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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (6): 963-972.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.456

• Dynamic Changes of Vegetation • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatio-temporal patterns of vegetation cover and its responses to climatic factors in Hulun Buir from 2000 to 2022

ZOU Xiang(), ZHANG Yuting, XU Lu   

  1. School of Geography, Geomatics and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2024-07-30 Revised:2024-10-06 Online:2025-06-25 Published:2025-06-18

Abstract:

The study of the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation cover in Hulun Buir City, Inner Mongolia, China provides valuable insights for the development of precise vegetation restoration and ecological protection policies, thereby contributing to the region’s ecological sustainability. Using Sen+Mann-Kendall trend analysis, the Hurst index, linear regression, and partial correlation analysis, this study quantitatively investigates the spatiotemporal characteristics of vegetation cover and its driving factors based on MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and meteorological datasets. The results indicate that vegetation cover in Hulun Buir increased from 2000 to 2022 at a rate of 0.0021·a-1. Two distinct phases of NDVI change were observed: A stable trend for the period of 2000—2010 (0.00007·a-1) and a significant increase during 2010—2022 (0.0031·a-1). These trends suggest that vegetation cover is influenced not only by climatic factors but also by ecological protection policies. Seasonally, the highest vegetation growth rate in Hulun Buir occurs in spring (0.0031·a-1), followed by winter (0.0021·a-1) and summer (0.0019·a-1), with the lowest in autumn (0.0014·a-1). Spatially, vegetation cover decreases gradually from the central Greater Hinggan Mountains to the eastern hills and western grasslands. Further, the sensitivity of vegetation cover to climate change varies across locations and time periods, with greater responsiveness to precipitation in the western grasslands and to temperature in terms of interannual variation. However, despite the overall increase in the vegetation cover, certain areas are experiencing degradation. Notably, forest vegetation in the Greater Hinggan Mountains may face a risk of future decline.

Key words: NDVI, vegetation cover, sustainable development, Hurst index, Hulun Buir