The spatial heterogeneity of recent decadal dynamics in vegetation greenness and biomass in response to changes in summer warmth index (SWI) was investigated along spatial gradients on the Arctic Slope of Alaska. Image spatial analysis was used to examine the spatial pattern of greenness dynamics from 1991 to 2000 as indicated by variations of the maximum normalized difference vegetation index ...

This study evaluates the performances of three global satellite datasets (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Satellite pour l’ observation de la Terre (SPOT) of the Mongolian Plateau, where in situ observation is insufficient to assess vegetation dynamics on terrestrial systems. We give a comprehensive assessment of the hi...

[1] Nonsorted circles, ubiquitous to the Arctic Tundra region, are patterned ground features with circular semibarren areas surrounded by vegetation. These circles are formed and persist as an ecosystem due to complex soil-water-energy-ice-plant relationships and dynamics in the Arctic. In this paper, we present the first model that captures the dynamics of the physical and biological component...

Mining for resources extraction may lead to geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities, and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates and an increase in ground water tables, which may cause surface area inundation. Consequently, a r...

The analysis of vegetation dynamics and agricultural production is essential in semi-arid regions, in particular as a consequence of the frequent occurrence of periods of drought. In this paper, a multi-temporal series of the Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index (NDVI), derived from SPOT-VEGETATION (between September 1998 and August 2013) and TERRA-MODIS satellite data (between September 2...

Global climate change poses challenges to areas such as low-lying coastal zones, where sea level rise (SLR) and storm-surge overwash events can have long-term effects on vegetation and on soil and groundwater salinities, posing risks of habitat loss critical to OPEN ACCESS J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2015, 3 1150 native species. An early warning system is urgently needed to predict and prepare for the co...

The Heihe River is the second largest inland basin in China; runoff in the upper reach greatly affects the socio-economic development in the downstream area. The relationship between spatial vegetation patterns and catchment hydrological processes in the upper Heihe basin has remained unclear to date. In this study, a distributed ecohydrological model is developed to simulate the hydrological p...

Human impact plays an increasing role on vegetation change even on the Tibetan Plateau, an area that is commonly regarded as an ideal place to study climate change. We evaluate the nature and extent of human impact on vegetation dynamics by the comparison of two areas: the relative highly populated Lhasa area and a nearby less populated Lhari County. Our results indicate that human impact has m...