Abstract
Greening is recognized to occur in China; however, it is still unclear about the change of vegetation and its attributions from climate change and human activities in Inner Mongolia, located in a typical transition climate zone from humid to arid. This study has comprehensively deliberated the variations of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in 2001–2018 and quantified its controls resulting from climate change and human activities. The results showed that NDVI in Inner Mongolia experienced a significant increase with a rate of 0.0018/year (P < 0.05) during 2001–2018. Climate change dominated the NDVI variations area accounting for 55.43%, while human activities 44.57%. The effects of climate change increased from south to north. The increase in precipitation dominated the augment of NDVI in the east and middle of Inner Mongolia. Climate change had slight effects on vegetation in the drier regions due to the counterbalance effect of precipitation and vapor pressure deficit. Moreover, human activities are the chief reasons for the NDVI increase in western Inner Mongolia, especially in the arid zone. In general, ecological projects, cropland expansion, urbanization, and human management measures made positive contributions to vegetation growth. Ecological projects among all human activities were the most effective way to affect vegetation growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data are available and the acquisition methods are declared in this article.
References
Bao G, Bao Y, Sanjjava A, Qin Z, Zhou Y, Xu G (2015) NDVI-indicated long-term vegetation dynamics in Mongolia and their response to climate change at biome scale. Int J Climatol 35:4293–4306. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4286
Bogaert J, Zhou L, Tucker CJ, Myneni RB, Ceulemans R (2002) Evidence for a persistent and extensive greening trend in Eurasia inferred from satellite vegetation index data. J Geophys Res : Atmos 107:4–14. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD001075
Bryan BA, Gao L, Ye Y et al (2018) China’s response to a national land-system sustainability emergency. Nature 559:193–204. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0280-2
Camberlin P, Martiny N, Philippon N, Richard Y (2007) Determinants of the interannual relationships between remote sensed photosynthetic activity and rainfall in tropical Africa. Remote Sens Environ 106:199–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2006.08.009
Chazdon RL (2008) Beyond deforestation: restoring forests and ecosystem services on degraded lands. Science 320:1458–1460. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1155365
Chen A, He B, Wang H, Huang L, Zhu Y, Lv A (2015) Notable shifting in the responses of vegetation activity to climate change in China. Phys Chem Earth, Parts A/B/C 87–88:60–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2015.08.008
Chen H, Shao L, Zhao M, Zhang X, Zhang D (2017) Grassland conservation programs, vegetation rehabilitation and spatial dependency in Inner Mongolia, China. Land Use Pol 64:429–439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.03.018
Chen C, Park T, Wang X et al (2019) China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management. Nat Sustain 2:122–129. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0220-7
Cui F, Wang B, Zhang Q, Tang H, De Maeyer P, Hamdi R, Dai L (2020) Climate change versus land-use change—what affects the ecosystem services more in the forest-steppe ecotone. Sci Total Environ 759:143525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143525
Foley JA, DeFries R, Asner GP et al (2005) Global consequences of land use. Science 309:570–574. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1111772
Forkel M, Drüke M, Thurner M et al (2019) Constraining modelled global vegetation dynamics and carbon turnover using multiple satellite observations. Sci Rep 9:18757. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55187-7
Gang C, Gao X, Peng S, Chen M, Guo L, Jin J (2019) Satellite observations of the recovery of forests and grasslands in western China. J Geophys Res-Biogeo 124:1905–1922. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jg005198
Gao B, Ye X, Ding L, Zhang P, Wang Y, Xiao L (2023) Water availability dominated vegetation productivity of Inner Mongolia grasslands from 1982 to 2015. Ecol Ind 151:110291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110291
Ge W, Deng L, Wang F, Han J (2021) Quantifying the contributions of human activities and climate change to vegetation net primary productivity dynamics in China from 2001 to 2016. Sci Total Environ 773:145648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145648
Hou L, Xia F, Chen Q, Huang J, He Y, Rose N, Rozelle S (2021) Grassland ecological compensation policy in China improves grassland quality and increases herders’ income. Nat Commun 12:4683. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24942-8
Hu Q, Pan F, Pan X, Zhang D, Li Q, Pan Z, Wei Y (2015) Spatial analysis of climate change in Inner Mongolia during 1961–2012, China. Appl Geogr 60:254–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.10.009
Hussain MM, Mahmud I (2019) pyMannKendall: a python package for non parametric Mann Kendall family of trend tests. J Open Source Softw 4:1556. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01556
IMARBS (2015) Inner Mongolia statistical yearbook (2000–2015). China Statistics Press, Beijing
Jiang L, Bao A, Guo H, Ndayisaba F (2017) Vegetation dynamics and responses to climate change and human activities in Central Asia. Sci Total Environ 599–600:967–980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.012
John R, Chen J, Kim Y et al (2016) Differentiating anthropogenic modification and precipitation-driven change on vegetation productivity on the Mongolian Plateau. Landscape Ecol 31:547–566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0261-x
Li Z, Wu W, Liu X et al (2017) Land use/cover change and regional climate change in an arid grassland ecosystem of Inner Mongolia, China. Ecol Mod 353:86–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.07.019
Li K, Cao J, Adamowski JF et al (2021) Assessing the effects of ecological engineering on spatiotemporal dynamics of carbon storage from 2000 to 2016 in the Loess Plateau area using the InVEST model: a case study in Huining County China. Environ Dev 39:100641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100641
Li W, Dong S, Lin H et al (2023) Vulnerability of farmers and herdsmen households in Inner Mongolian plateau to arid climate disasters and their development model. J Clean Prod 402:136853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136853
Liu J, Liu M, Tian H et al (2005) Spatial and temporal patterns of China’s cropland during 1990–2000: an analysis based on Landsat TM data. Remote Sens Environ 98:442–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2005.08.012
Ma W, Wang X, Zhou N, Jiao L (2017) Relative importance of climate factors and human activities in impacting vegetation dynamics during 2000–2015 in the Otindag Sandy Land, northern China. J Arid Land 9:558–567. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-017-0062-y
McDowell N, Pockman WT, Allen CD et al (2008) Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought? New Phytol 178:719–739. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02436.x
Mu S, Zhou S, Chen Y, Li J, Ju W, Odeh IOA (2013) Assessing the impact of restoration-induced land conversion and management alternatives on net primary productivity in Inner Mongolian grassland, China. Glob Planet Change 108:29–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.06.007
Naeem S, Zhang Y, Tian J, Qamer FM, Latif A, Paul PK (2020) Quantifying the impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate variations on vegetation productivity changes in China from 1985 to 2015. Remote Sens 12:1113. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12071113
Niu Q, Xiao X, Zhang Y et al (2019) Ecological engineering projects increased vegetation cover, production, and biomass in semiarid and subhumid Northern China. Land Degr Dev 30:1620–1631. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3351
Niu LN, Shao QQ, Ning J, Liu SC, Zhang XY, Zhang TJ (2023) The assessment of ecological restoration effects on Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control Project area during 2000–2019. Ecol Eng 186:106831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2022.106831
Nowacki GJ, Abrams MD (2015) Is climate an important driver of post-European vegetation change in the Eastern United States? Glob Change Biol 21:314–334. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12663
Qu S, Wang L, Lin A, Zhu H, Yuan M (2018) What drives the vegetation restoration in Yangtze River basin, China: climate change or anthropogenic factors? Ecol Ind 90:438–450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.03.029
Rasmus F, Kjeld R, TheisNielsenc T (2009) Evaluation of earth observation based long term vegetation trends — intercomparing NDVI time series trend analysis consistency of Sahel from AVHRR GIMMS, Terra MODIS and SPOT VGT data. Remote Sens Environ 113:1886–1898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2009.04.004
SFA (2015) Annual Report of National Forestry (2000–2015). China Forestry Press, Beijing
Su R, Yu T, Dayananda B, Bu R, Su J, Fan Q (2020) Impact of climate change on primary production of Inner Mongolian grasslands. Glob Ecol Conserv 22:e00928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e00928
Sun B, Li Z, Gao W et al (2019) Identification and assessment of the factors driving vegetation degradation/regeneration in drylands using synthetic high spatiotemporal remote sensing data—a case study in Zhenglanqi, Inner Mongolia China. Ecol Ind 107:105614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105614
Tang ZG, Ma JH, Peng HH, Wang SH, Wei JF (2017) Spatiotemporal changes of vegetation and their responses to temperature and precipitation in upper Shiyang river basin. Adv Space Res 60:969–979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2017.05.033
Teng M, Zeng L, Hu W et al (2020) The impacts of climate changes and human activities on net primary productivity vary across an ecotone zone in Northwest China. Sci Total Environ 714:136691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136691
Tian H, Cao C, Chen W, Bao S, Yang B, Myneni RB (2015) Response of vegetation activity dynamic to climatic change and ecological restoration programs in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2012. Ecol Eng 82:276–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.04.098
Wang J, Chen Y, Shao X, Zhang Y, Cao Y (2012) Land-use changes and policy dimension driving forces in China: present, trend and future. Land Use Pol 29:737–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.11.010
Wang J, Wang K, Zhang M, Zhang C (2015) Impacts of climate change and human activities on vegetation cover in hilly southern China. Ecol Eng 81:451–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.04.022
Wang Z, Deng X, Song W, Li Z, Chen J (2017) What is the main cause of grassland degradation? A case study of grassland ecosystem service in the middle-south Inner Mongolia. Catena 150:100–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.11.014
Wang Q, Liu X, Wang Z, Zhao L, Zhang Q-P (2022) Time scale selection and periodicity analysis of grassland drought monitoring index in Inner Mongolia. Glob Ecol Conserv 36:e02138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02138
Wen Z, Wu S, Chen J, Lu M (2017) NDVI indicated long-term interannual changes in vegetation activities and their responses to climatic and anthropogenic factors in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China. Sci Total Environ 574:947–959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.049
Wessels KJ, Prince SD, Malherbe J, Small J, Frost PE, VanZyl D (2007) Can human-induced land degradation be distinguished from the effects of rainfall variability? A case study in South Africa. J Arid Environ 68:271–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.05.015
Xiao J (2014) Satellite evidence for significant biophysical consequences of the “Grain for Green” Program on the Loess Plateau in China. J Geophys Res-Biogeo 119:2261–2275. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002820
Xu D, Wang Z (2019) Identifying land restoration regions and their driving mechanisms in inner Mongolia, China from 1981 to 2010. J Arid Environ 167:79–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2019.04.021
Xu HQ, Wang YF, Guan HD, Shi TT, Hu XS (2019) Detecting ecological changes with a Remote Sensing Based Ecological Index (RSEI) produced time series and change vector analysis. Remote Sens 11:2345. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11202345
Xue Z, Kappas M, Wyss D (2021) Spatio-temporal grassland development in Inner Mongolia after implementation of the first comprehensive nation-wide grassland conservation program. Land 10:1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10010038
Yin H, Pflugmacher D, Li A, Li Z, Hostert P (2018) Land use and land cover change in Inner Mongolia—understanding the effects of China’s re-vegetation programs. Remote Sens Environ 204:918–930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.08.030
Yuan W, Zheng Y, Piao S et al (2019) Increased atmospheric vapor pressure deficit reduces global vegetation growth. Sci Adv 5:eaax1396. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax1396
Zhang X, Zhang B (2019) The responses of natural vegetation dynamics to drought during the growing season across China. J Hydrol 574:706–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.04.084
Zhang R, Liang T, Guo J, Xie H, Feng Q, Aimaiti Y (2018) Grassland dynamics in response to climate change and human activities in Xinjiang from 2000 to 2014. Sci Rep 8:2888. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21089-3
Zhang Y, Liang W, Liao Z, Han Z, Xu X, Jiao R, Liu H (2019) Effects of climate change on lake area and vegetation cover over the past 55 years in Northeast Inner Mongolia grassland, China. Theor Appl Climatol 138:13–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-019-02802-2
Zhang Y, Wang Q, Wang Z, Yang Y, Li J (2020) Impact of human activities and climate change on the grassland dynamics under different regime policies in the Mongolian Plateau. Sci Total Environ 698:134304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134304
Zhao F, Xu B, Yang X et al (2019) Modelling and analysis of net primary productivity and its response mechanism to climate factors in temperate grassland, northern China. Int J Remote Sens 40:2259–2277. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2018.1516322
Zheng YT, Han JC, Huang YF, Fassnacht SR, Xie S, Lv EZ, Chen M (2018) Vegetation response to climate conditions based on NDVI simulations using stepwise cluster analysis for the Three-River Headwaters region of China. Ecol Ind 92:18–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.06.040
Zheng K, Wei J, Pei J et al (2019) Impacts of climate change and human activities on grassland vegetation variation in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Sci Total Environ 660:236–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.022
Zhou D, Fan G, Huang R, Fang Z, Liu Y, Hongquan LI (2007) Interannual variability of the normalized difference vegetation index on the Tibetan Plateau and its relationship with climate change. Adv Atmos Sci 24:474–484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-007-0474-2
Zhu Z, Piao S, Myneni RB et al (2016) Greening of the Earth and its drivers. Nat Climate Change 6:791–795. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3004
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Data Center for Resources and Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RESDC) for providing the LULC datasets and the National Climate Center of China for providing the climate datasets.
Funding
This work was supported by Jiangsu Province Carbon Peak Carbon Neutral Science and Technology Innovation Fund (Grant/Award Number: BK20220017), National Key R&D Program of China (Grant/Award Number: 2018YFC1506606), and Joint Open Fund of Institute of Atmospheric Environment, China Meteorological Administration, Shenyang (Grant/Award Number: 2021SYIAEKFMS37).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
X. Z. and F. Z. contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by X. Z., Q. L., and Y. P. L. The first draft of the manuscript was written by X. Z., and the manuscript was polished by Y. J. and Y. Y. L. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhao, X., Zhang, F., Liu, Q. et al. Climate change overshadows human activities in enhancing vegetation activity in Inner Mongolia. Theor Appl Climatol 154, 245–259 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04553-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04553-7