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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Dynamics of Vegetation Coverage and its Climate
Change Responsiveness: A Spatio-Temporal
Analysis in Chongqing, Southwest China
1
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Surface Process and Ecological Restoration in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, School
of Geography and Tourism, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
2
Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural
Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
3
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
4
Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2025-09-21
Final revision date: 2025-12-21
Acceptance date: 2026-01-05
Online publication date: 2026-02-27
Corresponding author
Chengcheng Xia
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Surface Process and Ecological Restoration in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, School of Geography and Tourism, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Surface Process and Ecological Restoration in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, School of Geography and Tourism, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
Jie Wei
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Surface Process and Ecological Restoration in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, School of Geography and Tourism, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Surface Process and Ecological Restoration in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, School of Geography and Tourism, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
To provide a robust theoretical framework for ecological restoration, the present paper reports
the spatio-temporal transformations of vegetation coverage and its responsiveness to climatic factors
in Chongqing spanning the years 2000 to 2022. The results show a significant overall increase in the
normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), indicating improved vegetation coverage, and that
NDVI variability was greater at lower elevations. The Hurst index showed that the majority of the city
(96.3%) was experiencing protracted and enduring transformations, with 89.2% anticipated to manifest
a persistent amelioration trend and 7.1% projected to demonstrate a sustained degradation trajectory
in the future. The partial correlation coefficients between NDVI and annual mean temperature and
precipitation were -0.78~1 and -0.76~0.88, respectively. Generally, the NDVI presented a positive
correlation with these two factors, with precipitation imposing a greater influence on vegetation growth.
The findings of this study could provide information and serve as a point of reference for the prevention
of ecological risks.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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