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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (6): 1890-1898.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.076

• Biology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of urbanization on vegetation phenology in Hohhot City in the recent 20 years

YUAN Zhihui1,2,3(),YIN Shan1,SA Chula1,2(),CHI Yongfeng3   

  1. 1. College of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022, Inner Mongolia, China
    2. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing & Geography Information System, Hohhot 010022, Inner Mongolia, China
    3. The Department of Natural Resources of Ulanqab City, Ulanqab 012000, Inner Mongolia, China
  • Received:2022-02-28 Revised:2022-03-24 Online:2022-11-25 Published:2023-02-01
  • Contact: Chula SA E-mail:zhyuan@mails.imnu.edu.cn;sachulan@126.com

Abstract:

It is essential to understand the impact of human activities on ecosystems by analysing the relationship between vegetation phenology and urbanization. In this study, the vegetation phenology of Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, China was extracted using a dynamic threshold method based on two vegetation indexes from MODIS in recent 20 years, and the response of vegetation phenology to urbanization in Hohhot City from 2001 to 2020 was investigated using the urbanization index. We found that the start of growing season (SOS) of forests and shrubs occurred earlier (132 days), and the end of growing season (EOS) also occurred earlier (265 days). The later SOS was in crops (168 days), and the later EOS was in grasslands (275 days), indicating that both SOS and EOS of woody plants were earlier than those of herbaceous plants in the study area. The phenological change rate of urban vegetation was 4.1 days earlier and 0.7 days later per decade in SOS and EOS, respectively. In addition, we explored the response of vegetation phenology to urbanization in Hohhot City, using the urban ratio and information about urban-rural gradients (concentric rings from the urban core to surrounding rural areas) as the urbanization indicators. We found that SOS was advanced with an increase in urban ratio, whereas EOS exhibited the opposite trend. From the perspective of the urban-rural gradient within a certain distance, SOS fluctuated, whereas EOS decreased at a distance from urban centres. That is, the farther away from the city center, the later SOS and the earlier EOS. In conclusion, different urbanization indicators reflect the nonlinear response of vegetation phenology to urbanization.

Key words: vegetation phenology, urbanization, Hohhot City