Quantifying drought response sensitivity and spatial and temporal heterogeneity of vegetation in arid and semi-arid regions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drought disasters significantly threaten the stability of terrestrial ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions. Although the impact of drought on vegetation has been extensively researched, there is still a lack of understanding regarding the ecological impacts of drought on the heterogeneous vegetation in northern China’s arid and semi-arid regions. To investigate the spatial patterns of vegetation and differences in response to drought climate, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) were used to determine vegetation characteristics and the seasonal sensitivity of vegetation types to drought response, as well as to identify the factors driving the sensitivity differences. In the study area, 83.1% of the vegetation exhibited a significant positive correlation with the drought index. The maximum correlation coefficient between vegetation and drought was 0.62, demonstrating that the majority of vegetation was influenced by drought. It was observed that different vegetation types responded differently to drought at varying spatial and temporal scales. The main drivers of vegetation response to drought in arid and semi-arid zones were quantified by using the random forest algorithm. The results indicated that climate and soil factors are the primary limiting factors. These findings enhance our comprehension of arid and semi-arid areas, the effect of drought on different plant species, and the factors that affect vegetation’s response to drought.