Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Biogeoscience
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1454928

Evaluation of the spatial responses in vegetation phenology to drought and the analysis of their driving factors in China

Provisionally accepted
Haifeng Ding Haifeng Ding 1,2Wenyan Ge Wenyan Ge 3,4*Cuicui Wang Cuicui Wang 5Xiuxia Li Xiuxia Li 6
  • 1 International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 3 Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
  • 4 Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yangling, Shaanxi, China
  • 5 Urumqi Comprehensive Survey Center on Natural Resources, China Geological Survey, Urumqi, China
  • 6 School of Management, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The warming and drying trend accompanying climate change challenges global ecosystem stability. Vegetation phenology, which can serve as a sensitive indicator of climate change, is crucial in understanding ecosystem carbon cycling and climate-carbon cycle feedback. Therefore, assessing the phenological responses to drought is essential for addressing climate change. In this study, vegetation phenology data (including the start and end of season (SOS, EOS) and length of growing season (LOS)) and the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) were employed to analyze the impacts of drought on plant phenology in China by maximum Pearson correlation coefficients and partial least-square regression. The findings showed that drought significantly affected the timing of phenology, delaying senescence in approximately 62% of China and extending the growing season in about 53% of the country, indicating the critical role of water availability in vegetation biomass. Preseason nocturnal warming was found to advance SOS, delay EOS, and extend LOS across China, with significant effects observed in approximately 60% of the country. Meanwhile, daytime warming delayed SOS, delayed EOS and extended LOS in 50~60% of the regions. Moreover, preseason precipitation is conducive to advanced SOS, delayed EOS and extended LOS in northern China and areas susceptible to drought. It is suggested that vegetation management should be strengthened to mitigate the impact of climate change in temperate and drought-prone regions in China since climate warming will lead to frequent droughts.

    Keywords: vegetation phenology, drought, PDSI, Climate factors, China

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 15 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ding, Ge, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wenyan Ge, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.