Examining Vegetation Change and Associated Spatial Patterns in Wuyishan National Park at Different Protection Levels

Abstract

Examining the characteristics of vegetation change and associated spatial patterns under different protection levels can provide a scientific basis for national park protection and management. Based on the dense time-series Landsat enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data between 1986 and 2020, we utilized the Wild Binary Segmentation (WBS) approach to detect spatial and temporal characteristics of abrupt, gradual, and total changes in Wuyishan National Park. The differences in vegetation change in three protection-level areas (strictly protected [Prots], generally protected [Prot], and non-protected [NP]) were examined, and the contributions to their spatial patterns were evaluated through Geodetector. The results showed the following: (1) The highest percentage of area without abrupt change was in Prots (39.89%), and the lowest percentage was in NP (17.44%). The percentage of abrupt change frequency (larger than three times) increased from 4.40% to 9.10% and 12.49% with the decreases in protection. The significance test showed that the difference in changed frequencies was not significant among these regions, but the interannual variation of abrupt change in Prots was significantly different from other areas. (2) The vegetation coverage of the Wuyishan National Park generally improved. The total EVI change (TEVI) showed that the positive percentage of Prots and Prot was 90.43% and 91.71%, respectively, slightly higher than that of NP (88.44%). However, the mean greenness change of NP was higher than that of Prots and Prot. (3) The park’s EVI spatial pattern in 1986 was the strongest factor determining the EVI spatial pattern in 2020; the explanatory power reduced as the protection level decreased. The explanation power (q value) of abrupt vegetation change was lower and increased as the protection level decreased. The interaction detection showed that EVI1986 and TEVI had the strongest explanatory powers, but the explanatory ability gradually weakened from 0.713 to 0.672 to 0.581 in Prots, Prot, and NP, respectively. This study provided a systematic analysis of vegetation changes and their impacts on spatial patterns.