A perception of the nexus “resistance, recovery, resilience” of vegetations responded to extreme precipitation pulses in arid and semi-arid regions: A case study of the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve, China

Abstract

Unprecedented pulses of extreme precipitation due to climate change are causing significant stresses and impacts on regional and even global ecosystems. However, the relationship of vegetation response to this disturbance is unclear, such as phase characteristics, extent, timing, and degree. We summarize the nexus between vegetation resistance, recovery, and resilience under three stages of extreme precipitation pulses: duration, lagging, and post-disturbance, and then construct a pragmatic scheme to quantify and validate this complex relationship based on precipitation and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve (QMNR) from 2000 to 2020. The results show that the four extreme precipitation pulses were spring 2010 (118.98 mm), summer 2007 (312.25 mm), autumn 2010 (109.74 mm), and winter 2018 (6.84 mm). Extreme precipitations had a significant effect on vegetation in at least 98.5 % of the area, and there was also a two-month time lag effect. Specifically, the percentage of negative vegetation resistance in the face of four seasons of extreme precipitation pulses was 18.3 %, 2.0 %, 15.4 %, and 21.7 %, respectively, compared to negative recovery rates of 4.8 %, 11.9 %, 17.8 % and 10.2 % respectively, resilience was even more severe, with 20.1 %, 10.9 %, 16.1 % and 16.3 % of vegetation failing to rebound to normal levels within two months. The negative resistance, negative recovery, and weak resilience of vegetation under short-term extreme precipitation pulses are approximately 4.8, 3.7, and 5.3 times more fierce than long-term vegetation degradation. A total of 62 % of the four seasonal areas of severe negative resistance, severe negative recovery, and weak resilience were located in areas of moderate and significant steepness, which confirms that extreme precipitation pulses cause serious degradation of vegetation. Response of vegetation under extreme precipitation pulses is perceived, quantified, and validated in this study, which is essential for addressing climate change.