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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2025, Vol. 61 ›› Issue (11): 80-91.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.LYKX20240439

• Research papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal Variation of Vegetation Coverage and Climate Driving Factors in Inner Mongolia from 2004 to 2023 Based on kNDVI

Guangpu Wei1,Wenjun Zhang1,2,3,Zhiheng Zhu1,Yaxian Gao1,2,3,Xiaoyan Yu1,2,3,*()   

  1. 1. Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology Baotou 014010
    2. Yellow River Jiziwan Development Research Institute Baotou 014010
    3. Research Center of Industrial Informationization and Innovation, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology Baotou 014010
  • Received:2024-07-15 Revised:2025-09-09 Online:2025-11-25 Published:2025-12-11
  • Contact: Xiaoyan Yu E-mail:Yu_xiaoyan@imust.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective: This study investigated the spatiotemporal changes of vegetation coverage and the driving factors in Inner Mongolia using a long-term vegetation dataset, aiming to provide technical support for restoration and improvement of local ecosystems. Method: Based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform MOD13Q1 V6.1 data, a new kernel normalized difference vegetation index (kNDVI) dataset was constructed for analyzing the spatiotemporal changes of vegetation coverage and its climate driving factors in Inner Mongolia from 2004 to 2023. Theil-Sen median trend analysis, Mann-Kendall test, and Hurst index were used to investigate the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and future development trends of vegetation coverage. The partial correlation analysis and complex correlation analysis were used to quantify the response intensity of kNDVI to temperature and precipitation, and combination with pixel scale attribution models was used to differentiate the relative contributions of the climate and non climate factors. Result: 1) The vegetation coverage in Inner Mongolia shows a pattern of high in the northeast and low in the west. From 2004 to 2023, the median vegetation coverage of kNDVI fluctuated between 0.089?0.130, and the mean fluctuated between 0.118?0.144, showing a stable trend. 2) In the past 20 years, 35.36% of the regional vegetation coverage in Inner Mongolia has improved, 49.95% of the regional vegetation coverage remains unchanged, and 14.69% of the vegetation coverage has degraded. In addition, 70.96% of vegetation coverage shows “unpredictable future trends”, and 29.04% of vegetation coverage shows “sustainability”. 3) Vegetation has a strong response to climate factors, with a stronger response to precipitation than temperature. At a confidence level of 0.05, 65.09% of vegetation coverage is driven by non-climatic factors, and 34.91% of vegetation coverage is driven by climate factors. Conclusion: There is obvious spatial heterogeneity in vegetation coverage in Inner Mongolia, and non-climatic factors play a dominant role in the changes of vegetation coverage, mainly distributed in most parts of Hulunbuir, Xing’an League, Ulanqab, Baotou, Hohhot, Bayannur, Wuhai, and Alxa. The change of vegetation coverage driven by climate factors is mainly occurred in the western part of Hulunbuir, the western part of Xing’an League, Xilingol, the central part of Ulanqab, the northern part of Hohhot, and the eastern part of Alxa.

Key words: kernel normalized difference vegetation index (kNDVI), vegetation coverage, spatial-temporal change, driving factors, Inner Mongolia

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