Changes in Vegetation Resistance and Resilience under Different Drought Disturbances Based on NDVI and SPEI Time Series Data in Jilin Province, China

Jiani Ma; Chao Zhang; Shaner Li; Cuicui Yang; Chang Chen; Wenju Yun

doi:10.3390/rs15133280

Remote Sensing (Jun 2023)

Changes in Vegetation Resistance and Resilience under Different Drought Disturbances Based on NDVI and SPEI Time Series Data in Jilin Province, China

Jiani Ma,
Chao Zhang,
Shaner Li,
Cuicui Yang,
Chang Chen,
Wenju Yun

Affiliations

Jiani Ma: College of Geographical Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan 030031, China
Chao Zhang: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Shaner Li: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Cuicui Yang: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Chang Chen: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Wenju Yun: Key Laboratory for Agricultural Land Quality Monitoring and Control, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100035, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133280
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 15, no. 13
p. 3280

Abstract

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Extreme drought is increasing in frequency and intensity in many regions globally. Understanding the changes in vegetation resistance and resilience under aggravated drought is essential for maintaining regional ecosystem stability. In this study, a drought event–vegetation response framework was developed to explore vegetation resistance and resilience changes. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was correlated with the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) at multiple timescales to screen out the vegetation response time to drought. Then, the SPEI for the response time was detected using run theory to identify drought events during the period 2000–2017. Finally, drought-induced NDVI anomaly changes were identified using a sliding window to explore the changes in resistance and resilience to drought. This study focuses on Jilin province, China, which contains a famous environmentally vulnerable area. The results illustrate that the response time of vegetation to drought is 3 months. The northwest of Jilin province is considered to be drought-vulnerable because it has suffered the most drought events, i.e., 19–21 times, with severities in the range of 2.6–3.2 and durations in the range of 3.6–4.1 months. Grassland shows the weakest resistance and the strongest resilience, and tree cover shows the strongest resistance and the weakest resilience under severe drought disturbance among all vegetation. As the severity and duration of drought increase, the resistance decreases, and the resilience increases. During the growing season, the drought from May to July significantly impacts the vegetation resistance. Drought occurring from June to July has much less impact on resilience. Drought in August to September has less impact on resistance and a more significant impact on resilience. The results of this study may increase our knowledge regarding the response of vegetation to drought and guide ecosystem stability restoration.

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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