Arid Zone Research ›› 2024, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (8): 1373-1384.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2024.08.11

• Plant Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Changes in vegetation cover and driving factors in the Yellow River Basin from 2001 to 2021

WU Siyuan(), HAO Lina()   

  1. College of Geography and Planning, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, Sichuan, China
  • Received:2024-03-06 Revised:2024-04-21 Online:2024-08-15 Published:2024-08-22
  • Contact: HAO Lina E-mail:2022020006@stu.cdut.edu.cn;hao_ln@qq.com

Abstract:

As an important ecological barrier and economic corridor in China, the study of the Yellow River Basin reveals the response mechanism of vegetation cover change, which is conducive to promoting the coordinated development of ecology, economy, and society. Based on MOD13A3 climate and economic data, this paper uses trend analysis and correlation analysis to determine the characteristics of vegetation cover change in the Yellow River Basin from 2001 to 2021, and explores the mechanisms of impact of climate and human activities on vegetation. The results show that: (1) From 2001 to 2021, the rate of vegetation cover increase in the study area was 0.35%·a-1, and the vegetation cover in 81.33% of the area followed an increasing trend. (2) On the time scale, the NDVI response to climate and human activities in the Yellow River Basin lags; on the spatial scale, NDVI is positively correlated with precipitation and temperature. NDVI’s response to precipitation is concentrated in the 200 mm precipitation line, and its response to temperature is distributed in the plateau subarctic zone and the middle temperate zone. The impact of human economic activities on NDVI was a predominantly positive correlation, among which NDVI was positively correlated with the primary industry and negatively correlated with the secondary industry, accounting for 51.45% and 7.47% of the total area, respectively. (3) The vegetation change in the Yellow River Basin is affected by both climate and human activities. The area affected by human economic activity factors comprised 55.25% of the total area, which was a majority, indicating that human activities, such as economic development, have a significant impact on the growth and distribution of vegetation that exceeds the effects of precipitation and temperature changes.

Key words: NDVI, climate, human activity, vegetation coverage change, driving factors, Yellow River Basin