摘要：The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is sensitive to changes in surface
vegetation cover. Research into how climate change impacts surface vegetation cover is
essential to manage ecological systems and promote green development. The Western
Henan Mountains, located in the transitional zone between the northern subtropical and
warm temperate zones of China, is an ideal location to study the impacts of climate change
on surface vegetation cover. Combining a digital elevation model (DEM) with temperature
and precipitation data; and MODIS-NDVI imagery (2000∼2017) for the Western Henan
Mountains, this study explores variations in the growing season NDVI and its response to
climate change. Results show that there are significant changes with fluctuations in NDVI
values from 2000 to 2017. NDVI increased at a growth rate of 0.027 per decade (p < 0.05)
overall, indicating vegetation conditions have gradually improved. Although the NDVI value
showed an overall increasing trend, 19.12% of the areas showed a decreasing trend,
interspersing and intersecting spatially, showing significant spatial differences. NDVI
increased initially, but then decreased as a function of elevation, which was shown to
be proportional to slope and independent of aspect. Variables including elevation and
slope gradient are shown to provide high explanation of NDVI variability, whilst temperature
is shown to have a more significant impact on NDVI than precipitation. However,
vegetation responses to temperature and precipitation covaried with both slope and
aspect. Positive NDVI trends were strongest at low elevations (i.e., <1,100 masl), which we
attribute to vegetation restoration activities. Lower NDVI values characterized gentle slopes
(<5°), whilst higher values were, in contrast, associated with steeper slopes (5∼10°). This
study highlights the complex mechanisms and their relations governing vegetation
response to climate change and should form an instructive basis for both future
modeling studies investigating the response of vegetation to future global warming.
关键词：Growing season NDVI; Climate Change; Green development; Correlation analysis; Western Henan Mountains
