Vegetation inter-annual variation responses to climate variation in different geomorphic zones of the Yangtze River Basin, China

Abstract

Despite numerous studies on the response of vegetation change to climate variation, they have mainly been based on annual mean temperature and annual mean precipitation, and have failed to reveal the impact of climate on the inter-annual variation of vegetation in different geomorphic zones based on non-linear methods and considering daily low and high temperature. In this study, the effect of climate variation on the inter-annual variation of vegetation in different geomorphic zones along the area of t the Yangtze River Basin, China from 1982 to 2015 is revealed using Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition method. The results show that the inter-annual variation of vegetation is frequently fluctuating, mainly on a short time scale (3-year time scale), and its contribution gradually increases from 62.35% to 73.57% with increasing relief (from plain to high undulating mountain). The vegetation change of more than 75% of the areas is dominated by inter-annual variations, moreover, the vegetation change of the low relief areas is dominated by the 3-year timescale along with the long-term trend, while that of the other geomorphic zones is dominated by the 3-year timescale only. Inter-annual vegetation variation is positively related to precipitation and maximum temperature, but negatively related to mean temperature and minimum temperature in most areas, with area percentages of 67.20%, 86.55%, 65.38% and 75.02%. Inter-annual variation is mainly controlled by maximum temperature in most areas (54.77%). These results will deepen our understanding of the vegetation-climate relationship, suggesting that the responses of inter-annual variation in vegetation to climate vary not only on different time scales, but also in indifferent geomorphic zones.