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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (6): 973-984.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.416

• Dynamic Changes of Vegetation • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Vegetation dynamics and their responses to climate change in the Yellow River Basin: Based on climatic wet and dry zoning scales

WANG Ruifang1(), LYU Baoqi2(), ZHANG Wenjing1   

  1. 1. Henan College of Surveying and Mapping, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan, China
    2. Henan Institute of Surveying and Mapping, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan, China
  • Received:2024-07-10 Revised:2024-11-27 Online:2025-06-25 Published:2025-06-18
  • Contact: LYU Baoqi E-mail:wangruifang@hasm.edu.cn;140020@hasm.edu.cn

Abstract:

The Yellow River Basin, as a significant ecological protection and economic development area in China, exploring the characteristics of vegetation changes in different dry and wet zones within the basin is crucial for adjusting ecological restoration to address potential threats brought by environmental changes. Based on the kernel normalized difference vegetation index (kNDVI) and key meteorological factors [precipitation (PRE) and temperature (TEM)] from 2000 to 2022, this study utilized multivariate statistical methods to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation dynamics in different dry and wet zones within the basin. Additionally, the Geodetector model and constrained effect method were employed to analyze the driving factors of vegetation changes in the Yellow River Basin, and to identify the commonalities and differences in the responses of vegetation changes to meteorological factors in different dry and wet zones. The results show that: (1) The kNDVI values of vegetation in the Yellow River Basin are latitudinally distributed, with the humid zone having the highest average annual kNDVI (0.49). During 2000—2022, 84.58% of the basin showed an upward trend, with the most significant improvements in the arid zone (68.36%) and semi-arid zone (93.08%). (2) Precipitation generally has a stronger influence on vegetation than temperature in the Yellow River Basin, with partial correlation coefficients of 0.36 and 0.19 at the basin scale, respectively. This difference is particularly pronounced in the semi-arid zone, where the partial correlation coefficients of precipitation and temperature reach 0.43 and 0.22, respectively. (3) In terms of spatial heterogeneity, the q value of precipitation (0.5338) is greater than that of temperature (0.2283) at the basin scale. Moreover, the q value of precipitation is highest in the semi-arid zone (0.4519), while the q value of temperature is highest in the semi-humid zone (0.2491). The responses of vegetation dynamics to various meteorological factors in different dry and wet zones exhibit distinct constraint lines. The research findings can provide important references for adjusting and formulating ecological protection strategies in the basin and are of great significance for promoting high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.

Key words: vegetation change, kernel normalized vegetation index (kNDVI), dry and wet zone, restraint effect, Yellow River Basin