Li et al. (2026) Impacts of Flooding on Vegetation: A Case Study of the 2025 Xinglong Mountain Flood

Identification

• Journal: Mendeley Data
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-04-10
• Authors: Yixiang Li, Chang Yan, Bohan An, Jian Bi
• DOI: 10.17632/wpzrjstr7t.1

Research Groups

• Lanzhou University

Short Summary

This study investigated how terrain-driven hydrological processes control vegetation responses to mountain flood disturbances in arid and semi-arid regions, finding that areas with higher moisture accumulation potential exhibit stronger vegetation recovery compared to well-drained or steep slopes.

Objective

• To investigate the topographic–hydrodynamic controls on vegetation responses to mountain flood disturbances in arid and semi-arid environments, hypothesizing that terrain conditions modulate hydrological processes during flood events, which in turn drive spatial heterogeneity in vegetation dynamics.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale, focusing on the Xinglong Mountain area, with analysis conducted on raster pixels divided into terrain zones.
• Temporal Scale: Post-flood period following the 2025 Xinglong Mountain Flood.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: GIS-based spatial analysis methods for terrain variable calculation, and a classification approach (e.g., Jenks natural breaks) for terrain zone division.
• Data sources: Multi-source geospatial data including satellite-derived vegetation indices (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index from Sentinel-2 imagery), digital elevation model (DEM)-derived topographic variables (elevation, slope, aspect, topographic wetness index), and land cover information.

Main Results

• The study revealed clear spatial differentiation in vegetation response patterns under varying terrain conditions.
• Areas characterized by higher moisture accumulation potential (e.g., valley bottoms and concave slopes) exhibited stronger vegetation recovery.
• Steep slopes and well-drained areas showed weaker or delayed vegetation responses.
• These findings support the hypothesis that terrain-driven hydrological processes play a critical role in regulating vegetation dynamics in flood-affected arid mountain regions.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive dataset integrating multi-source geospatial data to study flood impacts on vegetation in arid and semi-arid mountain regions.
• Offers novel insights into the specific role of topographic–hydrodynamic controls in modulating vegetation resistance and recovery patterns following flood disturbances.
• Supports the understanding of spatial heterogeneity in vegetation dynamics driven by terrain-modulated hydrological processes.
• The developed dataset is suitable for applications such as ecological modeling, hazard assessment, vegetation resilience analysis, and machine learning-based environmental prediction.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Li2026Impacts,
  author = {Li, Yixiang and Yan, Chang and An, Bohan and Bi, Jian},
  title = {Impacts of Flooding on Vegetation: A Case Study of the 2025 Xinglong Mountain Flood},
  journal = {Mendeley Data},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.17632/wpzrjstr7t.1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17632/wpzrjstr7t.1}
}