Vegetation Change and Its Response to Climate Change in Yunnan Province, China

Huaizhang Sun,Ainong Li,Huaan Jin,Jiyan Wang,Junnan Xiong,Weiming Cheng,Jinhu Bian,Herminia García Mozo

doi:10.1155/2021/8857589

Abstract

The impact of global climate change on vegetation has become increasingly prominent over the past several decades. Understanding vegetation change and its response to climate can provide fundamental information for environmental resource management. In recent years, the arid climate and fragile ecosystem have led to great changes in vegetation in Yunnan Province, so it is very important to further study the relationship between vegetation and climate. In this study, we explored the temporal changes of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in different seasons based on MOD13Q1 NDVI by the maximum value composite and then analyzed spatial distribution characteristics of vegetation using Sen’s tendency estimation, Mann–Kendall significance test, and coefficient of variation model (CV) combined with terrain factors. Finally, the concurrent and lagged effects of NDVI on climate factors in different seasons and months were discussed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results indicate that (1) the temporal variation of the NDVI showed that the NDVI values of different vegetation types increased at different rates, especially in growing season, spring, and autumn; (2) for spatial patterns, the NDVI, CV, and NDVI trends had strong spatial heterogeneity owning to the influence of altitudes, slopes, and aspects; and (3) the concurrent effect of vegetation on climate change indicates that the positive effect of temperature on NDVI was mainly in growing season and autumn, whereas spring NDVI was mainly influenced by precipitation. In addition, the lag effect analysis results revealed that spring precipitation has a definite inhibition effect on summer and autumn vegetation, but spring and summer temperature can promote the growth of vegetation. Meanwhile, the precipitation in the late growing season has a lag effect of 1-2 months on vegetation growth, and air temperature has a lag effect of 1 month in the middle of the growing season. Based on the above results, this study provided valuable information for ecosystem degradation and ecological environment protection in the Yunnan Province.

Highlights

As a key component of terrestrial ecosystems, vegetation plays a pivotal role in the linkage of the pedosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere [1, 2]
We found that precipitation from July to October had a lag effect by 1-2 months on vegetation growth, and temperature from June to August had a lag effect by 1 month on vegetation growth (Figure 12). is phenomenon is closely related to the fact that the precipitation in Yunnan is concentrated in this period owing to the influence of plateau monsoon and the Asian monsoon, and excessive precipitation leads to the necrosis of the root of some vegetation and reduces the photosynthesis of vegetation [38]
In the present study, based on the MOD13Q1 normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), meteorological stations, and digital elevation model (DEM) data, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation during the past 18 years and its response to climate change using the maximum value composite, Sen’s tendency estimation, M-K significance test, coefficient of variation model (CV) model, and Pearson correlation coefficient. e temporal variation of the NDVI showed that the NDVI values of different vegetation types increased at different rates, especially in growing season, spring, and autumn

Summary

Introduction

As a key component of terrestrial ecosystems, vegetation plays a pivotal role in the linkage of the pedosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere [1, 2]. It affects the carbon cycle, energy exchange, climate change, and the water cycle of the diverse ecosystems in direct or indirect ways [3]. Monitoring the vegetation changes of terrestrial ecosystems is critical to understand the role in the global material cycle and energy flow and to provide a theory for humans to natural resources in a reasonable manner.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion