scholarly journals Phenology Response to Climatic Dynamic across China’s Grasslands from 1985 to 2010

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Wang ◽  
Tiancai Zhou ◽  
Peihao Peng

Because the dynamics of phenology in response to climate change may be diverse in different grasslands, quantifying how climate change influences plant growth in different grasslands across northern China should be particularly informative. In this study, we explored the spatiotemporal variation of the phenology (start of the growing season [SOS], peak of the growing season [POS], end of the growing season [EOS], and length of the growing season [LOS]) across China’s grasslands using a dataset of the GIMMS3g normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, 1985–2010), and determined the effects of the annual mean temperature (AMT) and annual mean precipitation (AMP) on the significantly changed phenology. We found that the SOS, POS, and EOS advanced at the rates of 0.54 days/year, 0.64 days/year, and 0.65 days/year, respectively; the LOS was shortened at a rate of 0.62 days/year across China’s grasslands. Additionally, the AMT combined with the AMP explained the different rates (ER) for the significantly dynamic SOS in the meadow steppe (R2 = 0.26, p = 0.007, ER = 12.65%) and typical steppe (R2 = 0.28, p = 0.005, ER = 32.52%); the EOS in the alpine steppe (R2 = 0.16, p < 0.05, ER = 6.22%); and the LOS in the alpine (R2 = 0.20, p < 0.05, ER = 6.06%), meadow (R2 = 0.18, p < 0.05, ER = 16.69%) and typical (R2 = 0.18, p < 0.05, ER = 19.58%) steppes. Our findings demonstrated that the plant phenology in different grasslands presented discrepant dynamic patterns, highlighting the fact that climate change has played an important role in the variation of the plant phenology across China’s grasslands, and suggested that the variation and relationships between the climatic factors and phenology in different grasslands should be explored further in the future.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongzhu Han ◽  
Jianjun Bai ◽  
Gao Ma ◽  
Jianwu Yan

Vegetation phenology is highly sensitive to climate change, and the phenological responses of vegetation to climate factors vary over time and space. Research on the vegetation phenology in different climatic regimes will help clarify the key factors affecting vegetation changes. In this paper, based on a time-series reconstruction of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data using the Savitzky–Golay filtering method, the phenology parameters of vegetation were extracted, and the Spatio-temporal changes from 2001 to 2016 were analyzed. Moreover, the response characteristics of the vegetation phenology to climate changes, such as changes in temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours, were discussed. The results showed that the responses of vegetation phenology to climatic factors varied within different climatic regimes and that the Spatio-temporal responses were primarily controlled by the local climatic and topographic conditions. The following were the three key findings. (1) The start of the growing season (SOS) has a regular variation with the latitude, and that in the north is later than that in the south. (2) In arid areas in the north, the SOS is mainly affected by the temperature, and the end of the growing season (EOS) is affected by precipitation, while in humid areas in the south, the SOS is mainly affected by precipitation, and the EOS is affected by the temperature. (3) Human activities play an important role in vegetation phenology changes. These findings would help predict and evaluate the stability of different ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuyang Wang ◽  
Yuqiang Li ◽  
XinYuan Wang ◽  
Yulin Li ◽  
Jie Lian ◽  
...  

China faces some of the most serious desertification in the world, leading to many problems. To solve them, large-scale ecological restoration projects were implemented. To assess their effectiveness, we analyzed normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI) data derived from SPOT VEGETATION and gridded climate datasets from 1998 to 2015 to detect the degrees of desertification and the effects of human and climate drivers on vegetation dynamics. We found that NDVI of desertified areas generally decreased before 2000, then increased. The annual increase in NDVI was fixed dunes (0.0013) = semi-fixed dunes (0.0013) &gt; semi-mobile dunes (0.0012) &gt; gobi (gravel) desert (0.0011) &gt; mobile dunes (0.0003) &gt; saline–alkali land (0.0000). The proportions of the area of each desert type in which NDVI increased were fixed dunes (43.4%) &gt; semi-mobile dunes (39.7%) &gt; semi-fixed dunes (26.7%) &gt; saline–alkali land (23.1%) &gt; gobi desert (14.4%) &gt; mobile dunes (12.5%). Thus, the vegetation response to the restoration efforts increased as the initial dune stability increased. The proportion of the area where desertification was dominated by temperature (1.8%) was far less than the area dominated by precipitation (14.1%). However, 67.6% of the change was driven by non-climatic factors. The effectiveness of the ecological restoration projects was significant in the Loess Plateau and in the Mu Us, Horqin, and Hulunbuir sandy lands. In contrast, there was little effect in the Badain Jaran, Ulan Buh, and Tengger deserts; in particular, vegetation cover has declined seriously in the Hunshandake Sandy Land and Alkin Desert Grassland. Thus, more or different ecological restoration must be implemented in these areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunpeng Luo ◽  
Tarek S. El-Madany ◽  
Gianluca Filippa ◽  
Xuanlong Ma ◽  
Bernhard Ahrens ◽  
...  

Tree–grass ecosystems are widely distributed. However, their phenology has not yet been fully characterized. The technique of repeated digital photographs for plant phenology monitoring (hereafter referred as PhenoCam) provide opportunities for long-term monitoring of plant phenology, and extracting phenological transition dates (PTDs, e.g., start of the growing season). Here, we aim to evaluate the utility of near-infrared-enabled PhenoCam for monitoring the phenology of structure (i.e., greenness) and physiology (i.e., gross primary productivity—GPP) at four tree–grass Mediterranean sites. We computed four vegetation indexes (VIs) from PhenoCams: (1) green chromatic coordinates (GCC), (2) normalized difference vegetation index (CamNDVI), (3) near-infrared reflectance of vegetation index (CamNIRv), and (4) ratio vegetation index (CamRVI). GPP is derived from eddy covariance flux tower measurement. Then, we extracted PTDs and their uncertainty from different VIs and GPP. The consistency between structural (VIs) and physiological (GPP) phenology was then evaluated. CamNIRv is best at representing the PTDs of GPP during the Green-up period, while CamNDVI is best during the Dry-down period. Moreover, CamNIRv outperforms the other VIs in tracking growing season length of GPP. In summary, the results show it is promising to track structural and physiology phenology of seasonally dry Mediterranean ecosystem using near-infrared-enabled PhenoCam. We suggest using multiple VIs to better represent the variation of GPP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linghui Guo ◽  
Liyuan Zuo ◽  
Jiangbo Gao ◽  
Yuan Jiang ◽  
Yongling Zhang ◽  
...  

An understanding of the response of interannual vegetation variations to climate change is critical for the future projection of ecosystem processes and developing effective coping strategies. In this study, the spatial pattern of interannual variability in the growing season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for different biomes and its relationships with climate variables were investigated in Inner Mongolia during 1982–2015 by jointly using linear regression, geographical detector, and geographically weighted regression methodologies. The result showed that the greatest variability of the growing season NDVI occurred in typical steppe and desert steppe, with forest and desert most stable. The interannual variability of NDVI differed monthly among biomes, showing a time gradient of the largest variation from northeast to southwest. NDVI interannual variability was significantly related to that of the corresponding temperature and precipitation for each biome, characterized by an obvious spatial heterogeneity and time lag effect marked in the later period of the growing season. Additionally, the large slope of NDVI variation to temperature for desert implied that desert tended to amplify temperature variations, whereas other biomes displayed a capacity to buffer climate fluctuations. These findings highlight the relationships between vegetation variability and climate variability, which could be used to support the adaptive management of vegetation resources in the context of climate change.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 205
Author(s):  
Xu-Juan Cao ◽  
Qing-Zhu Gao ◽  
Ganjurjav Hasbagan ◽  
Yan Liang ◽  
Wen-Han Li ◽  
...  

Climate change will affect how the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is correlated with climate factors, varies in space and over time. The Mongolian Plateau is an arid and semi-arid area, 64% covered by grassland, which is extremely sensitive to climate change. Its climate has shown a warming and drying trend at both annual and seasonal scales. We analysed NDVI and climate variation characteristics and the relationships between them for Mongolian Plateau grasslands from 1981 to 2013. The results showed spatial and temporal differences in the variation of NDVI. Precipitation showed the strongest correlation with NDVI (43% of plateau area correlated with total annual precipitation and 44% with total precipitation in the growing season, from May to September), followed by potential evapotranspiration (27% annual, and 30% growing season), temperature (7% annual, 16% growing season) and cloud cover (10% annual, 12% growing season). These findings confirm that moisture is the most important limiting factor for grassland vegetation growth on the Mongolian Plateau. Changes in land use help to explain variations in NDVI in 40% of the plateau, where no correlation with climate factors was found. Our results indicate that vegetation primary productivity will decrease if warming and drying trends continue but decreases will be less substantial if further warming, predicted as highly likely, is not accompanied by further drying, for which predictions are less certain. Continuing spatial and temporal variability can be expected, including as a result of land use changes.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang Fengtai ◽  
An Youzhi

Abstract. An evaluation of the relationship between satellite-observed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data as a proxy for vegetation greenness and water availability (rainfall and soil moisture) can greatly improve our understanding of how vegetation greenness responds to water availability fluctuations. Using Sen and Pearson’s correlation methods, we analyzed the spatio-temporal variation of vegetation greenness for both the entire year and the growing season (GS,4-10) in northern China from 1982 to 2006. Although, vegetation greenness and soil moisture during the study period changed significantly for the entire study area, there was no change in rainfall. Linear correlation analysis between NDVI and rainfall revealed higher correlations using data for all seasons. Higher correlations for NDVI and soil moisture were obtained using growing season data. This study highlights how strongly vegetation greenness responds to water availability dynamics, especially in the growing season period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanji Wang ◽  
Xiangjin Shen ◽  
Ming Jiang ◽  
Xianguo Lu

Songnen Plain is a representative semi-arid marshland in China. The Songnen Plain marshes have undergone obvious loss during the past decades. In order to protect and restore wetland vegetation, it is urgent to investigate the vegetation change and its response to climate change in the Songnen Plain marshes. Based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and climate data, we investigated the spatiotemporal change of vegetation and its relationship with temperature and precipitation in the Songnen Plain marshes. During 2000–2016, the growing season mean NDVI of the Songnen Plain marshes significantly (p < 0.01) increased at a rate of 0.06/decade. For the climate change effects on vegetation, the growing season precipitation had a significant positive effect on the growing season NDVI of marshes. In addition, this study first found asymmetric effects of daytime maximum temperature (Tmax) and nighttime minimum temperature (Tmin) on NDVI of the Songnen Plain marshes: The growing season NDVI correlated negatively with Tmax but positively with Tmin. Considering the global asymmetric warming of Tmax and Tmin, more attention should be paid to these asymmetric effects of Tmax and Tmin on the vegetation of marshes.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanying Shao ◽  
Yuqing Zhang ◽  
Xiuqin Wu ◽  
Charles P.-A. Bourque ◽  
Jutao Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Desert regions of northern China have always been the most severely affected by climate change, especially in terms of their ecological integrity and social sustainable development. Assessments of dryness in both space and time are central to the development of adaptation strategies to climate change. Earlier studies have identified long-term patterns of dryness in northern China, but these studies have usually been of limited value to land-management planning as they ignore local-to-regional-scale climate features. To identify potential cause-and-effect relationship between aridity and vegetation cover, changes in aridity index (AI) and vegetation cover were tracked with the assistance of a chronological series of surfaces based on the mapping of AI and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and convergent cross mapping. By tracking regional-scale variation in precipitation, air temperature, AI from 1961–2013 (53 years), and vegetation cover dynamics from 1982–2013 (32 years), we show that precipitation increased in approximately 70 % of the greater desert region, including in the Ulanbuh, Tengger, Badain Jaran, Qaidam, Kumtag, Gurbantunggut, and Taklimakan Deserts. This increase was statistically strongest for the Gurbantunggut (p 


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiu Geng ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Wei Ren ◽  
Zhixin Hao

Exploring the impacts of climate change on agriculture is one of important topics with respect to climate change. We quantitatively examined the impacts of climate change on winter wheat yield in Northern China using the Cobb–Douglas production function. Utilizing time-series data of agricultural production and meteorological observations from 1981 to 2016, the impacts of climatic factors on wheat production were assessed. It was found that the contribution of climatic factors to winter wheat yield per unit area (WYPA) was 0.762–1.921% in absolute terms. Growing season average temperature (GSAT) had a negative impact on WYPA for the period of 1981–2016. A 1% increase in GSAT could lead to a loss of 0.109% of WYPA when the other factors were constant. While growing season precipitation (GSP) had a positive impact on WYPA, as a 1% increase in GSP could result in 0.186% increase in WYPA, other factors kept constant. Then, the impacts on WYPA for the period 2021–2050 under two different emissions scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were forecasted. For the whole study area, GSAT is projected to increase 1.37°C under RCP4.5 and 1.54°C under RCP8.5 for the period 2021–2050, which will lower the average WYPA by 1.75% and 1.97%, respectively. GSP is tended to increase by 17.31% under RCP4.5 and 22.22% under RCP8.5 and will give a rise of 3.22% and 4.13% in WYPA. The comprehensive effect of GSAT and GSP will increase WYPA by 1.47% under RCP4.5 and 2.16% under RCP8.5.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaohui Luo ◽  
Qingmei Song ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Huanmu Zeng ◽  
Tao He ◽  
...  

Land surface phenology (LSP) is a sensitive indicator of climate change. Understanding the variation in LSP under various impacts can improve our knowledge on ecosystem dynamics and biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Over recent decades, LSP derived from remote sensing data and climate change-related variation of LSP have been widely reported at the regional and global scales. However, the smoothing methods of the vegetation index (i.e., NDVI) are diverse, and discrepancies among methods may result in different results. Additionally, LSP is affected by climate change and non-climate change simultaneously. However, few studies have focused on the isolated impacts of climate change and the impacts of non-climate change on LSP variation. In this study, four methods were applied to reconstruct the MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI) dataset to choose the best smoothing result to estimate LSP. Subsequently, the variation in the start of season (SOS) and end of season (EOS) under isolated impacts of climate change were analyzed. Furthermore, the indirect effects of isolated impacts of non-climate change were conducted based on the differences between the combined impact (the impacts of both climate change and non-climate change) and isolated impacts of climate change. Our results indicated that the Savitzky-Golay method is the best method of the four for smoothing EVI in Northern China. Additionally, SOS displayed an advanced trend under the impacts of both climate change and non-climate change (hereafter called the combined impact), isolated impacts of climate change, and isolated impacts of non-climate change, with mean values of −0.26, −0.07, and −0.17 days per year, respectively. Moreover, the trend of SOS continued after 2000, but the magnitudes of changes in SOS after 2000 were lower than those that were estimated over the last two decades of the twentieth century (previous studies). EOS showed a delayed trend under the combined impact and isolated impacts of non-climate change, with mean values of 0.41 and 0.43 days per year, respectively. However, EOS advanced with a mean value of −0.16 days per year under the isolated impacts of climate change. Furthermore, the absolute mean values of SOS and EOS trends under the isolated impacts of non-climate change were larger than that of the isolated impacts of climate change, indicating that the effect of non-climate change on LSP variation was larger than that of climate change. With regard to the relative contribution of climatic factors to the variation in SOS and EOS, the proportion of solar radiation was the largest for both SOS and EOS, followed by precipitation and temperature.


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