Li et al. (2026) Event-stage evidence reveals weakened vegetation recovery stability under multi-scale drought accumulation in the Yellow River Basin

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-17
• Authors: Pei Li, Fanping Zhang, Shengzhi Huang, Qiang Huang, Hongshi Wu, Juan Du, Guang Wang, Xinyan Lv
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111485

Research Groups

• School of Architecture Engineering, Yulin University, China
• North China Univ Water Resources & Elect Power, China
• State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, China
• School of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, Ludong University, China
• Shuifa Planning and Design Co., Ltd., Jinan, China

Short Summary

This study evaluates how drought accumulation timescales reorganize vegetation response pathways in the Yellow River Basin during 2001–2022. The results show that long-duration drought events are associated with weaker post-loss recovery stability.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of multi-scale drought accumulation on vegetation recovery stability in the Yellow River Basin

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale, focusing on the Yellow River Basin
• Temporal Scale: 2001–2022, a period of 21 years

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Event-based drought-GPP response framework
• Data sources: High-spatial-resolution Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (HSPEI) at 3-, 6-, and 12-month accumulation scales, and monthly standardized gross primary productivity anomalies

Main Results

• Drought-event frequency declined sharply from HSPEI3 to HSPEI12, while event duration, core drought duration, and drought intensity increased.
• Vegetation response changed more strongly after productivity loss than during the initial loss stage.
• Stable recovery declined from 89.7% under HSPEI3 to 76.5% under HSPEI12, and duration-conditioned persistent-drought response increased from 1.6% to 10.2%.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the impact of multi-scale drought accumulation on vegetation recovery stability.
• The results highlight the importance of considering long-duration drought events in assessing vegetation drought vulnerability.

Funding

• This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51879204) and the Shaanxi Province Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2022JL-023).

Citation

@article{Li2026Eventstage,
  author = {Li, Pei and Zhang, Fanping and Huang, Shengzhi and Huang, Qiang and Wu, Hongshi and Du, Juan and Wang, Guang and Lv, Xinyan},
  title = {Event-stage evidence reveals weakened vegetation recovery stability under multi-scale drought accumulation in the Yellow River Basin},
  journal = {Agricultural and Forest Meteorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111485},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111485}
}