Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia
Abstract The relationship between changes in vegetation patterns and climate variability remains unclear. Understanding how vegetation dynamics are impacted by changing environmental conditions is crucial for effective ecological restoration and the mitigation of potential ecosystem disturbances. Th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Discover Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-025-06890-w |
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| author | Tesfaye Bogale Sileshi Degefa Gemedo Dalle Gebeyehu Abebe |
| author_facet | Tesfaye Bogale Sileshi Degefa Gemedo Dalle Gebeyehu Abebe |
| author_sort | Tesfaye Bogale |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The relationship between changes in vegetation patterns and climate variability remains unclear. Understanding how vegetation dynamics are impacted by changing environmental conditions is crucial for effective ecological restoration and the mitigation of potential ecosystem disturbances. This study aimed to evaluate the response of seasonal and annual vegetation to climatic factors in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia, between 1993 and 2022. The study utilized data from the Landsat satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST), Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations for precipitation, and TerraClimate for evapotranspiration datasets from the Google Earth Engine platform. The results showed a statistically significant increase in the NDVI at an annual scale, with a rate of 0.0028 (p = 0.003) across the entire watershed. Moreover, there was a noticeable decrease in the NDVI in forest, wood, and cultivated land, suggesting that the NDVI values have consistently declined due to land use land cover changes. There was a positive correlation between the NDVI and precipitation annually, whereas a negative correlation was observed between the NDVI and LST. On a seasonal scale, a strong and significant positive correlation was observed between the average NDVI and precipitation from March to May. However, a negative correlation was found between the NDVI and average LST during the June to August and March to May seasons. These findings provide valuable insights into vegetation dynamics and offer important guidance for ecological restoration, land management, and the development of climate adaptation strategies in the region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-193e24f974034fcdb2ffdd49ef46ee13 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 3004-9261 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discover Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-193e24f974034fcdb2ffdd49ef46ee132025-08-24T11:45:13ZengSpringerDiscover Applied Sciences3004-92612025-08-017912110.1007/s42452-025-06890-wSpatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern EthiopiaTesfaye Bogale0Sileshi Degefa1Gemedo Dalle2Gebeyehu Abebe3Center for Environmental Science, Addis Ababa UniversityCenter for Environmental Science, Addis Ababa UniversityCenter for Environmental Science, Addis Ababa UniversityDepartment of Natural Resources Management, Debre Berhan UniversityAbstract The relationship between changes in vegetation patterns and climate variability remains unclear. Understanding how vegetation dynamics are impacted by changing environmental conditions is crucial for effective ecological restoration and the mitigation of potential ecosystem disturbances. This study aimed to evaluate the response of seasonal and annual vegetation to climatic factors in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia, between 1993 and 2022. The study utilized data from the Landsat satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST), Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations for precipitation, and TerraClimate for evapotranspiration datasets from the Google Earth Engine platform. The results showed a statistically significant increase in the NDVI at an annual scale, with a rate of 0.0028 (p = 0.003) across the entire watershed. Moreover, there was a noticeable decrease in the NDVI in forest, wood, and cultivated land, suggesting that the NDVI values have consistently declined due to land use land cover changes. There was a positive correlation between the NDVI and precipitation annually, whereas a negative correlation was observed between the NDVI and LST. On a seasonal scale, a strong and significant positive correlation was observed between the average NDVI and precipitation from March to May. However, a negative correlation was found between the NDVI and average LST during the June to August and March to May seasons. These findings provide valuable insights into vegetation dynamics and offer important guidance for ecological restoration, land management, and the development of climate adaptation strategies in the region.https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-025-06890-wClimate changeLandsatNDVIVegetation dynamicsTrend analysis |
| spellingShingle | Tesfaye Bogale Sileshi Degefa Gemedo Dalle Gebeyehu Abebe Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia Discover Applied Sciences Climate change Landsat NDVI Vegetation dynamics Trend analysis |
| title | Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the Welmel watershed, southeastern Ethiopia |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in response to precipitation and land surface temperature in the welmel watershed southeastern ethiopia |
| topic | Climate change Landsat NDVI Vegetation dynamics Trend analysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-025-06890-w |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tesfayebogale spatiotemporalvegetationdynamicsinresponsetoprecipitationandlandsurfacetemperatureinthewelmelwatershedsoutheasternethiopia AT sileshidegefa spatiotemporalvegetationdynamicsinresponsetoprecipitationandlandsurfacetemperatureinthewelmelwatershedsoutheasternethiopia AT gemedodalle spatiotemporalvegetationdynamicsinresponsetoprecipitationandlandsurfacetemperatureinthewelmelwatershedsoutheasternethiopia AT gebeyehuabebe spatiotemporalvegetationdynamicsinresponsetoprecipitationandlandsurfacetemperatureinthewelmelwatershedsoutheasternethiopia |