Monitoring the temporal-spatial changes of vegetation cover and drivers in Tian Shan ecoregions, China

Ecoregions	Area, km²	Percent
Alashan Plateau semi-desert	67	16.498
Altai alpine meadow and tundra	90,434	2.212
Altai montane forest and forest steppe	142,875	3.495
Altai steppe and semi-desert	83,192	2.035
Central Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe	629,190	15.393
Emin Valley steppe	65,135	1.594
Junggar Basin semi-desert	304,938	7.460
Karakoram-West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe	143,265	3.505
North Tibetan Plateau-Kunlun Mountains alpine desert	374,494	9.162
Pamir alpine desert and tundra	118,072	2.889
Qaidam Basin semi-desert	192,147	4.701
Rock and Ice	34,830	0.852
Taklimakan desert	742,657	18.169
Tarim Basin deciduous forests and steppe	54,533	1.334
Tian Shan foothill arid steppe	129,231	3.162
Tian Shan montane conifer forests	27,568	0.674
Tian Shan montane steppe and meadows	280,611	6.865

Table 2.

Main sources with the satellite product specifications

Insignia	Product	Parameter	Temporal coverage		Description	Website details
	MYD13A1.0 61	NDVI	16 Daily		Normalized Difference Vegetation Index	https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MYD13A1
	ERA5-Land	Temperature	Daily		ECMWF Climate Reanalysis	https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/ECMWF_ERA5_LAND_DAILY_AGGR#bands
		Evaporation
		Runoff
	CHIRPS	Precipitation	Daily		Hazards Group InfraRed	https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/UCSB-CHG_CHIRPS_DAILY
Product	Band	Image collection	Value		Units	Time and dataset availability
Product	Band	Image collection	Min	Max	Units	Time and dataset availability
MYD13 A1.061	NDVI	MODIS/061/MYD13A1	-2000	10000	--	2002-07-04T00:00:00Z–2023-06-18T00:00:00
ERA5-Land	temperature_2m	ECMWF/ER A5_LAND/D AI LY_AGGR	--	--	K	1950-01-02T00:00:00Z–2023-07-26T00:00:00
	total_evapora		--	--	m of water equivalent
	tion_sum		--	--	m of water equivalent
	runoff_sum		--	--	m
CHIRPS	Precipitation	CSB-CHG/CHIRPS/DAILY	0*	1444.34*	mm/d	1981-01-01T00:00:00Z–2023-06-30T00:00:00
Satellite/model	Product name	Data name	Unit	Spatial resolution	Temporal resolution	Time extent
Modis/Terra	MOD11A1.0 61 Terra Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Daily Global 1 km	LST_Day_1km	Kevin	1000 meters	Daily	2000-02-24
Modis/Terra	Vegetation Indices	NDVI EVI	-	500 meters	Daily	2000-02-18
FLDAS	FEWS NET	Soil Moisture	m^3 m-3	10 km	Monthly	1/1/1982
FLDAS	FEWS NET	Shortwave Radiation Flux	w m-2	--	--	1/1/1982
TERRA Climate	University of IDAHO	Palmer Drought Index	nan	--	--	1/1/1958
TERRA Climate	University of IDAHO	Wind Speed	m/s	4 km	Monthly	1/1/1958
Satellite/model	Product name	Date name	Unit	Spatial resolution	Temporal coverage	Time extent
MODIS	MODIS Land Cover Type (LC_Type2 Class Table)	MCD12Q1.06 1	-	500 m	Yearly	2001-01-01T00:00:00Z–2022-01-01T00:00:00 ee.ImageCollection("MODIS/061/MCD12Q1")

Geographical topography (A), elevation (B), situation (C), and area (D) of Tian Shan ecoregions during the statistical period of 2000–2022

Trend of vegetation indices of Tian Shan ecoregions during the statistical period 2000–2022

Temporal trend of mean NDVI (A), NDVI slop and anomaly (B), mean EVI (C), and EVI slop and anomaly (D) in Tian Shan ecoregions during the period of 2000–2022

Changes in the total precipitation slop/anomaly(A), changes in the total precipitation mean (B), and changes in the average precipitation of the Tian Shan ecological zone during the statistical period 2000–2022 (column numbers are in centimeters) (C)

Changes in the snow-equivalent water mean (A), changes in the snow-equivalent water slop/anomaly (B), and average snowmelt changes in the Tian Shan ecological zone during the statistical period 2000–2022 (C)

Changes in the soil moisture at 10 cm slop/anomaly (A), changes in the soil moisture at 10 cm mean (B), and changes in the average soil moisture content of Tian Shan area during the statistical period 2000–2022(C)

Changes in the LST daily time mean (A), changes in the LST daily time slop/anomaly (B), and changes in the average land surface temperature of the Tian Shan ecological zone during the statistical period 2000–2022 (C)

Changes in the air temperature at 2 m mean (A), changes in the air temperature at 2 m slop/anomaly (B), and changes in the average air temperature of the Tian Shan ecological zone during the statistical period 2000–2022 (C)

Changes in the actual evapotranspiration mean (A), changes in the actual evapotranspiration slop/anomaly (B), and changes in the mean actual evapotranspiration of Tian Shan ecoregion area during the statistical period 2000–2022 (C)

Changes in the wind speed mean (A), changes in the wind speed slop/anomaly (B), and changes in the average wind speed of the Tian Shan ecoregions during the statistical period of 2000–2022 (C)

Changes in the downward shortwave radiation mean (A), changes in the downward shortwave radiation slop/anomaly (B), and changes in the average shortwave radiation of Tian Shan ecoregions during the statistical period of 2000–2022 (C)

Table 3.

Statistics related to human drivers from 2000 to 2020 using advanced sensors and night data extraction

Year	Mean value	Sum (S)	Total sum	Mean (zonal statistic)	Light index (%)	CNLI (%)
DMSP NTL 2000	0.2365	8,959	342,016	8.78	23	0.36
DMSP NTL 2005	0.3348	12,394	342,016	9.10	33	0.52
DMSP NTL 2010	0.5766	23,919	342,000	8.15	57	0.90
DMSP NTL 2015	1.7730	79,304	342,016	7.33	17	2.60
DMSP NTL 2018	3.9763	184,971	342,016	7.34	39	6.30
DMSP NTL 2019	7.2632	317,604	342,016	7.75	72	11.00
DMSP NTL 2020	2.1115	79,180	342,016	9.11	21	3.34

Chart of human parameter changes during the statistical period

Effects of DMSP during different statistical periods from 2000 to 2019

Three-dimensional diagram of the effects of climatic, environmental, and human parameters on the coverage of the Tian Shan ecological area

Table 4.

Correlation matrix of climate parameters and environment and human drivers with vegetation indicators in Tian Shan ecoregions

Parameters	NDVI	EVI	LST	Total precipitation	Soil moisture	Actual evapotranspiration	DSR	Air temperature at 2 m	PDSI	Run off	Snow water equivalent	Wind speed
NDVI	1.0000
EVI	0.9916	1
LST	0.1906	0.220	1.000
Total precipitation	0.0445	0.044	−0.310	1
Soil moisture	−0.5839	−0.570	−0.540	0.6417	1.0000
Actual evapotranspiration	0.2264	0.224	−0.260	0.9432	0.5336	1.0000
DSR	−0.2708	−0.250	0.131	−0.5924	−0.2929	−0.6113	1
Air temperature at 2 m	0.0356	0.033	0.078	0.3486	0.2616	0.4683	−0.06	1
PDSI	−0.0959	−0.120	−0.490	0.7763	0.7336	0.7659	−0.58	0.2533	1.000
Run off	0.0028	−0.010	−0.320	0.9294	0.7070	0.8968	−0.58	0.3969	0.849	1.0000
Snow water equivalent	0.2833	0.244	−0.090	0.4135	0.1860	0.4148	−0.37	−0.0506	0.468	0.4471	1.0000
Wind speed	−0.3068	−0.320	−0.040	0.1184	0.3789	0.0295	−0.25	−0.0102	0.207	0.2473	0.1736	1.0000

[i] In the above matrix model, the numerical value of zero is determined in white, the numerical value of –1 in yellow, and the numerical value of +1 in blue, respectively.

Table 5.

Correlation matrix of human parameters and vegetation cover index of Tian Shan ecoregions

Parameters	EVI	NDVI	DMSP	CNLI
EVI	1
NDVI	0.9940	1
DMSP	0.7259	0.7388	1
CNLI	0.7349	0.7480	0.9995	1

Table 6.

Correlation value and effect size

Correlation value (r)	Level
−1.0	Perfectly negative
−0.8	Strongly negative
−0.5	Moderately negative
−0.2	Weakly negative
0.0	No association
0.2	Weakly positive
0.5	Moderately negative
0.8	Strongly positive
1.0	Perfectly positive

Normal distribution charts and residuals plots of NDVI and EVI in Tian Shan ecoregions

Table 7.

Pearson correlation between vegetation indices

Parameter	Value
Pearson correlation coefficient (r)	0.991
P-value	0.000
Covariance	0.000
Sample size (n)	23.000
Statistic	35.122

Correlation between climate and environmental variables with NDV

Correlation between climate and environmental variables with EVI

Table 8.

Relationship between climate and environmental variables with NDVI using Pearson regression model

	Parameters	P-value	r	Covariance	T	N
NDVI	LST	0.380	0.190	0.002	0.089	23
	Total precipitation	0.840	0.044	0.001	0.089
	Soil moisture	0.003	−0.588	−0.121	−3.299
	DSR	0.211	−0.277	−0.070	−1.289
	Air temperature at 2 m	0.871	0.035	0.000	0.163
	PDSI	0.663	0.095	−0.202	−0.441
	Runoff	0.989	0.002	0.000	0.013
	Snow water equivalent	0.190	0.283	0.016	1.353
	Wind speed	0.154	−0.306	−0.026	−1.447
	Actual evapotranspiration	0.298	0.226	0.046	1.065

Table 9.

Relationship between climate and environmental variables with EVI using Pearson regression model

	Parameters	P-value	r	Covariance	T	N
EVI	LST	0.311	0.219	0.000	1.023	23
	Total precipitation	0.840	0.043	0.000	0.201
	Soil moisture	0.003	−0.577	−0.074	−3.021
	DSR	0.247	−0.251	−0.041	−1.185
	Air temperature at 2m	0.188	0.032	0.000	0.150
	PDSI	0.597	0.116	−0.153	−0.536
	Runoff	0.979	0.055	0.000	0.155
	Snow water equivalent	0.262	0.243	0.009	1.152
	Wind speed	0.142	−0.315	−0.016	−1.522
	Actual evapotranspiration	0.305	0.223	0.038	1.051

Table 10.

Pearson correlation between NDVI and mean DMSP

Parameter	DMSP	CNLI
Pearson correlation coefficient (r)	0.73800	0.748
P-value	0.04800	0.043
Covariance	0.02241	0.034
Sample size (n)	7	7
Statistic	2.45100	2.520

Table 11.

Vegetation anomalies and changes during the period from 2000 to 2022

Description of the changes	Area (km²)
No vegetation (unchanged)	120,032.63
Deforestation	7,190.12
Afforestation	12,089.28
Vegetation (unchanged)	78,733.91

Anomaly and changes in vegetation area during the period 2000–2022

Table 12.

Area and percentage and classifications of LULC

Value	Description (LULC 2001)	Year 2001		Year 2021
Value	Description (LULC 2001)	area (km²)	percent	area (km²)	percent
0	Water bodies: at least 60% of area is covered by permanent water bodies	554.99	0.25	563.78	0.250
1	Evergreen Needleleaf Forests: dominated by evergreen conifer trees (canopy >2m). Tree cover >60%.	41.51	0.01	21.05	0.009
5	Mixed Forests: dominated by neither deciduous nor evergreen (40–60% of each) tree type (canopy >2m). Tree cover >60%	248.60	0.11	173.45	0.070
9	Savannas: tree cover 10–30% (canopy >2m)	334.55	0.15	102.25	0.040
10	Grasslands: dominated by herbaceous annuals (<2 m)	142,376.59	65.28	506.15	0.230
11	Permanent wetlands: permanently inundated lands with 30–60% water cover and >10% vegetated cover	344.95	0.15	145,028.79	66.540
12	Croplands: at least 60% of area is cultivated cropland	16,810.66	7.70	83.62	0.030
13	Urban and built-up lands: at least 30% impervious surface area including building materials, asphalt, and vehicles	92.25	0.04	17,376.65	7.970
14	Cropland/natural vegetation mosaics: mosaics of small-scale cultivation 40–60% with natural tree, shrub, or herbaceous vegetation	40.74	0.01	61.50	0.020
15	Non-vegetated lands: at least 60% of area is non-vegetated barren (sand, rock, soil) or permanent snow and ice with less than 10% vegetation	1,754.22	0.80	156.22	0.070
16	Barren: at least 60% of area is non-vegetated barren (sand, rock, soil) areas with less than 10% vegetation	55,469.53	25.43	2,368.31	1.080

Visual pattern and classifications of LULC in 2001 in Tian Shan ecoregions

Visual pattern and classifications of LULC in 2021 in Tian Shan ecoregions

References

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ffp-2024-0013 | Journal eISSN: 2199-5907 | Journal ISSN: 0071-6677

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Language: English

Page range: 155 - 182

Submitted on: Dec 4, 2023

Accepted on: May 17, 2024

Published on: Sep 12, 2024

Published by: Forest Research Institute

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

NDVI,

EVI,

drivers,

Related subjects:

© 2024 Seyed Omid Reza Shobairi, Sun Lingxiao, Zhang Haiyan, Li Chunlan, He Jing, Behnam Asghari Beirami, published by Forest Research Institute
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 66 (2024): Issue 3 (September 2024)

Monitoring the temporal-spatial changes of vegetation cover and drivers in Tian Shan ecoregions, China

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Table 1.

Table 2.

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Table 3.

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Table 4.

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Table 6.

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Table 7.

Figure 17.

Figure 18.

Table 8.

Table 9.

Table 10.

Table 11.

Figure 19.

Table 12.

Figure 20.

Figure 21.

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