Discrepancies in vegetation phenology trends and shift patterns in different climatic zones in middle and eastern Eurasia between 1982 and 2015

Yaobin Li; Yuandong Zhang; Fengxue Gu; Shirong Liu

doi:10.1002/ece3.5408

Ecology and Evolution (Aug 2019)

Discrepancies in vegetation phenology trends and shift patterns in different climatic zones in middle and eastern Eurasia between 1982 and 2015

Yaobin Li,
Yuandong Zhang,
Fengxue Gu,
Shirong Liu

Affiliations

Yaobin Li: Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing China
Yuandong Zhang: Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing China
Fengxue Gu: Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing China
Shirong Liu: Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5408
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 15
pp. 8664 – 8675

Abstract

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Abstract Changes in vegetation phenology directly reflect the response of vegetation growth to climate change. In this study, using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index dataset from 1982 to 2015, we extracted start date of vegetation growing season (SOS), end date of vegetation growing season (EOS), and length of vegetation growing season (LOS) in the middle and eastern Eurasia region and evaluated linear trends in SOS, EOS, and LOS for the entire study area, as well as for four climatic zones. The results show that the LOS has significantly increased by 0.27 days/year, mostly due to a significantly advanced SOS (−0.20 days/year) and a slightly delayed EOS (0.07 days/year) over the entire study area from 1982 to 2015. The vegetation phenology trends in the four climatic zones are not continuous throughout the 34‐year period. Furthermore, discrepancies in the shifting patterns of vegetation phenology trend existed among different climatic zones. Turning points (TP) of SOS trends in the Cold zone, Temperate zone, and Tibetan Plateau zone occurred in the mid‐ or late 1990s. The advanced trends of SOS in the Cold zone, Temperate zone, and Tibetan Plateau zone exhibited accelerated, stalled, and reversed patterns after the corresponding TP, respectively. The TP did not occurred in Cold‐Temperate zone, where the SOS showed a consistent and continuous advance. TPs of EOS trends in the Cold zone, Cold‐Temperate zone, Temperate zone, and Tibetan Plateau zone occurred in the late 1980s or mid‐1990s. The EOS in the Cold zone, Cold‐Temperate zone, Temperate zone, and Tibetan Plateau zone showed weak advanced or delayed trends after the corresponding TP, which were comparable with the delayed trends before the corresponding TP. The shift patterns of LOS trends were primarily influenced by the shift patterns of SOS trends and were also heterogeneous within climatic zones.

Published in Ecology and Evolution

ISSN: 2045-7758 (Online)
Publisher: Wiley
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General): Ecology
Website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20457758

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