Xu, T.; Wu, H. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Cover in Relation to Its Driving Forces in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Forests2023, 14, 1835.
Xu, T.; Wu, H. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Cover in Relation to Its Driving Forces in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Forests 2023, 14, 1835.
Xu, T.; Wu, H. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Cover in Relation to Its Driving Forces in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Forests2023, 14, 1835.
Xu, T.; Wu, H. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Cover in Relation to Its Driving Forces in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Forests 2023, 14, 1835.
Abstract
The vegetation types on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are complex and diverse, and the ecological environment is fragile and sensitive. It is very important to study the dynamic changes in vegetation and the main factors related to these changes to grasp the present state of the regional ecosystem, maintain the balance of the ecosystem and promote the sustainable development of the ecosystem. Therefore, this paper is based on SPOT/VEG NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) data, land use data, topographic data and meteorological data from 1999 to 2019. The spatiotemporal variation in the NDVI over the Tibetan Plateau in the last 21 years and its response to different driving factors were investigated by using the Sen slope method, Mann–Kendall mutation test, partial correlation analysis and geographical detector method. The results showed that (1) the vegetation coverage on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau showed an increasing trend from 1999 to 2019, with increases in approximately 67.00% of the plateau area. (2) The spatial differences in vegetation coverage were large; notably, low-density vegetation areas decreased obviously, moderate-density vegetation areas accounted for approximately 50% of the total area, high-density vegetation areas were the least common, and the overall growth rate was significant. (3) The NDVI was positively correlated with temperature and precipitation, and a positive correlation was observed in more than 66% of the region. (4) The order of the influence of single driving factors on the NDVI was as follows: precipitation > soil type > altitude > temperature > gradient > slope > population density > GDP. (5) The effect of multiple factors was significantly higher than that of single driving factors, with a notable nonlinear influence. The interactions between meteorological factors, such as precipitation, and topographic factors, such as altitude, were important, with a q value over 0.79.
Keywords
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI); spatial and temporal changes; driving forces; geographic detector
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
