Abstract
The temporal and spatial characteristics of vegetation in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (MRYR) were analyzed from 1999 to 2015 by trend analysis, co-integration analysis, partial correlation analysis, and spatial analysis using MODIS-NDVI time series remote sensing data. The average NDVI of the MRYR increased from 0.72 to 0.80, and nearly two-thirds of the vegetation showed a significant trend of improvement. At the inter-annual scale, the relationship between NDVI and meteorological factors was not significant in most areas. At the inter-monthly scale, NDVI was almost significantly correlated with precipitation, relative humidity, and sunshine hours, and the effect of precipitation and sunshine hours on NDVI showed a pronounced lag. When the altitude was less than 2500 m, NDVI increased with elevation. NDVI increased gradually as the slope increased and decreased gradually as the slope aspect changed from north to south. NDVI decreased as the population density and per capita GDP increased and was significantly positively correlated with afforestation policy. These findings provide new insights into the effects of climate change and human activities on vegetation growth.
Highlights
Natural ecosystems globally have become seriously threatened as climate change continues to intensify and the human population grows [1]
It is highly sensitive to dynamic changes in surface vegetation and has been widely used in vegetation monitoring; it has become a major focus of global change research [6,7,8]
The results indicated that there was a certain relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and climate factors based on the vast majority of pixels in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (MRYR) at inter-monthly, and the correlation analysis could be conducted
Summary
Natural ecosystems globally have become seriously threatened as climate change continues to intensify and the human population grows [1]. The growth of vegetation is affected by both natural and human factors and is highly sensitive to environmental change [2,3]. Study of the factors affecting changes in vegetation dynamics has implications for the maintenance of regional ecological balance [4,5]. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is an important indicator that reflects the growth status and dynamic changes in vegetation. It is highly sensitive to dynamic changes in surface vegetation (including vegetation coverage, biomass, and leaf area index) and has been widely used in vegetation monitoring; it has become a major focus of global change research [6,7,8]
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