Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China
Abstract In remote sensing research, vegetation dynamics are often used as indicators of ecosystem conditions, especially in semi-arid areas. The Wei River Basin (WRB) is a semi-arid region in western China prone to climate change and sensitive to the environment. Driven by climate change and human...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02360-w |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849400105100115968 |
|---|---|
| author | Lina Li Rui Xia Ming Dou Minhua Ling Guiqiu Li Cai Wang Qingbin Mi |
| author_facet | Lina Li Rui Xia Ming Dou Minhua Ling Guiqiu Li Cai Wang Qingbin Mi |
| author_sort | Lina Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In remote sensing research, vegetation dynamics are often used as indicators of ecosystem conditions, especially in semi-arid areas. The Wei River Basin (WRB) is a semi-arid region in western China prone to climate change and sensitive to the environment. Driven by climate change and human activities, particularly the recent reforestation projects, the environment and landscape of this region have undergone significant changes. However, the quantitative contributions of the driving factors to vegetation dynamics have not yet been well established. Here, we use a first-difference multiple regression model to separate and quantify the impacts of climate change and human activities on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1998 to 2023. The results indicate that: (1) the growing season NDVI has significantly increased (slope = 0.006, R2 = 0.85) during the previous 26 years. (2) The main factor limiting the improvement of NDVI is precipitation, accounting for 67.6% of the area (p < 0.05). (3) During 1998–2023, climate factors accounted for 27.5% of NDVI changes in the Wei River Basin (WRB), with precipitation contributing 63.2% of the climatic influence, making it the primary positive driver of vegetation growth. Meanwhile, anthropogenic factors contributed 72.5%, with ecological restoration projects promoting greening and urban expansion causing degradation. These findings provide a basis for future assessments of vegetation management strategies and ecological restoration policies under climate and anthropogenic pressures in semi-arid basins. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0064bb9d1e994b65899fda288f15792e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-0064bb9d1e994b65899fda288f15792e2025-08-20T03:38:11ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111610.1038/s41598-025-02360-wIntegrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western ChinaLina Li0Rui Xia1Ming Dou2Minhua Ling3Guiqiu Li4Cai Wang5Qingbin Mi6School of Water Conservancy and Transportation, Zhengzhou UniversityState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental SciencesSchool of Water Conservancy and Transportation, Zhengzhou UniversitySchool of Water Conservancy and Transportation, Zhengzhou UniversitySchool of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou UniversityNantong Branch of the Hydrology and Water Resources Survey Bureau of Jiangsu ProvinceSchool of Water Conservancy and Transportation, Zhengzhou UniversityAbstract In remote sensing research, vegetation dynamics are often used as indicators of ecosystem conditions, especially in semi-arid areas. The Wei River Basin (WRB) is a semi-arid region in western China prone to climate change and sensitive to the environment. Driven by climate change and human activities, particularly the recent reforestation projects, the environment and landscape of this region have undergone significant changes. However, the quantitative contributions of the driving factors to vegetation dynamics have not yet been well established. Here, we use a first-difference multiple regression model to separate and quantify the impacts of climate change and human activities on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1998 to 2023. The results indicate that: (1) the growing season NDVI has significantly increased (slope = 0.006, R2 = 0.85) during the previous 26 years. (2) The main factor limiting the improvement of NDVI is precipitation, accounting for 67.6% of the area (p < 0.05). (3) During 1998–2023, climate factors accounted for 27.5% of NDVI changes in the Wei River Basin (WRB), with precipitation contributing 63.2% of the climatic influence, making it the primary positive driver of vegetation growth. Meanwhile, anthropogenic factors contributed 72.5%, with ecological restoration projects promoting greening and urban expansion causing degradation. These findings provide a basis for future assessments of vegetation management strategies and ecological restoration policies under climate and anthropogenic pressures in semi-arid basins.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02360-wNormalized difference vegetation indexSpatiotemporal changesClimate changeAnthropogenic factorsSemi-arid area |
| spellingShingle | Lina Li Rui Xia Ming Dou Minhua Ling Guiqiu Li Cai Wang Qingbin Mi Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China Scientific Reports Normalized difference vegetation index Spatiotemporal changes Climate change Anthropogenic factors Semi-arid area |
| title | Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China |
| title_full | Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China |
| title_fullStr | Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China |
| title_short | Integrating landsat NDVI data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi-arid Basin of Western China |
| title_sort | integrating landsat ndvi data with climate and anthropogenic factors reveals drivers of vegetation dynamics in the semi arid basin of western china |
| topic | Normalized difference vegetation index Spatiotemporal changes Climate change Anthropogenic factors Semi-arid area |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02360-w |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT linali integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina AT ruixia integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina AT mingdou integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina AT minhualing integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina AT guiqiuli integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina AT caiwang integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina AT qingbinmi integratinglandsatndvidatawithclimateandanthropogenicfactorsrevealsdriversofvegetationdynamicsinthesemiaridbasinofwesternchina |