Vegetation coverage change of the demonstration area of ecologically friendly development in the Yangtze River Delta, China based on GEE and BRT during 1984-2019.

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The demonstration area of ecologically friendly development in the Yangtze River Delta is a major national strategy area, and thus eco-environmental protection should be a priority for the sustainable development. Exploring the spatial-temporal variations of franctional vegetation coverage (FVC) is conducive to accurate assessing the ecological quality of environment, which is of great significance to regional sustainable development. In this study, the characteristics and trends of spatial-temporal variation of vegetation cover during 1984-2019 in the demonstration area were analyzed based on Google Earth Engine (GEE). The effects of different ecological factors on FVC were quantified by the boosted regression tree (BRT). Results showed that,the changing trend of FVC in the study area shifted from decreasing to increasing trend from 1984 to 2019. The spatial distribution of FVC in the study area varied with both stages and regions. FVC was mainly degraded. Compared with the year 1984, the area of vegetation degradation and improvement in 2019 accounted for 49.8% and 12.8%, respectively. The vegetation degradation mainly occurred in the north of Wujiang, south of Jiashan, and northeast of Qingpu. Human activities severely weakened the influence of natural factors on FVC. Our findings suggested that the GEE is an effective tool for monitoring the dynamics of vegetation coverage.