Abstract
Global vegetation distribution has been influenced by human disturbance and climate change. The past vegetation changes were studied in numerous studies while few studies had addressed the relative contributions of human disturbance and climate change on vegetation change. To separate the influences of human disturbance and climate change on the vegetation changes, we compared the existing vegetation which indicates the vegetation distribution under human influences with the potential vegetation which reflects the vegetation distribution without human influences. The results showed that climate-induced vegetation changes only occurred in a few grid cells from the period 1982–1996 to the period 1997–2013. Human-induced vegetation changes occurred worldwide, except in the polar and desert regions. About 3% of total vegetation distribution was transformed by human activities from the period 1982–1996 to the period 1997–2013. Human disturbances caused stronger damage to global vegetation change than climate change. Our results indicated that the regions where vegetation experienced both human disturbance and climate change are eco-fragile regions.
Highlights
Vegetation is the most important component of the global terrestrial ecosystem
Few studies evaluated the individual contributions of human disturbance and climate change on vegetation changes, which is crucial to know whether the past vegetation changes are mainly caused by human or nature
Global existing vegetation types were defined for the period 1982–1996 (Fig. 2A) and the period 1997–2013 (Fig. 2B)
Summary
Influenced by human disturbance and climate change, global vegetation has shifted from a semi-wild terrestrial biosphere to a mostly anthropogenic biome (Ellis et al, 2010). The changes in the global vegetation or land use in the past were addressed in numerous studies (e.g., Wang, Price & Arora, 2006; Li et al, 2017; Song et al, 2018). Few studies evaluated the individual contributions of human disturbance and climate change on vegetation changes, which is crucial to know whether the past vegetation changes are mainly caused by human or nature. The land surface of the Earth has been modified by human activities (e.g., farming, construction and grazing) for centuries, and it has been significantly changed by human activities (Foley et al, 2005; Ellis & Ramankutty, 2008; DeFries et al, 2010).
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