scholarly journals Persistent Vegetation Greening and Browning Trends Related to Natural and Human Activities in the Mount Elgon Ecosystem

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 2113
Author(s):  
Dan Wanyama ◽  
Nathan J. Moore ◽  
Kyla M. Dahlin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Sen’S Slope ◽  
Mount Elgon

Many developing nations are facing severe food insecurity partly because of their dependence on rainfed agriculture. Climate variability threatens agriculture-based community livelihoods. With booming population growth, agricultural land expands, and natural resource extraction increases, leading to changes in land use and land cover characterized by persistent vegetation greening and browning. This can modify local climate variability due to changing land–atmosphere interactions. Yet, for landscapes with significant interannual variability, such as the Mount Elgon ecosystem in Kenya and Uganda, characterizing these changes is a difficult task and more robust methods have been recommended. The current study combined trend (Mann–Kendall and Sen’s slope) and breakpoint (bfast) analysis methods to comprehensively examine recent vegetation greening and browning in Mount Elgon at multiple time scales. The study used both Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) data and attempted to disentangle nature- versus human-driven vegetation greening and browning. Inferences from a 2019 field study were valuable in explaining some of the observed patterns. The results indicate that Mount Elgon vegetation is highly variable with both greening and browning observable at all time scales. Mann–Kendall and Sen’s slope revealed major changes (including deforestation and reforestation), while bfast detected most of the subtle vegetation changes (such as vegetation degradation), especially in the savanna and grasslands in the northeastern parts of Mount Elgon. Precipitation in the area had significantly changed (increased) in the post-2000 era than before, particularly in 2006–2010, thus influencing greening and browning during this period. The greenness–precipitation relationship was weak in other periods. The integration of Mann–Kendall and bfast proved useful in comprehensively characterizing vegetation greenness. Such a comprehensive description of Mount Elgon vegetation dynamics is an important first step to instigate policy changes for simultaneously conserving the environment and improving livelihoods that are dependent on it.

scholarly journals The Relationship between NDVI and Climate Factors at Different Monthly Time Scales: A Case Study of Grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China (1982–2015)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhifang Pei ◽  
Shibo Fang ◽  
Wunian Yang ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Mingyan Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Climate Factors ◽  
The Relationship

There are currently only two methods (the within-growing season method and the inter-growing season method) used to analyse the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)–climate relationship at the monthly time scale. What are the differences between the two methods, and why do they exist? Which method is more suitable for the analysis of the relationship between them? In this study, after obtaining NDVI values (GIMMS NDVI3g) near meteorological stations and meteorological data of Inner Mongolian grasslands from 1982 to 2015, we analysed temporal changes in NDVI and climate factors, and explored the difference in Pearson correlation coefficients (R) between them via the above two analysis methods and analysed the change in R between them at multiple time scales. The research results indicated that: (1) NDVI was affected by temperature and precipitation in the area, showing periodic changes, (2) NDVI had a high value of R with climate factors in the within-growing season, while the significant correlation between them was different in different months in the inter-growing season, (3) with the increase in time series, the value of R between NDVI and climate factors showed a trend of increase in the within-growing season, while the value of R between NDVI and precipitation decreased, but then tended toward stability in the inter-growing season, and (4) when exploring the NDVI–climate relationship, we should first analyse the types of climate in the region to avoid the impacts of rain and heat occurring during the same period, and the inter-growing season method is more suitable for the analysis of the relationship between them.

scholarly journals Life in the Frequency Domain: the Biological Impacts of Changes in Climate Variability at Multiple Time Scales

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Dillon ◽  
H. Arthur Woods ◽  
George Wang ◽  
Samuel B. Fey ◽  
David A. Vasseur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Frequency Domain ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Biological Impacts

Feedbacks of Vegetation on Summertime Climate Variability over the North American Grasslands. Part I: Statistical Analysis

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weile Wang ◽  
Bruce T. Anderson ◽  
Nathan Phillips ◽  
Robert K. Kaufmann ◽  
Christopher Potter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
North American ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
The North

Abstract Feedbacks of vegetation on summertime climate variability over the North American Grasslands are analyzed using the statistical technique of Granger causality. Results indicate that normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) anomalies early in the growing season have a statistically measurable effect on precipitation and surface temperature later in summer. In particular, higher means and/or decreasing trends of NDVI anomalies tend to be followed by lower rainfall but higher temperatures during July through September. These results suggest that initially enhanced vegetation may deplete soil moisture faster than normal and thereby induce drier and warmer climate anomalies via the strong soil moisture–precipitation coupling in these regions. Consistent with this soil moisture–precipitation feedback mechanism, interactions between temperature and precipitation anomalies in this region indicate that moister and cooler conditions are also related to increases in precipitation during the preceding months. Because vegetation responds to soil moisture variations, interactions between vegetation and precipitation generate oscillations in NDVI anomalies at growing season time scales, which are identified in the temporal and the spectral characteristics of the precipitation–NDVI system. Spectral analysis of the precipitation–NDVI system also indicates that 1) long-term interactions (i.e., interannual and longer time scales) between the two anomalies tend to enhance one another, 2) short-term interactions (less than 2 months) tend to damp one another, and 3) intermediary-period interactions (4–8 months) are oscillatory. Together, these results support the hypothesis that vegetation may influence summertime climate variability via the land–atmosphere hydrological cycles over these semiarid grasslands.

SOME REMARKS ON THE MULTIPLE TIME SCALES OF DIFFUSION IN MINERALS AND MELTS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liang ◽  
◽  
Daniele J. Cherniak ◽  
Chenguang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time

scholarly journals Are We Doing ‘Systems’ Research? An Assessment of Methods for Climate Change Adaptation to Hydrohazards in a Complex World

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Bedinger ◽  
Lindsay Beevers ◽  
Lila Collet ◽  
Annie Visser
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Systems Research

Climate change is a product of the Anthropocene, and the human–nature system in which we live. Effective climate change adaptation requires that we acknowledge this complexity. Theoretical literature on sustainability transitions has highlighted this and called for deeper acknowledgment of systems complexity in our research practices. Are we heeding these calls for ‘systems’ research? We used hydrohazards (floods and droughts) as an example research area to explore this question. We first distilled existing challenges for complex human–nature systems into six central concepts: Uncertainty, multiple spatial scales, multiple time scales, multimethod approaches, human–nature dimensions, and interactions. We then performed a systematic assessment of 737 articles to examine patterns in what methods are used and how these cover the complexity concepts. In general, results showed that many papers do not reference any of the complexity concepts, and no existing approach addresses all six. We used the detailed results to guide advancement from theoretical calls for action to specific next steps. Future research priorities include the development of methods for consideration of multiple hazards; for the study of interactions, particularly in linking the short- to medium-term time scales; to reduce data-intensivity; and to better integrate bottom–up and top–down approaches in a way that connects local context with higher-level decision-making. Overall this paper serves to build a shared conceptualisation of human–nature system complexity, map current practice, and navigate a complexity-smart trajectory for future research.

scholarly journals A multistate model incorporating estimation of excess hazards and multiple time scales

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 2139-2154
Author(s):  
Caroline E. Weibull ◽  
Paul C. Lambert ◽  
Sandra Eloranta ◽  
Therese M. L. Andersson ◽  
Paul W. Dickman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Multistate Model
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