About the Journal
In Memory of Professor Jerzy Radecki
Ownership and Management Statement
Editorial Office
Editorial Board
Scope
Impact Factor
Indexed by
Journal Impact Factor contributing items
Publication Frequency
Revenue Sources & Business Model
Contact
Subscription
Journals Statistics
Current issue
Online first
Instructions for Authors
Copyright & Licensing
Publication Fees
Editorial policies
Publication Policy Overview
Peer Review Policy
Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Open Access Policy
Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Advertising Policy
Direct Marketing & Manuscript Solicitation
Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy
CrossMark, Correction, and Retraction Policy
Complaints and Appeals Procedure
Archive
Publication Fees
Copyright & Licensing
Editorial policies
Publication Policy Overview
Peer Review Policy
Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Open Access Policy
Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Advertising Policy
Direct Marketing & Manuscript Solicitation
Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy
CrossMark, Correction, and Retraction Policy
Complaints and Appeals Procedure
eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Spatiotemporal Variations of NDVI and Their
Responses to Climate Change and Human
Activities in Guizhou, China (2000-2020)
1
School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
2
Guizhou Provincial Archives of Surveying and Mapping Data, Guiyang 550004, China
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2025-11-25
Final revision date: 2026-03-26
Acceptance date: 2026-04-21
Online publication date: 2026-08-31
Corresponding author
Zhonghua He
School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The low spatial resolution of vegetation index data has limited comprehensive studies on the
impacts of human activities on vegetation cover. In this context, the spatiotemporal variations of the
Landsat-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and its responses to air temperature,
precipitation, and land cover changes in Guizhou Province, China, were analyzed from 2000 to 2020
at a spatial resolution of 30 m. The results showed: (1) NDVI exhibited a significant linear increasing
trend, with a rate of change of 0.0033 per year (P<0.05). (2) NDVI values were positively correlated
with mean annual air temperatures and annual precipitation across 79.12% and 80.44% of the total
provincial area, respectively. (3) The decreasing rate of NDVI values in constructed areas was more
than twice the increasing rate of NDVI values in areas where mutual conversion among cultivated land,
forest, and grassland was observed. Moreover, the decreasing rate of the difference between the mean
annual NDVI of areas where cultivated land, forest, and grassland were converted to constructed area,
and the initial mean annual NDVI was over ten times higher than the decreasing rate in areas where
forest and grassland were converted to cultivated land. This research suggested that controlling
the conversion of forests and grasslands to cultivated land and strengthening the regulation of human
activities (especially urban expansion) are of great importance for improving the provincial vegetation
coverage level and the stability of the vegetation ecosystem.
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.
REFERENCES (45)
1.
HAN X.J., YU J.L., SHI L.N., ZHAO X.C., WANG J.J. Spatiotemporal evolution of ecosystem service values in an area dominated by vegetation restoration: quantification and mechanisms. Ecological Indicators, 131, 108191, 2021.
2.
LU Q.P., ZHAO C.W., HUANG H.Y. Comparative study on the temporal and spatial evolution of the ecosystem service value of different Karst landform types: a case study in Guizhou province, China. Applied Science, 12 (24), 12801, 2022.
3.
WANG T., YANG M.H., YAN S.J., GENG G.P., LI Q.H., WANG F. Temporal and spatial vegetation index variability and response to temperature and precipitation in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using GIMMS NDVI. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 29 (6), 4385, 2020.
4.
DASTOUR H., HASSAN Q.K. Quantifying the influence of climate variables on vegetation through remote sensing and multi-dimensional data analysis. Earth Systems and Environment, 8, 165, 2024.
5.
CHEN W., BAI S., ZHAO H.M., HAN X.R., LI L.H. Spatiotemporal analysis and potential impact factors of vegetation variation in the karst region of southwest China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 61258, 2021.
6.
WEN Y.T., CAI H., HAN D. Driving factors analysis of spatial-temporal evolution of vegetation ecosystem in rocky desertification restoration area of Guizhou province, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, 13122, 2024.
7.
HUO H., SUN C.P. Spatiotemporal variation and influencing factors of vegetation dynamics based on Geodetector: a case study of the northwestern Yunnan Plateau, China. Ecological Indicators, 130, 108005, 2021.
8.
CHENG D.Y., LI X.D. Vegetation coverage change in a karst area and effects of terrain and population. Journal of Geo-information Science, 21 (8), 1227, 2019 [In Chinese].
9.
LI X., YANG S.T., LUO Y., LI C.J., ZHOU B.C., LOU H.Z., ZHANG Y.J., ZHANG J. Coordinated development of economic growth and vegetation restoration in the national ecological civilization pilot zone (Guizhou). China Environmental Science, 42 (9), 4333, 2022 [In Chinese].
10.
REN Z.G., TIAN Z.H., WEI H.T., LIU Y., YU Y.P. Spatiotemporal evolution and driving mechanisms of vegetation in the Yellow river basin, China during 2000-2020. Ecological Indicators, 138, 08832, 2022.
11.
WANG S.J., PING C., WANG N., WEN J., ZHANG K., YUAN K., YANG J. Quantitatively determine the dominant driving factors of the spatial-temporal changes of vegetation-impacts of global change and human activity. Open Geosciences, 14 (1), 568, 2022.
12.
KASORO F.R., YAN L., ZHANG W., ASANTE B.B. Spatial and temporal changes of vegetation cover in China based on MODIS NDVI. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 19 (2), 1371, 2021.
13.
LI M.Y., CAO S., ZHU Z.C., WANG Z., MYNENI R.B., PIAO S.L. Spatiotemporally consistent global dataset of the GIMMS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (PKU GIMMS NDVI) from 1982 to 2022. Earth System Science Data, 15 (9), 4181, 2023.
14.
WU D.H., WU H., ZHAO X., ZHOU T., TANG B.J., ZHAO W.Q., JIA K. Evaluation of spatiotemporal variations of global fractional vegetation cover based on GIMMS NDVI data from 1982 to 2011. Remote Sensing, 6(5), 4217, 2014.
15.
YE W.T., VAN DIJK A.I.J.M., HUETE A., YEBRA M. Global trends in vegetation seasonality in the GIMMS NDVI3g and their robustness. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 94, 102238, 2021.
16.
LIU C.Y., LIU J.Y., ZHANG Q., CI H., GU X.H., GULAKHMADOV A. Attribution of NDVI dynamics over the global from 1982 to 2015. Remote Sensing, 14 (11), 2706, 2022.
17.
WANG S.M., MA Y.T., GONG J., JIN T.T. Dynamic variation of vegetation NPP and its driving forces in the Yellow river basin, China. Chinese Geographical Science, 35 (1), 24, 2025.
18.
YANG X., WANG R., NIU Z.G. Responses of China's wetland NDVI to climate changes. Wetland, 42, 55, 2022.
19.
WANG Z.J., LIU S.J., LI J.H., PAN C., WU J.L., RAN J., SU Y. Remarkable improvement of ecosystem service values promoted by land use/land cover changes on the Yungui Plateau of China during 2001-2020. Ecological Indicators, 142, 109303, 2022.
20.
CHEN C., WANG J.X., GAN S., YUAN X.P., LUO W.D. Spatial-temporal change patterns of vegetation and the influence of climatic factors in Yunnan province, China from 2000 to 2020. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 21 (6), 5265, 2023.
21.
ZHAO D.D., HU W.J., WANG J.M., LIU J.P. Driving factors for vegetation NDVI changes in a cold temperature zone: climate, topography, and land use. Forest, 15 (12), 2098, 2024.
22.
RAHIMABADI P.D., AZARNIVAND H. Assessment of the effect of climate fluctuations and human activities on vegetation dynamics and its vulnerability. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 153, 771, 2023.
23.
LIU Z.P., ZHANG Y.S. Vegetation cover change and its response to human activities in the southwestern karst region of China. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 12, 1326601, 2024.
24.
ZHAO W.L., LUO T.X., WEI H.J., ALAMU., ZHANG L. Relative impact of climate change and grazing on NDVI changes in grassland in the Mt. Qomolangma Nature Reserve and adjacent regions during 2000-2018. Diversity, 14 (3), 171, 2022.
25.
SUN L.J., ZHAO D., ZHANG G.Z., WU X.J., YANG Y., WANG Z.W. Using SPOT VEGETATION for analyzing dynamic changes and influencing factors on vegetation restoration in the Three-River Headwaters Region in the last 20 years (2000-2019), China. Ecological Engineering, 183, 106742, 2022.
26.
FOKENG R.M., FOGWE Z.N. Landsat NDVI-based vegetation degradation dynamics and its response to rainfall variability and anthropogenic stressors in Southern Bui Plateau, Cameroon. Geosystems and Geoenvironment, 1 (3), 100075, 2022.
27.
LAI Y.R., PRINGLE M.J., KOPITTKE P.M., MENZIES N.W., ORTON T.G., DANG Y.P. An empirical model for prediction of wheat yield, using time-integrated Landsat NDVI. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 72, 99, 2018.
28.
LIU Z.S., CHEN Y.K., CHEN C. Analysis of the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of the NDVI based on the GEE cloud platform and Landsat images. Remote Sensing, 15 (20), 4980, 2023.
29.
YANG J.L., DONG J.W., XIAO X.M., DAI J.H., WU C.Y., XIA J.Y., ZHAO G.S., ZHAO M.M., LI Z.L., ZHANG Y., GE Q.S. Divergent shifts in peak photosynthesis timing of temperate and alpine grasslands in China. Remote Sensing of Environment, 233, 111395, 2019.
30.
LOU H.Z., SCOVRONICK N., YANG S.T., REN X.Y., SHI L.H., FU Y.S., CAI M.Y., LUO Y. A balance exists between vegetation recovery and human development over the past 30 years in the Guizhou Plateau, China. Ecological Indicators, 133, 108357, 2021.
31.
HUANG K.X., PENG L., WANG X.H., CHEN T.T. Integrating landscape connectivity and natural-anthropogenic interaction to understand Karst vegetation restoration: a case study of Guizhou province of China. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 844437, 2022.
32.
XUE X., WANG Z.J., HOU S.S. NDVI-based vegetation dynamics and response to climate changes and human activities in Guizhou province, China. Forest, 14 (4), 753, 2023.
33.
WEI X.C., ZHOU Q.W., LUO Y., CAI M.Y., ZHOU X., YAN W.H., PENG D.W., ZHANG J. Vegetation dynamics and its response to driving factors in typical karst region, Guizhou province, China. Frontiers of Earth Science, 15 (1), 167, 2021.
34.
GUO X.N., CHEN R.S., MEADOWS M.E., LI Q., XIA Z.L., PAN Z.Z. Factors influencing four decades of forest change in Guizhou province, China. Land, 12 (5), 1004, 2023.
35.
WANG T., YANG M.H. Land use and land cover change in China's loess plateau: the impacts of climate change, urban expansion and grain for green project implementation. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 16 (4), 4145, 2018.
36.
ZHANG M.X., GU X.P., LIAO L.F., TIAN P.J. Effects of climate change and human activities on vegetation cover change in rocky desertification area of Guizhou Province. Earth and Environment, 51 (1), 76, 2023 [In Chinese].
37.
AN J.P., WANG J., CAI X.F., DUAN Z.B., YAN M.M. Research progress of soil loss under the dual structure of southwest Karst. Hubei Agricultural Sciences, 56 (9), 1605, 2017 [In Chinese].
38.
LI L.C., LU D.S., ZHANG X.L., DENG L., ZHANG Y. Study on the dynamics of vegetation covergage in the karst mountainous area based on multi-temporal remote sensing images. Journal of Central South University of Forestry & Technology, 37 (7), 11, 2017 [In Chinese].
39.
XU J.H. Quantitative geography, 3rd ed.; Higher Education Press: Beijing, China, pp. 40-45, 2014 [In Chinese].
40.
ZHAO H.X., GU B.J., SARAH L., ZHU T.Y., FAN J.D. Regulation factors driving vegetation changes in China during the past 20 years. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 33 (3), 508, 2023.
41.
QI G., CONG N., LUO M., QIU T.Z., RONG L., REN P., XIAO J.T. Contribution of climatic change and human activities to vegetation dynamics over southwest China during 2000-2020. Remote Sensing, 16 (18), 3361, 2024.
42.
LIN J., BO W.H., DONG X.P., ZHANG R.W., YAN J.P., CHEN T. Evolution of vegetation cover and impacts of climate change and human activities in arid regions of northwest China: a Mu Us Sandy Land case. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 27, 18977, 2025.
43.
GAO M.M., YANG N., LIU Q. What drives vegetation evolution in the middle reaches of the Yellow river basin, climate change or human activities? Sustainability, 16 (22), 10122, 2024.
44.
CHENG Y., ZHANG L.J., ZHANG Z.Q., LI X.Y., WANG H.Y., XI X. Spatiotemporal variation and influence factors of vegetation cover in the Yellow river basin (1982-2021) based on GIMMS NDVI and MOD13A1. Water, 14 (20), 3274, 2022.
45.
YAN Y.J., CHENG Y.B., XIN Z.M., ZHOU J.Y., ZHOU M.Y., WANG X.Y. Impacts of climate change and human activities on vegetation dynamics on the Mongolian Plateau, east Asia from 2000 to 2023. Journal of Arid Land, 16 (8), 1062, 2024.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
