Examining Fractional Vegetation Cover Dynamics in Response to Climate from 1982 to 2015 in the Amur River Basin for SDG 13

Abstract

The impacts of climate and the need to improve resilience to current and possible future climate are highlighted in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13. Vegetation in the Amur River Basin (ARB), lying in the middle and high latitudes and being one of the 10 largest basins worldwide, plays an important role in the regional carbon cycle but is vulnerable to climate change. Based on GIMMS NDVI3g and CRU TS4.01 climate data, this study investigated the spatiotemporal patterns of fractional vegetation cover (FVC) in the ARB and their relationships with climatic changes from 1982 to 2015 varying over different seasons, vegetation types, geographical gradients, and countries. The results reveal that the FVC presented significant increasing trends (P < 0.05) in growing season (May to September) and autumn (September to October), but insignificant increasing trends in spring (April to May) and summer (June to August), with the largest annual FVC increase occurring in autumn. However, some areas showed significant decreases of FVC in growing season, mainly located on the China side of the ARB, such as the Changbai mountainous area, the Sanjiang plain, and the Lesser Khingan mountainous area. The FVC changes and their relationships varied among different vegetation types in various seasons. Specifically, grassland FVC experienced the largest increase in growing season, spring, and summer, while woodland FVC changed more dramatically in autumn. FVC correlated positively with air temperature in spring, especially for grassland, and correlated negatively with precipitation, especially for woodland. The correlations between FVC and climatic factors in growing season were zonal in latitude and longitude, while 120° E and 50° N were the approximate boundaries at which the values of mean correlation coefficients changed from positive to negative, respectively. These findings are beneficial to a better understanding the responses of vegetation in the middle and high latitudes to climate change and could provide fundamental information for sustainable ecosystem management in the ARB and the northern hemisphere.