Spatiotemporal variation of vegetation dynamics and correlations with climatic factors in the Tibetan Plateau, China

Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau has been recognized as one of the most sensitive areas responding to climate change, and has becomes a hotspot for coupled studies on terrestrial ecosystem variation and climate change. Leaf area index (LAI) is a key indicator that reflects vegetation dynamics and has been widely used to analyze the responses of vegetation to climate change. In this study, the spatiotemporal variation of LAI in the growing season and its correlations with climatic factors were analyzed. The results showed that the spatial pattern of LAI decreased from southeast to northwest. In terms of the temporal trend of LAI, 85% of the total study area experienced an increased trend. Additionally, 74% of the whole plateau will experience an improved vegetation growth in the future. Furthermore, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation all showed positive correlations with LAI for most of the study area. Our results effectively revealed the variation of LAI and its correlations with climatic factors. However, grassland in the plateau have been shown to have a greater and more rapid response to climatic fluctuations. Therefore, more managements should be made by local governments to improve the fragile environment, especially for areas with a decreasing LAI trend.