Scholarlink

Background <p>Forest productivity in the Three-North Shelterbelt Project region is undergoing rapid change under intensified climate variability and large-scale ecological restoration. However, how forest productivity responds to climate and structural drivers along the edgecore gradient across different climate zones remains unclear. Here, we quantified the interannual trend of kernel Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (kNDVI) within 0–500&#xa0;m from forest edges during 2001–2020 across four climate zones, applying gradient-based threshold detection and structural equation modeling to identify key drivers and their pathways.</p> Results <p>Forest productivity increased in all climate zones except the arid region, with the most pronounced positive trend occurring in semi-arid forests. Along the edgecore gradient, the trend of kNDVI strengthened in semi-arid regions but weakened in semi-humid and humid regions. The XGBoost-SHAP analysis showed that temperature variability enhanced productivity in arid and semi-humid regions but suppressed it in semi-arid and humid regions. Increasing forest cover consistently promoted productivity across all zones, with forest productivity exhibiting climate-zone-specific threshold responses to both climatic and structural drivers. The PLS-based path analysis further indicated that forest structural gradients and interannual climate variability were primarily associated with forest productivity through their relationships with forest cover dynamics.</p> Conclusions <p>These findings provide new insights into the climate-zone-specific mechanisms governing forest productivity along forest edgecore gradients and offer a scientific basis for future assessments of ecological restoration under changing climate conditions.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Nonlinear responses of forest productivity to tree cover and climate changes along edge–core gradients in the Three-North region

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月29日

查看全文
  • Shaodong Huang,
  • Yujie Li,
  • Rui Li,
  • Jinling Du,
  • Jia Wang,
  • Longhuan Wang

摘要

Background

Forest productivity in the Three-North Shelterbelt Project region is undergoing rapid change under intensified climate variability and large-scale ecological restoration. However, how forest productivity responds to climate and structural drivers along the edgecore gradient across different climate zones remains unclear. Here, we quantified the interannual trend of kernel Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (kNDVI) within 0–500 m from forest edges during 2001–2020 across four climate zones, applying gradient-based threshold detection and structural equation modeling to identify key drivers and their pathways.

Results

Forest productivity increased in all climate zones except the arid region, with the most pronounced positive trend occurring in semi-arid forests. Along the edgecore gradient, the trend of kNDVI strengthened in semi-arid regions but weakened in semi-humid and humid regions. The XGBoost-SHAP analysis showed that temperature variability enhanced productivity in arid and semi-humid regions but suppressed it in semi-arid and humid regions. Increasing forest cover consistently promoted productivity across all zones, with forest productivity exhibiting climate-zone-specific threshold responses to both climatic and structural drivers. The PLS-based path analysis further indicated that forest structural gradients and interannual climate variability were primarily associated with forest productivity through their relationships with forest cover dynamics.

Conclusions

These findings provide new insights into the climate-zone-specific mechanisms governing forest productivity along forest edgecore gradients and offer a scientific basis for future assessments of ecological restoration under changing climate conditions.