Zheng et al. (2025) Impact of Drought‐Flood Abrupt Alternation on Vegetation Productivity in Karst and Non‐Karst Regions of Southern China

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-04
• Authors: Meiling Zheng, Jianyu Fu, Yan Jin, Yadong Ji, Shengkun Dong, Bingjun Liu
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70173

Research Groups

Not specified in abstract

Short Summary

This study identifies drought-flood abrupt alternation (DFAA) events using the Standardised Soil Moisture Index (SSMI) and quantifies their impact on vegetation productivity in southern China, revealing that flood-to-drought events intensify stress and slow vegetation recovery, particularly in vulnerable karst regions.

Objective

• Identify Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation (DFAA) events using the Standardised Soil Moisture Index (SSMI).
• Reveal soil moisture-vegetation interactions using Granger causality analysis.
• Quantify the impact of DFAA on vegetation productivity.
• Conduct a comparative analysis of DFAA impacts between karst and non-karst regions in southern China.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Southern China, comparing karst and non-karst regions.
• Temporal Scale: 2000 to 2020 (21 years).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Standardised Soil Moisture Index (SSMI) for DFAA identification; Granger causality analysis for soil moisture-vegetation interactions.
• Data sources: Soil moisture data (used to derive SSMI); Vegetation productivity data (implied by NDVI, though source not explicitly stated).

Main Results

• From 2000 to 2020, SSMI showed a significant upward trend. Drought-to-flood events were more frequent, intense, and longer in duration than flood-to-drought events, with both exhibiting substantial spatial heterogeneity.
• SSMI and NDVI were positively correlated, with the strongest correlation reaching 0.32 at a 60-day lag. Bidirectional causality between SSMI and NDVI was predominant, affecting 49.24% of the study area.
• Flood-to-drought events synergistically intensified drought–flood stress, leading to slower vegetation recovery, especially in hydrologically vulnerable karst regions. Conversely, drought-to-flood events mitigated stress effects.

Contributions

• Introduces the application of the Standardised Soil Moisture Index (SSMI) and Granger causality analysis to identify and understand Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation (DFAA) events and their interactions with vegetation.
• Provides a quantitative assessment of DFAA impacts on vegetation productivity.
• Offers a comparative analysis highlighting the differential vulnerability of karst regions to DFAA events, particularly the intensified stress from flood-to-drought transitions.

Funding

Not specified in abstract

Citation

@article{Zheng2025Impact,
  author = {Zheng, Meiling and Fu, Jianyu and Jin, Yan and Ji, Yadong and Dong, Shengkun and Liu, Bingjun},
  title = {Impact of Drought‐Flood Abrupt Alternation on Vegetation Productivity in Karst and Non‐Karst Regions of Southern China},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70173},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70173}
}