Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Vegetation in the Yarlung Zangbo River, China during 1998–2014

Spatiotemporal vegetation patterns are of great importance for regional development. As one of the largest transnational rivers in China, the Yarlung Zangbo River in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was selected as the study site, and the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation during 1998–2014 were analyzed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The results show that the NDVI increased with decreasing elevation, and the largest value was observed for the broadleaf forest. The lag time of NDVI to precipitation for most of the vegetation units was distinguished as approximately one month. In the region with an elevation of over 5000 m, the NDVI for the alpine vegetation was negatively correlated with the precipitation. Most NDVI variations were due to precipitation and temperature (approximately 75%). These results could provide a reference for ecological protection at a similar high elevation in the future.