Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2007, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (5): 850-856.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2007.0107

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

MODIS-DETERMINED INTER-ANNUAL VEGETATION DYNAMICS IN JINGHE WATERSHED, CHINA

WANG Hui1(), ZAN Guo-Sheng2, BI Xiao-Li3, ZHOU Rui4, XIONG You-Cai1, HONG Jun5, GE Jian-Ping1,*()   

  1. 1College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    2Academy of Forest Inventory and Planning, State Forestry Administration, Beijing 100714, China
    3Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
    4Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
    5China Animal Husbandry Headstation, Beijing 100026, China
  • Received:2006-06-23 Accepted:2006-09-08 Online:2007-06-23 Published:2007-09-30
  • Contact: GE Jian-Ping

Abstract:

Aims NDVI is extensively used as an important index in evaluating vegetation growth and dynamics, including inter-annual dynamics; however, research on the relationship between inter-annual vegetation dynamics and land use is largely lacking. This study was conducted in the Jinghe watershed to determine inter-annual NDVI dynamics in different land use types.

Methods MODIS data were used to calculate NDVI time serial values from 2001 to 2004. Correlation coefficient (r) and t-test were used to test the consistency in six temporal intervals including one-, two- and three-year scales of four land use types: cropland, forest, shrub and grassland. We calculated the percent area to quantify the spatial extent of significant inter-annual NDVI variation.

Important findings The four land use types had similar NDVI dynamics in all temporal scales. Differences were significant in 2001-2003 and 2001-2004. Cropland and grassland were generally less consistent than forest and shrub in six temporal intervals, especially in 2001-2002, which may be the result of the policy of returning farmland to forest and grassland. Annual NDVI tended to increase over time in the four land use types, suggesting vegetation in this area was gradually restored. Grassland had the greatest percent of area with significantly increasing NDVI, followed by cropland, shrub and forest.

Key words: NDVI, consistency, land use, Jinghe watershed