The long-term trends (1982–2006) in vegetation greenness of the alpine ecosystem in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The increased rate of annual temperature in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau exceeded all other areas of the same latitude in recent decades. The influence of the warming climate on the alpine ecosystem of the plateau was distinct. An analysis of alpine vegetation under changes in climatic conditions was conducted in this study. This was done through an examination of vegetation greenness and its relationship with climate variability using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite imagery and climate datasets. Vegetation in the plateau experienced a positive trend in greenness, with 18.0 % of the vegetated areas exhibiting significantly positive trends, which were primarily located in the eastern and southwestern parts of the plateau. In grasslands, 25.8 % of meadows and 14.1 % of steppes exhibited significant upward trends. In contrast, the broadleaf forests experienced a trend of degradation. Temperature, particularly summer temperature, was the primary factor promoting the vegetation growth in the plateau. The wetter and warmer climate in the east contributed to the favorable conditions for vegetation. The alpine meadow was mostly sensitive to temperature, while the steppes were sensitive to both temperature and precipitation. Although a warming climate was expected to be beneficial to vegetation growth in the alpine region, the rising temperature coupled with reduced precipitation in the south did not favor vegetation growth due to low humidity and poor soil moisture conditions.

[1]  Vicky Choi,et al.  Different adiabatic quantum optimization algorithms for the NP-complete exact cover problem , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[2]  Na Li,et al.  Climate changes and its impact on tundra ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China , 2011 .

[3]  Han Sun,et al.  Study of normalized difference vegetation index variation and its correlation with climate factors in the three-river-source region , 2011, Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinformation.

[4]  Ju Qian,et al.  The land ecological evolutional patterns in the source areas of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in the past 15 years, China , 2006, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[5]  P. Ciais,et al.  Changes in satellite‐derived vegetation growth trend in temperate and boreal Eurasia from 1982 to 2006 , 2011 .

[6]  C. Tucker,et al.  Recent trends in vegetation dynamics in the African Sahel and their relationship to climate , 2005 .

[7]  Yang Yuan.  VARIATIONS IN GRASSLAND VEGETATION COVER IN RELATION TO CLIMATIC FACTORS ON THE TIBETAN PLATEAU , 2006 .

[8]  Yanhong Tang,et al.  Altitude and temperature dependence of change in the spring vegetation green-up date from 1982 to 2006 in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau , 2011 .

[9]  J. A. Schell,et al.  Monitoring vegetation systems in the great plains with ERTS , 1973 .

[10]  Zhi-Yong Yin,et al.  Temporal trends and variability of daily maximum and minimum, extreme temperature events, and growing season length over the eastern and central Tibetan Plateau during 1961-2003 , 2006 .

[11]  Chen Rensheng.  NDVI Reflection of Alpine Vegetation Changes in the Source Regions of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers , 2005 .

[12]  C. Tucker,et al.  Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991 , 1997, Nature.

[13]  Bin Wang,et al.  Tibetan Plateau warming and precipitation changes in East Asia , 2008 .

[14]  C. Tucker,et al.  Analysis of Sahelian vegetation dynamics using NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data from 1981–2003 , 2005 .

[15]  William K. Lauenroth,et al.  Effects of soil texture and precipitation on above-ground net primary productivity and vegetation structure across the Central Grassland region of the United States , 1998 .

[16]  Huadong Guo,et al.  Vegetation greenness trend (2000 to 2009) and the climate controls in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau , 2013 .

[17]  Lin Zhenyao,et al.  Spatial characteristics of changes in temperature and precipitation of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau , 1996 .

[18]  Chang‐Hoi Ho,et al.  Detection of large-scale climate signals in spring vegetation index (normalized difference vegetation index) over the Northern Hemisphere , 2003 .

[19]  Lingyu Tang,et al.  An ice-core record of vegetation and climate changes in the central Tibetan Plateau during the last 550 years , 2010 .

[20]  S. Piao,et al.  Variations in Vegetation Net Primary Production in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China, from 1982 to 1999 , 2006 .

[21]  Qiuan Zhu,et al.  Delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau may also be attributable to other factors than winter and spring warming , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[22]  Aaron Moody,et al.  Geographical distribution of global greening trends and their climatic correlates: 1982–1998 , 2005 .

[23]  Z. Niu,et al.  Spatial and temporal variations of vegetation in Qinghai Province based on satellite data , 2008 .

[24]  Ranga B. Myneni,et al.  Remote sensing of vegetation and land-cover change in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems , 2004 .

[25]  Jiahua Zhang,et al.  Evaluation of Grassland Dynamics in the Northern-Tibet Plateau of China Using Remote Sensing and Climate Data , 2007, Sensors.

[26]  J. Palutikof,et al.  Climate change 2007 : impacts, adaptation and vulnerability , 2001 .

[27]  Feng Zhang,et al.  Eco-environmental degradation in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and comprehensive ecological protection planning , 2008 .

[28]  Kevin P. Price,et al.  Spatial patterns of NDVI in response to precipitation and temperature in the central Great Plains , 2001 .

[29]  A. Knapp,et al.  Variation among biomes in temporal dynamics of aboveground primary production. , 2001, Science.

[30]  Ren Qing-shan,et al.  Temporal and Spatial Changes of Vegetation in Linzhi Area Based on MODIS-NDVI , 2010 .

[31]  S. Schubert,et al.  MERRA: NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications , 2011 .

[32]  Berrien Moore,et al.  The response of global terrestrial ecosystems to interannual temperature variability , 1997 .

[33]  Chen Jiang Jin Xiao-mei Wan Li Gong Bin Liang Si-hai.  Regularity of Vegetation Coverage Changes in the Tibetan Plateau over the Last 21 Years , 2007 .

[34]  Scott J. Goetz,et al.  Satellite observations of high northern latitude vegetation productivity changes between 1982 and 2008: ecological variability and regional differences , 2011 .

[35]  J. Qian,et al.  Erratum to: The land ecological evolutional patterns in the source areas of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in the past 15 years, China , 2006 .

[36]  Rikie Suzuki,et al.  Relationships between meridional profiles of satellite-derived vegetation index (NDVI) and climate over Siberia , 2000 .

[37]  Jun Yu Li,et al.  Decadal trend of climate in the Tibetan Plateau—regional temperature and precipitation , 2008 .

[38]  C. Tucker,et al.  Higher northern latitude normalized difference vegetation index and growing season trends from 1982 to 1999 , 2001, International journal of biometeorology.

[39]  Wu Shaohong.  Climate Changes in the Tibetan Plateau during the Last Three Decades , 2005 .

[40]  F. Xiao.  POPULATION GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU , 2000 .

[41]  Kazuhito Ichii,et al.  Global monitoring of interannual changes in vegetation activities using NDVI and its relationships to temperature and precipitation , 2001 .

[42]  C. Tucker,et al.  Variations in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999 , 2001 .

[43]  Xiao-dong Liu,et al.  Climatic warming in the Tibetan Plateau during recent decades , 2000 .

[44]  Sung-chʿiao Chao,et al.  Geography of China : environment, resources, population, and development , 1996 .

[45]  Wei Zhang,et al.  The relationship between NDVI and precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau , 2007 .

[46]  Long Yang,et al.  The vegetation cover dynamics (1982–2006) in different erosion regions of the Yellow River Basin, China , 2012 .

[47]  Weixin Xu,et al.  Response of vegetation in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to global warming , 2007 .

[48]  B. Holben.  Characteristics of maximum-value composite images from temporal AVHRR data , 1986 .

[49]  Y. Richard,et al.  A statistical study of NDVI sensitivity to seasonal and interannual rainfall variations in Southern Africa , 1998 .

[50]  S. Bruin,et al.  Trend changes in global greening and browning: contribution of short‐term trends to longer‐term change , 2012 .

[51]  Qingzhu Gao,et al.  Alpine grassland degradation index and its response to recent climate variability in Northern Tibet, China , 2010 .

[52]  Zheng Du,et al.  The system of physico-geographical regions of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau , 1996 .

[53]  Shilong Piao,et al.  No evidence of continuously advanced green-up dates in the Tibetan Plateau over the last decade , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[54]  I. C. Prentice,et al.  Climatic Control of the High-Latitude Vegetation Greening Trend and Pinatubo Effect , 2002, Science.

[55]  Rasmus Fensholt,et al.  Greenness in semi-arid areas across the globe 1981–2007 — an Earth Observing Satellite based analysis of trends and drivers , 2012 .

[56]  C. Tucker,et al.  Climate-Driven Increases in Global Terrestrial Net Primary Production from 1982 to 1999 , 2003, Science.

[57]  Liang Si-hai.  Regularity of Vegetation Coverage Changes in the Tibetan Plateau over the Last 21 Years , 2007 .

[58]  Zhiyong Wang,et al.  Snow effects on alpine vegetation in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau , 2015, Int. J. Digit. Earth.

[59]  José M. Paruelo,et al.  REGIONAL PATTERNS OF NORMALIZED DIFFERENCE VEGETATION INDEX IN NORTH AMERICAN SHRUBLANDS AND GRASSLANDS , 1995 .

[60]  C. Tucker,et al.  Northern hemisphere photosynthetic trends 1982–99 , 2003 .

[61]  Wang Yibo,et al.  Effects of permafrost thawing on vegetation and soil carbon pool losses on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China , 2008 .

[62]  Edwin W. Pak,et al.  An extended AVHRR 8‐km NDVI dataset compatible with MODIS and SPOT vegetation NDVI data , 2005 .

[63]  S. Nicholson,et al.  The influence of soil type on the relationships between NDVI, rainfall, and soil moisture in semiarid Botswana. I. NDVI response to rainfall , 1994 .

[64]  Danny R. Miller,et al.  The Tibetan Steppe. , 2005 .

[65]  Bo H. Svensson,et al.  Thawing sub‐arctic permafrost: Effects on vegetation and methane emissions , 2004 .

[66]  Shu-Mei Yu,et al.  [Vegetation change of Yamzho Yumco Basin in southern Tibet based on SPOT-VGT NDVI]. , 2010, Guang pu xue yu guang pu fen xi = Guang pu.

[67]  K. Price,et al.  Temporal responses of NDVI to precipitation and temperature in the central Great Plains, USA , 2003 .

[68]  J. Townshend,et al.  Synchronous NDVI and surface air temperature trends in Newfoundland: 1982 to 2003 , 2007 .

[69]  L. Ji,et al.  Lag and seasonality considerations in evaluating AVHRR NDVI response to precipitation , 2005 .

[70]  Yaoming Ma,et al.  Assessment of vegetation dynamics and their response to variations in precipitation and temperature in the Tibetan Plateau , 2010 .

[71]  Yanling Zhu,et al.  Driving forces behind land use and cover change in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: a case study of the source region of the Yellow River, Qinghai Province, China , 2009 .

[72]  John R. G. Townshend,et al.  North American vegetation dynamics observed with multi-resolution satellite data , 2008 .

[73]  Shuhua Yi,et al.  Increasing contamination might have delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[74]  Yanhong Tang,et al.  High positive correlation between soil temperature and NDVI from 1982 to 2006 in alpine meadow of the Three-River Source Region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau , 2011, Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinformation.

[75]  Jinwei Dong,et al.  Green-up dates in the Tibetan Plateau have continuously advanced from 1982 to 2011 , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[76]  Jiansheng Wu,et al.  Trend analysis of vegetation dynamics in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau using Hurst Exponent , 2012 .