Response of Vegetation Phenology to the Interaction of Temperature and Precipitation Changes in Qilian Mountains

Cheng Li; Yuyang Zou; Jianfeng He; Wen Zhang; Lulu Gao; Dafang Zhuang

doi:10.3390/rs14051248

Remote Sensing (Mar 2022)

Response of Vegetation Phenology to the Interaction of Temperature and Precipitation Changes in Qilian Mountains

Cheng Li,
Yuyang Zou,
Jianfeng He,
Wen Zhang,
Lulu Gao,
Dafang Zhuang

Affiliations

Cheng Li: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yuyang Zou: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Jishou University, Zhangjiajie 427000, China
Jianfeng He: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Wen Zhang: Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Lulu Gao: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Dafang Zhuang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14051248
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 5
p. 1248

Abstract

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Located at the junction between the continental climate region and marine climate region, the Qilian Mountains have experienced significant climate change. Vegetation phenology in the Qilian Mountains is sensitive to climate change. However, the response of vegetation phenology to temperature and precipitation change is still unclear, and the same is true for their interactions. First, we extracted grassland phenological parameters such as SOS (the start of the growing season), EOS (the end of the growing season), and LOS (the length of the growing season) from revised MODIS-NDVI data in the Qilian Mountains during the period from 2000 to 2019. Second, we analyzed change trends of the phenological parameters, temperature, and precipitation. Furthermore, the effects of each meteorological element changes and their interaction on multiple phenological parameters were detected using the GeoDetector method. The result implied that (1) the SOS in most areas except the northwestern mountain region showed an advanced trend (10 d/10a); the EOS showed a delayed trend in the southeast (5 d/10a), and an advanced trend (5 d/10a) in the northwest; the LOS showed an extended trend (10 d/10a) in the southeast, and a shortened trend (5 d/10a) in the northwest. (2) Compared with a single meteorological element in a single period, the interaction of temperature and precipitation in different periods had a higher impact on grassland phenology, with the maximum q-value increasing by about 0.4 for each phenological parameter. (3) The change in the grassland phenology in the Qilian Mountains was inconsistently complete with climate change in the spatial distribution. Our research reveals the response of grassland phenology to the interaction of different meteorological elements in different periods. Compared with a single element, this can reflect the response of vegetation phenology to climate change more comprehensively.

Published in Remote Sensing

ISSN: 2072-4292 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/

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