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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (12): 2197-2209.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.212

• Land Use and Carbon Cycle • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal characteristics and driving factors of vegetation carbon sequestration in Xinjiang, China

WANG Zuo1,2(), NIE Jiajing1,2, WANG Mengxue1,2, WEI Ziran1,2, LI Hu1,2, YOU Yuanhong1,2   

  1. 1 School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, Anhui, China
    2 Engineering Technology Research Center of Resources Environment and GIS of Anhui Province, Wuhu 241002, Anhui, China
  • Received:2025-04-17 Revised:2025-05-27 Online:2025-12-25 Published:2025-12-30

Abstract:

Xinjiang constitutes a critical component of China’s terrestrial carbon sink. Elucidating the spatiotemporal patterns and driving factors of its vegetation carbon sequestration is imperative for regional ecological security and conservation. Currently, research on the driving factors of vegetation carbon sequestration in this area mainly focuses on climate factors such as water and heat, whereas insufficient attention is paid to the phenological effects of snow accumulation that are inherent to Xinjiang regions. Therefore, based on the global daily carbon flux simulation data from 2001 to 2018, this study analyzes the spatiotemporal variations of gross primary production (GPP) and net primary production (NPP) of vegetation in Xinjiang. Snow phenology indicators are introduced, and spatial differentiation and driving mechanisms of GPP and NPP are examined at both regional and pixel scales using the geographical detector and partial correlation analysis methods. The results revealed that from 2001 to 2018, the vegetation GPP and NPP in Xinjiang exhibited a trend of first decreasing and then increasing, with 2007 as the turning point. They spatially exhibited a pattern of higher values in the north than in the south, higher in the west than in the east, and higher in mountainous areas than in plains. The spatial differentiation of GPP and NPP of Xinjiang vegetation was mainly driven by precipitation, snow days and elevation. On the grid scale, the temporal variation of GPP and NPP of Xinjiang vegetation was dominated by precipitation, followed by solar radiation and snowy days. Moreover, under land use change, farmland expansion and farmland areas were the main contributors to the increase in the annual carbon sequestration of vegetation in Xinjiang. Grassland degradation was the main factor contributing to the reduction of annual carbon sequestration in vegetation in Xinjiang. The research results reveal the unique driving process of vegetation carbon sink in Xinjiang regions, which helps to deepen the understanding of the impact of climate change and land use change on vegetation carbon sequestration under the background of climate warming, and provide a theoretical basis for ecological protection and sustainable development in Xinjiang.

Key words: vegetation carbon sequestration, spatiotemporal differentiation, driving factor, snow phenology, Xinjiang