Spatiotemporal Pattern of Vegetation Ecology Quality and Its Response to Climate Change between 2000–2017 in China

Chao Li, Xuemei Li, Dongliang Luo, Yi He, Fangfang Chen, Bo Zhang and Qiyong Qin
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Chao Li: Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Xuemei Li: Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Dongliang Luo: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environmental Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yi He: Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Fangfang Chen: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environmental Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Bo Zhang: Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Qiyong Qin: Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: Vegetation ecology quality (VEQ) is an important indicator for evaluating environmental quality and ecosystem balance. The VEQ in China has changed significantly with global warming and gradual intensification of human activities. It is crucial to research the spatiotemporal characteristics of VEQ and its response to climate change in China. However, most previous studies used a single indicator to reflect VEQ in China, which needs to combine the effects of multiple indicators to reveal its variation characteristics. Based on the six remote sensing indicators, fractional vegetation cover, leaf area index, net primary productivity, vegetation wetness, land surface temperature, and water use efficiency of vegetation, the vegetation ecology quality index (VEQI) was constructed by principal component analysis in this paper. The spatio-temporal distribution and trend characteristic of VEQ within disparate ecosystems in China from 2000 to 2017 were studied. How continuous climate change affected VEQ over time was also analyzed. The results showed that the differences in spatial distribution between the excellent and poor VEQ regions were significant, with the proportion of excellent regions being much larger than that of poor regions. The VEQ has been ameliorated continuously during the past 18 years. Simultaneously, the VEQ would be ameliorated persistently in the future. Differences in the distribution and variation trend of VEQ occurred in disparate ecosystems. The VEQ of broadleaved forest was the best, while that of shrubs and arctic grassland ecosystem was the worst. The VEQ characteristics were different in disparate climate zones, with the best VEQ in the tropical monsoon climate zone and the worst in the plateau mountain climate zone. Except for desert vegetation and paddy field-dominated vegetation, VEQ of other ecosystems were significantly negatively correlated with altitude. Generally, moderate precipitation and temperature were favorable to improve VEQ in China. VEQ during the peak growing season was negatively correlated with temperature and positively correlated with precipitation, and the influence of precipitation on VEQ was stronger than that of temperature. Our results can be used to enact relevant management measures and policies.

Keywords: vegetation ecology quality; principal component analysis; SEN + Mann–Kendall; climatic factor; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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