Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Feb 2023)
Spatial and temporal variations of grassland vegetation on the Mongolian Plateau and its response to climate change
Abstract
The Mongolian Plateau is an arid and semi-arid region with grassland as its main vegetation. It has a fragile ecosystem and is a sensitive area for global warming. The study is based on MODIS NDVI data and growth season meteorological data from 2000 to 2018, this study examined the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of grassland vegetation on the Mongolian Plateau during the growing season using trend analysis, partial correlation analysis, and residual analysis, and it explores the dual response of NDVI changes to climate and human activities. The study’s findings demonstrated that the growing season average NDVI of grassland vegetation on the plateau gradually increased from southwest to northeast during the growing season; the growing season average NDVI demonstrated a significant overall increase of 0.023/10a (p < 0.05) from 2000 to 2018, with an increase rate of 0.030/10a in Inner Mongolia and 0.019/10a in Mongolia; the area showing a significant increase in NDVI during the growing season accounted for 91.36% of the entire study area. In Mongolian Plateau grasslands during the growing season of 2000–2018, precipitation and downward surface shortwave radiation grew significantly at rates of 34.83mm/10a and 0.57 W/m2/10a, respectively, while average air temperature decreased slightly at a rate of −0.018°C/10a. Changes in meteorological factors of grassland vegetation varied by region as well, with Inner Mongolia seeing higher rates of precipitation, lower rates of average air temperature, and lower rates of downward surface shortwave radiation than Mongolia. On the Mongolian Plateau, the NDVI of grassland vegetation in the growing season showed a significant positive correlation with precipitation (0.31) and a significant negative correlation with average air temperature (−0.09) and downward surface shortwave radiation (−0.19), indicating that increased in NDVI was driven by an increase in precipitation paired with a decrease in air temperature and a decrease in surface shortwave radiation. The overall increase in NDVI caused by human activity in the grasslands of the Mongolian Plateau was primarily positive, with around 18.37% of the region being beneficial. Climate change and human activity both affect NDVI variations in Mongolian Plateau grasslands, which are spatially heterogeneous. Moderate ecological engineering and agricultural production activities are crucial for vegetation recovery. This work is crucial to further understanding surface–atmosphere interactions in arid and semi-arid regions in the context of global climate change.
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