Impacts of climate change on fractional vegetation coverage of temperate grasslands in China from 1982 to 2015

Rong Ma; Jiaqi Zhang; Xiangjin Shen; Binhui Liu; Xianguo Lu; Ming Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119694

Impacts of climate change on fractional vegetation coverage of temperate grasslands in China from 1982 to 2015

J Environ Manage. 2024 Jan 15:350:119694. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119694. Epub 2023 Nov 29.

Authors

Rong Ma¹, Jiaqi Zhang², Xiangjin Shen³, Binhui Liu⁴, Xianguo Lu⁵, Ming Jiang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China; College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
² Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, China.
³ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China. Electronic address: shenxiangjin@iga.ac.cn.
⁴ College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
⁵ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China.

PMID: 38035505
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119694

Abstract

The vegetation coverage of temperate grasslands in China has changed substantially due to climate change during the past decades, which significantly affects the function of grassland ecosystems. To appropriately carry out adaptive management and protect temperate grassland vegetation, it is important to understand the variations in fractional vegetation coverage (FVC) of China's temperate grasslands and how they are responding to climate change. Using the GIMMS NDVI and climatic datasets, this study explored the dynamics of FVC and their climatic drivers across the temperate grassland region of China during 1982∼2015. The results showed that the growing season mean FVC increased by 0.12% per year during 1982∼2015. The increases in precipitation and minimum temperature in the growing-season (especially in spring) could enhance the FVC of various vegetation types. In summer, the FVC of temperate steppe and desert steppe could drastically increase with increasing precipitation. In addition, this study found that the impacts of daytime and night-time warming on the FVC of temperate grasslands were asymmetric. Daytime warming can moderately increase FVC of temperate grasslands, while night-time warming could significantly increase it. Furthermore, the increase in summer daytime and night-time temperatures leads to a weak decrease and a moderate increase in FVC, respectively. This asymmetric effect was more evident for the temperate steppe and desert steppe in the central area. In autumn, the temperatures increase had significant positive impacts on the FVC of temperate meadows and steppes. This study highlights the differences in the impacts of climate change at different time scales on the FVC of grasslands with various vegetation types, and indicates that the asymmetric influences of daytime and night-time temperatures in different seasons on FVC must be included in calculating the vegetation coverage of China's temperate grasslands. The results could provide information for maintaining grassland ecosystem functions and managing environmental systems.

Keywords: China; Climate change; Fractional vegetation coverage; Grassland; Response.

MeSH terms

China
Climate Change
Ecosystem*
Grassland*
Seasons
Temperature