of vegetative coverage and their underlying causes in the deserts of Northwest China over 1982–2008. PLoS ONE, 10(5): e0126044, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126044.Zhao M S, Fu C B, Yan X D, et al. 2001. Study on the relationship between different ecosystems and climate in China using NOAA/AVHRR data. Acta Geographica Sinica, 56(3): 287–296. (in Chinese)Zhao X, Tan K, Zhao S, et al. 2011. Changing climate affects vegetation growth in the arid region of the northwestern China. Journal of Arid Environments, 75(10): 946–952. Zhou W, Gang C C, Li J L, et al. 2014. Spatial-temporal dynamics of grassland coverage and its response to climate change in China during 1982–2010. Acta Geographica Sinica, 69(1): 15–30. (in Chinese) |
|
Viewed |
|
|
|
Full text
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
|
Cited |
|
|
|
|
| |
Shared |
|
|
|
|
| |
Discussed |
|
|
|
|
