Author(s): Chen Chen; Tiejian Li; Jiaye Li; Wang Fu; Guangqian Wang
Linked Author(s): Guangqian Wang, Wang Fu
Keywords: Nthropogenic variables; Grazing; NDVI; Three-River Headwaters Region; Vegetation change
Abstract: In the terrestrial biosphere, vegetation plays vital roles in providing food and habitats for humankind and animals. In general, vegetation activity is influenced by both climate drivers and anthropogenic drivers, and studies have tried to disentangle contributions of these multiple variables from each other. However, it still remains largely unclear how climatic and anthropogenic effects work together to impact on vegetation dynamics. In this study, we analyzed the vegetation change from 1995 to 2014 in the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR) using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We applied partial correlation analyses to discriminate the contributions of climate variables and anthropogenic variables. The result indicates that the TRHR experiences a slightly greening trend from 1995 to 2014. The primary climatic driving factor is temperature for the southeast and south parts of the TRHR, precipitation in the west part, and a combination of precipitation, temperature and cloud cover for northeast part. The interaction between precipitation and cloud cover, precipitation and grazing activity, temperature and population activity, contribute to vegetation growth. The relationship between vegetation activity and the driving factors are evolving towards the direction which vegetation favors for the past two decades.
Year: 2018