The Dual Effects of Climate Change and Human Activities on the Spatiotemporal Vegetation Dynamics in the Inner Mongolia Plateau from 1982 to 2022

Guangxue Guo, Xiang Zou () and Yuting Zhang
Additional contact information
Guangxue Guo: School of Geography, Geomatics, and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
Xiang Zou: School of Geography, Geomatics, and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
Yuting Zhang: School of Geography, Geomatics, and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-21

Abstract: The Inner Mongolia Plateau (IMP), situated in the arid and semi-arid ecological transition zone of northern China, is particularly vulnerable to both climate change and human activities. Understanding the spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics and their driving forces is essential for regional ecological management. This study employs Sen’s slope estimation, BFAST analysis, residual trend method and Geodetector to analyze the spatial patterns of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) variability and distinguish between climatic and anthropogenic influences. Key findings include the following: (1) From 1982 to 2022, vegetation cover across the IMP exhibited a significant greening trend. Zonal analysis showed that this spatial heterogeneity was strongly regulated by regional hydrothermal conditions, with varied responses across land cover types and pronounced recovery observed in high-altitude areas. (2) In the western arid regions, vegetation trends were unstable, often marked by interruptions and reversals, contrasting with the sustained greening observed in the eastern zones. (3) Vegetation growth was primarily temperature-driven in the eastern forested areas, precipitation-driven in the central grasslands, and severely limited in the western deserts due to warming-induced drought. (4) Human activities exerted dual effects: significant positive residual trends were observed in the Hetao Plain and southern Horqin Sandy Land, while widespread negative residuals emerged across the southern deserts and central grasslands. (5) Vegetation change was driven by climate and human factors, with recovery mainly due to climate improvement and degradation linked to their combined impact. These findings highlight the interactive mechanisms of climate change and human disturbance in regulating terrestrial vegetation dynamics, offering insights for sustainable development and ecosystem education in climate-sensitive systems.

Keywords: NDVI; spatiotemporal variations; climate change; human activities; Inner Mongolia Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/8/1559/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/8/1559/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:8:p:1559-:d:1712727

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().