Remote sensing phenology of two Chinese northern Sphagnum bogs under climate drivers during 2001 and 2018

Abstract

Boreal peatlands, of which Sphagnum bogs are one of the main types, play essential roles in the terrestrial soil carbon pool. Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator that reveals the underlying processes as well as responses to climate change, while currently there remain knowledge gaps in exploring and monitoring the long-term bog vegetation phenology due to insufficient remote sensing application experiences. In this study, we investigated three remotely sensed vegetation phenological parameters, the start of growing season (SOS), the end of growing season (EOS), and the length of growing season (LOS) in two bogs located in norther China by using double-logistic reconstructed MOD13Q1-EVI from 2001 to 2018, which were evaluated by the flux phenology. Also combing with meteorological data to detect interactions between vegetation phenology and climate change. The results showed that remotely sensed EOS had 8-day time lags with flux phenological date, while that outperformed SOS. Bog vegetation generally with a life pattern of SOS at the 108th day of year (doy) and EOS at the 328th doy, though the life cycle of individual vegetation groups varies among different vegetation communities. There was no significant delayed (or extended) trend in each phenological features in bogs. Precipitation and minimum temperature (monthly and annual) were the driving forces for bog vegetation growth (R2 > 0.9, P < 0.01), and other features presented weaker correlations. Overall, this study determined the remote sensing phenology and climate drivers in two Chinese bogs, we suggested that vegetation phenology alternation should be concerned when carry on ecological processes and carbon dynamics researches in peatlands.

Keywords

• Sphagnum bog
• Vegetation phenology
• Remote sensing
• Climate response