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Arid Land Geography ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (1): 1-12.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.083

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Monitoring and influencing factors of vegetation drought resistance on the Loess Plateau

CHENG Xi’an1(), NIU Quanfu1,2,3(), WANG Gang1, SHAO Donghu1, ZHU Dengfeng1, WANG Zhenyu1   

  1. 1 School of Civil Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, Gansu, China
    2 Gansu Province Emergency Surveying and Mapping Engineering Research Center, Lanzhou 730050, Gansu, China
    3 Academician Expert Workstation of Gansu Dayu Jiuzhou Space Information Technology Co. Ltd., Lanzhou 730050, Gansu, China
  • Received:2025-02-21 Revised:2025-03-23 Online:2026-01-25 Published:2026-01-18
  • Contact: NIU Quanfu E-mail:17795734293@163.com;Niuqf@lut.edu.cn

Abstract:

With intensifying climate change and human activities, the increasing frequency of droughts and their impacts on the Loess Plateau of China have severely constrained regional vegetation growth. Using data from 2000 to 2022, including standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, normalized difference vegetation index, and gross primary productivity data, three vegetation drought resistance indices were established, namely lag time, impact degree, and vegetation resilience, using the maximum correlation coefficient method. A comprehensive monitoring framework was then constructed to assess vegetation responses under drought conditions and quantify drought resistance. Results revealed three key insights. (1) The Loess Plateau exhibited the most pronounced lag time at 1 month, with maximum correlation coefficients exceeding 0.4 in 73% areas and correlation coefficients decreasing from south to north as lag increases. (2) Vegetation drought resistance ranged from 0 to 0.2 in the southern and eastern of southern temperate and northern plateau climate zones of the Loess Plateau and 0.2-0.4 in the middle temperate zone. Overall, drought resistance was highest in shrubs, followed by forest and farmland, and lowest in grassland. (3) Land surface temperature, rainfall, and soil pH showed the strongest linear correlations with vegetation drought resistance, consistent with the main influencing factors identified via optimal parameter geographic detector analyses across climate zones. This comprehensive monitoring approach enhances understanding of vegetation drought resistance patterns and provides valuable guidance for reducing ecological risk under future drought conditions.

Key words: correlation coefficient, vegetation drought resistance, drought index, remote sensing, Loess Plateau