Human-Climate Coupled Changes in Vegetation Community Complexity of China Since 1980s

作者：Su, Yanjun; Guo, Qinghua; Guan, Hongcan; Hu, Tianyu; Jin, Shichao; Wang, Zhiheng; Liu, Lingli; Jiang, Lin; Guo, Ke; Xie, Zongqiang; An, Shazhou; Chen, Xuelin; Hao, Zhanqing; Hu, Yuanman; Huang, Yongmei; Jiang, Mingxi; Li, Jiaxiang; Li, Zhenji; Li, Xiankun; Li, Xiaowei; Liang, Cunzhu; Liu, Renlin; Liu, Qing; Ni, Hongwei; Peng, Shaolin; Shen, Zehao; Tang, Zhiyao; Tian, Xingjun; Wang, Xihua; Wang, Renqing; Xie, Yingzhong; Xu, Xiaoniu; Yang, Xiaobo; Yang, Yongchuan; Yu, Lifei; Yue, Ming

来源：Earths Future, 2022, 10(7): e2021EF002553.

DOI：10.1029/2021EF002553

• vegetation community complexity
• human activities
• climate change
• vegetation map

Vegetation community complexity is a critical factor influencing terrestrial ecosystem stability. China, the country leading the world in vegetation greening resulting from human activities, has experienced dramatic changes in vegetation community composition during the past 30 years. However, how China's vegetation community complexity varies spatially and temporally remains unclear. Here, we examined the spatial pattern of China's vegetation community complexity and its temporal changes from the 1980s to 2015 using two vegetation maps of China as well as more than half a million field samples. Spatially, China's vegetation community complexity distribution is primarily dominated by elevation, although temperature and precipitation can be locally more influential than elevation when they become the factors limiting plant growth. Temporally, China's vegetation community complexity shows a significant decreasing trend during the past 30 years, despite the observed vegetation greening trend. Prevailing climate warming across China exhibits a significant negative correlation with the decrease in vegetation community complexity, but this correlation varies with biogeographical regions. The intensity of human activities have an overall negative influence on vegetation community complexity, but vegetation conservation and restoration efforts can have a positive effect on maintaining vegetation composition complexity, informing the critical role of vegetation management policies in achieving the sustainable development goal.

• 单位
  北京大学; 中国科学院; 南京农业大学; 西北大学; 山东大学; 中国科学院研究生院; 贵州大学; 中山大学; 海南大学; 厦门大学; 重庆大学; 南京大学