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Hongxiao Jin

Hongxiao Jin

Researcher

Hongxiao Jin

Global assessment of vegetation patterns along topographic gradients

Author

  • Tianchen Liang
  • Feng Tian
  • Linqing Zou
  • Hongxiao Jin
  • Torbern Tagesson
  • Sabine B. Rumpf
  • Tao He
  • Shunlin Liang
  • Rasmus Fensholt

Summary, in English

The complex topography in mountainous regions, exemplified by factors like slope aspect, leads to noticeable variations in vegetation patterns, which are fundamental for understanding mountain ecosystems. However, a consistent global-scale quantification of topography's influence on vegetation patterns is still lacking. Here, we utilize two phenological metrics as proxies for vegetation-maximum vegetation greenness and seasonal greenness amplitude-computed from Sentinel-2 images, to quantify differences across three topographic factors: slope aspect, steepness, and elevation within each 0.15°×0.15° mountain grid. Our mapping reveals clear geographic patterns indicating that topography strongly influences vegetation in arid and polar ecosystems, with an influence approximately 1.9 times higher than in temperate ecosystems. Topography is also important in humid regions, as demonstrated by diverse vegetation types growing on different slope aspects, steepness levels, and elevations. Additionally, the impacts of slope aspect, steepness, and elevation vary within the same region. In 25.9% of mountain grids, slope aspect causes the largest difference in vegetation patterns, while elevation and steepness account for 43.1% and 31%, respectively. Our study highlights the hotspot areas where topographic effects on vegetation patterns are most pronounced, enabling researchers to focus on these regions for better parameterization of Earth system models.

Department/s

  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2024-09-19

Language

English

Pages

1-19

Publication/Series

International Journal of Digital Earth

Volume

17

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Climate Research

Keywords

  • Mountain ecosystems
  • vegetation pattern
  • Sentinel- 2
  • satellite remote sensing
  • topography

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1753-8947