Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 78 ›› Issue (3): 714-728.doi: 10.11821/dlxb202303013

• Phytogeography • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Attribution of vegetation dynamics in Southwest China from 1982 to 2019

MA Bingxin1(), HE Caixia1, JING Juanli1,2(), WANG Yongfeng1, LIU Bing1, HE Hongchang1   

  1. 1. College of Geomatics and Geoinformation, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, Guangxi, China
    2. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Spatial Information and Geomatics, Guilin 541006, Guangxi, China
  • Received:2022-07-11 Revised:2023-02-24 Online:2023-03-25 Published:2023-03-27
  • Contact: JING Juanli E-mail:mabx1998@glut.edu.cn;2003080@glut.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(42161028);Guangxi Natural Science Foundation Program(2020GXNSFBA297160)

Abstract:

Southwest China is an important carbon sink region in China. Monitoring vegetation dynamics and exploring the impacts of climate change and human activities on vegetation are essential for gaining insight into carbon cycle mechanisms and promoting sustainable economic development. In this paper, downscaled NDVI data were obtained by fusing the GIMMS NDVI and SPOT NDVI. Then, the data were combined with multitemporal land use and meteorological data to explore the relative contributions of human activities and climate change to vegetation dynamics in Southwest China from 1982 to 2019 by using trend analysis, partial correlation analysis and residual trend analysis. The results are obtained as follows: (1) From 1982 to 2019, the NDVI showed an overall increasing trend in the study area, with an average annual rate of 0.0020 a-1; the NDVI showed a decreasing trend before the Grain to Green Program (GTGP) was implemented, but it turned to an increasing trend after the implementation of the GTGP. (2) Temperature and precipitation increased NDVI as a whole, but there was apparent spatial heterogeneity. Except in the central cities, temperature mainly promoted the NDVI. However, precipitation inhibited the NDVI in the western part of the study area and promoted the NDVI in the eastern part. (3) As the areas affected by climate change and human activities became separated, the contribution of climate change to vegetation recovery increased from 30.47% to 60.28%. In comparison, the contribution of human activities to vegetation recovery decreased from 69.53% to 39.72%. The results suggest that the impact of human activity on vegetation may decline further in the sparsely populated western part of the southwest region.

Key words: Southwest China, NDVI, human activities, climate change, GTGP