Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
Land degradation reflected by vegetation is a commonly used practice to monitor desertification. To retrieve important information for ecosystem management accurate assessment of desertification is necessary. The major factors that drive vegetation dynamics in arid and semi-arid regions are climate and anthropogenic activities. Progression of desertification is expected to exacerbate under future climate change scenarios, through precipitation variability, increased drought frequency and persistence of dry conditions. This study examined spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in arid regions of Sindh, Pakistan, using annual and growing season Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from 2000 to 2017, and explored the climatic and anthropogenic effects on vegetation. Results showed an overall upward trend (annual 86.71% and growing season 82.7%) and partial downward trend (annual 13.28% and growing season 17.3%) in the study area. NDVI showed the highest significant increase in cropland region during annual, whereas during growing season the highest significant increase was observed in savannas. Overall high consistency in future vegetation trends in arid regions of Sindh province is observed. Stable and steady development region (annual 48.45% and growing 42.80%) dominates the future vegetation trends. Based on the Hurst exponent and vegetation dynamics of the past, improvement in vegetation cover is predicted for a large area (annual 44.49% and growing 30.77%), and a small area is predicted to have decline in vegetation activity (annual 0.09% and growing 3.04%). Results revealed that vegetation growth in the study area is a combined result of climatic and anthropogenic factors; however, in the future multi-controls are expected to have a slightly larger impact on annual positive development than climate whereas positive development in growing season is more likely to continue in future under the control of climate variability.
Highlights
Desertification is a form of land degradation, due to which a relatively dry region typically loses its water bodies, as well as vegetation and wildlife [1]
Progression of desertification is expected to exacerbate under future climate change scenarios, through precipitation variability, increased drought frequency and persistence of dry conditions [17]
Linear Regression Model A linear regression method was applied to analyze spatial and temporal fluctuations between annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), growing season NDVI and time using slope as an indicator of the direction and magnitude of time series trends, wherein a positive slope value indicates increasing vegetation trend, which indicates increase in vegetation coverage, while negative slope value can be an indicator of Eighteen years of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (MOD13Q1) NDVI data from 2000 to 2017 with a 16 day temporal resolution is used in this study
Summary
Desertification is a form of land degradation, due to which a relatively dry region typically loses its water bodies, as well as vegetation and wildlife [1]. Semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions, desertification is caused by a combination of different climatic and anthropogenic factors [2]. These regions provide food to more than 40% of the world’s population [3] and are inhabited by more than 2 billion people [4]. Several studies revealed that the main climatic factors influencing vegetation production and activity in arid and semi-arid regions are temperature and rainfall [15] but the most significant and robust limiting factor of vegetation growth is precipitation [16]. Precipitation is decreasing significantly as pointed out in the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
