Investigating the Dynamic Change and Driving Force of Vegetation Carbon Sink in Taihang Mountain, China

Abstract

Vegetation plays an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide and accelerating the achievement of carbon neutrality. As the ecological barrier of North China, the Taihang Mountains are pivotal to the ecological construction project of China. Nevertheless, the dynamic development of the vegetation carbon sink in the region and the impact factors on the sink have not been systematically evaluated. This study employed a comprehensive approach, utilising remote sensing technology and meteorological and topographic data, in conjunction with the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) estimation model to reveal the characteristics of vegetation carbon sinks in the Taihang Mountain, and then revealed the dynamics evolution of the NEP and the inter-annual trend by using Theil–Sen Median slope estimation, the Mann–Kendall test, and the coefficient of dissociation and analysed the driving roles of the influencing factors by using the parameter optimal geographic detector. Our findings suggest that the NEP in the Taihang Mountain area has a clear growth trend in time, the average value of NEP in the Taihang Mountain area is 289 gC-m−2-a−1 from 2000 to 2022, and the spatial distribution shows the characteristics of high in the northeast and low in the middle and west, with a gradual increase from the northeast to the southwest; the areas with high fluctuation of NEP are mainly distributed in the areas around some cities that are susceptible to the interference of natural or anthropogenic factors. The vegetation carbon sinks in the Taihang Mountains are influenced by a variety of natural factors, among which the explanatory power of each natural factor is as follows: DEM (0.174) > temperature (0.148) > precipitation (0.026) > slope (0.017) > slope direction (0.003). The natural factor DEM had the strongest explanatory power for NEP changes, and the two-by-two effects of the natural factors on vegetation carbon sinks were all significantly stronger than the effects of a single factor, in which the interaction between DEM and precipitation had the strongest explanatory power; distinguishing from climate change factors, the contribution of anthropogenic activities to NEP changes in more than 90% of the area of the Taihang Mountainous Region was more than 60%, and the driving force of anthropogenic factors on NEP changes in the Taihang Mountainous Region was significantly stronger than that of natural climate change. The contribution of anthropogenic factors to NEP changes in the Taihang Mountains was significantly stronger than that of natural climate change. The results of this study can not only provide a reference for carbon reduction and sink increase and ecological restoration projects in the Taihang Mountains but also benefit the research paradigm of vegetation carbon sequestration in other regions.