Decreased vegetation growth in response to summer drought in Central Asia from 2000 to 2012

Abstract

Climate change scenarios predict that Central Asia may experience an increase in the frequency and magnitude of temperature and precipitation extremes by the end of the 21st century, but the response regularity of different types of vegetation to climate extremes is uncertain. Based on remote-sensed vegetation index and in-situ meteorological data for the period of 2000–2012, we examined the diverse responses of vegetation to climate mean/extremes and differentiated climatic and anthropogenic influence on the vegetation in Central Asia. Our results showed that extensive vegetation degradation was related to summer water deficit as a result of the combined effect of decreased precipitation and increased potential evapotranspiration. Water was a primary climatic driver for vegetation changes regionally, and human-induced changes in vegetation confined mainly to local areas. Responses of vegetation to water stress varied in different vegetation types. Grasslands were most responsive to water deficit followed by forests and desert vegetation. Climate extremes caused significant vegetation changes, and different vegetation types had diverse responses to climate extremes. Grasslands represented a symmetric response to wet and dry periods. Desert vegetation was more responsive during wet years than in dry years. Forests responded more strongly to dry than to wet years due to a severe drought occurred in 2008. This study has important implications for predicting how vegetation ecosystems in drylands respond to climate mean/extremes under future scenarios of climate change.