Internal response of vegetation growth to degrees of permafrost degradation in Northeast China from 2001 to 2020

Hong Yang; Yanqiu Xing; Xiaoqing Chang; Jiaqi Wang; Yuanxin Li; Jie Tang; Dejun Wang

doi:10.1080/10095020.2024.2363618

Geo-spatial Information Science (Jul 2024)

Internal response of vegetation growth to degrees of permafrost degradation in Northeast China from 2001 to 2020

Hong Yang,
Yanqiu Xing,
Xiaoqing Chang,
Jiaqi Wang,
Yuanxin Li,
Jie Tang,
Dejun Wang

Affiliations

Hong Yang: Centre for Forest Operations and Environment, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Yanqiu Xing: Centre for Forest Operations and Environment, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Xiaoqing Chang: College of Public Administration and Law, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
Jiaqi Wang: Centre for Forest Operations and Environment, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Yuanxin Li: Centre for Forest Operations and Environment, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Jie Tang: Centre for Forest Operations and Environment, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Dejun Wang: Centre for Forest Operations and Environment, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10095020.2024.2363618

Abstract

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Ecosystems at the southern edge of the permafrost distribution are highly sensitive to global warming. Changes in soil freeze-thaw cycles can influence vegetation growth in permafrost regions. Extant studies mainly focused on analyzing the differences of vegetation dynamics in different permafrost regions. However, the intrinsic drivers of permafrost degradation on vegetation growth remain elusive yet. Based on the top temperature of permafrost (TTOP) model, we simulated the spatial distribution of permafrost in Northeast China (NEC) from 2001 to 2020. Using the data of the vegetation Net Primary Productivity (NPP), vegetation phenology, climate and permafrost phenology, and analytical methods including partial correlation, multiple linear regression, and path analysis, we explored the response of vegetation growth and phenology to soil freeze-thaw changes and climate change under different degrees of permafrost degradation. Overall, the start date of the growing season (SOS) was very sensitive to the start date of soil thaw (SOT) changes, and multiple regression analyses showed that SOT was the main factor influencing SOS in 41.8% of the NEC region. Climatic factors remain the main factors affecting vegetation NPP in NEC, and the results of partial correlation analysis showed that only 9.7% of the regional duration of soil thaw (DOT) had a strong correlation with vegetation NPP. Therefore, we determined the mechanism responsible for the soil freeze-thaw changes and vegetation growth relationship using the path analysis. The results indicated that there is a potential inhibitory effect of persistent permafrost degradation on vegetation growth. Our findings would contribute to the improvement of process-based models of forest dynamics in the boreal region, which would help to plan sustainable development and conservation strategies in permafrost areas.

Published in Geo-spatial Information Science

ISSN: 1009-5020 (Print); 1993-5153 (Online)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Mathematical geography. Cartography; Science: Astronomy: Geodesy
Website: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/tgsi

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