Evaluating the relative influence of climate and human activities on recent vegetation dynamics in West Bengal, India

Abhishek Banerjee; Shichang  Kang; Michael E. Meadows; Wasim Sajjad; Ali Bahadur; Muhammad Farhan Ul  Moazzam; Zilong Xia; Joseph Mango; Bappa  Das; Kelly L. Kirsten

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118450

Evaluating the relative influence of climate and human activities on recent vegetation dynamics in West Bengal, India

Abhishek Banerjee
, Shichang Kang
, Michael E. Meadows
, Wasim Sajjad
, Ali Bahadur
, Muhammad Farhan Ul Moazzam
, Zilong Xia
, Joseph Mango
, Bappa Das
, Kelly L. Kirsten

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Assessing the relative importance of climate change and human activities is important in developing sustainable management policies for regional land use. In this study, multiple remote sensing datasets, i.e. CHIRPS (Climate Hazard Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station Data) precipitation, MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET), Soil Moisture (SM), WorldPop, and nighttime light have been analyzed to investigate the effect that climate change (CC) and regional human activities (HA) have on vegetation dynamics in eastern India for the period 2000 to 2022. The relative influence of climate and anthropogenic factors is evaluated on the basis of non-parametric statistics i.e., Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope estimator. Significant spatial and elevation-dependent variations in precipitation and LST are evident. Areas at higher elevations exhibit increased mean annual temperatures (0.22 °C/year, p < 0.05) and reduced winter precipitation over the last two decades, while the northern and southwest parts of West Bengal witnessed increased mean annual precipitation (17.3 mm/year, p < 0.05) and a slight cooling trend. Temperature and precipitation trends are shown to collectively impact EVI distribution. While there is a negative spatial correlation between LST and EVI, the relationship between precipitation and EVI is positive and stronger (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05). Associated hydroclimatic parameters are potent drivers of EVI, whereby PET in the southwestern regions leads to markedly lower SM. The relative importance of CC and HA on EVI also varies spatially. Near the major conurbation of Kolkata, and confirmed by nighttime light and population density data, changes in vegetation cover are very clearly dominated by HA (87%). In contrast, CC emerges as the dominant driver of EVI (70–85%) in the higher elevation northern regions of the state but also in the southeast. Our findings inform policy regarding the future sustainability of vulnerable socio-hydroclimatic systems across the entire state.

Original language	English
Article number	118450
Number of pages	12
Journal	Environmental Research
Volume	250
Early online date	13 Feb 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.118450
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

© 2024 Elsevier

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

This document is the author’s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

Funder

This study was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0605), Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Program (22ZD6FA005), and the Gansu Postdoctoral Science Foundation (E339880202). The authors would like to acknowledge all the remote sensing agencies to provide high-resolution long-term datasets.

Funding

This study was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0605), Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Program (22ZD6FA005), and the Gansu Postdoctoral Science Foundation (E339880202).

Funders	Funder number
Gansu Postdoctoral Science Foundation	E339880202
Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province	22ZD6FA005
Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program	2019QZKK0605

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 15 Life on Land

Keywords

Anthropogenic activities
Climate variation
Google earth engine
Non-parametric trend test
Vegetation dynamics
West Bengal

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Environmental Science
Biochemistry

Access to Document

10.1016/j.envres.2024.118450

Kirsten2024AAMAccepted author manuscript, 3.52 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{b483e47584684987bbb767bc2ac53ff4,

title = "Evaluating the relative influence of climate and human activities on recent vegetation dynamics in West Bengal, India",

abstract = "Assessing the relative importance of climate change and human activities is important in developing sustainable management policies for regional land use. In this study, multiple remote sensing datasets, i.e. CHIRPS (Climate Hazard Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station Data) precipitation, MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET), Soil Moisture (SM), WorldPop, and nighttime light have been analyzed to investigate the effect that climate change (CC) and regional human activities (HA) have on vegetation dynamics in eastern India for the period 2000 to 2022. The relative influence of climate and anthropogenic factors is evaluated on the basis of non-parametric statistics i.e., Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope estimator. Significant spatial and elevation-dependent variations in precipitation and LST are evident. Areas at higher elevations exhibit increased mean annual temperatures (0.22 °C/year, p < 0.05) and reduced winter precipitation over the last two decades, while the northern and southwest parts of West Bengal witnessed increased mean annual precipitation (17.3 mm/year, p < 0.05) and a slight cooling trend. Temperature and precipitation trends are shown to collectively impact EVI distribution. While there is a negative spatial correlation between LST and EVI, the relationship between precipitation and EVI is positive and stronger (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05). Associated hydroclimatic parameters are potent drivers of EVI, whereby PET in the southwestern regions leads to markedly lower SM. The relative importance of CC and HA on EVI also varies spatially. Near the major conurbation of Kolkata, and confirmed by nighttime light and population density data, changes in vegetation cover are very clearly dominated by HA (87\%). In contrast, CC emerges as the dominant driver of EVI (70–85\%) in the higher elevation northern regions of the state but also in the southeast. Our findings inform policy regarding the future sustainability of vulnerable socio-hydroclimatic systems across the entire state.",

keywords = "Anthropogenic activities, Climate variation, Google earth engine, Non-parametric trend test, Vegetation dynamics, West Bengal",

author = "Abhishek Banerjee and Shichang Kang and Meadows, \{Michael E.\} and Wasim Sajjad and Ali Bahadur and Moazzam, \{Muhammad Farhan Ul\} and Zilong Xia and Joseph Mango and Bappa Das and Kirsten, \{Kelly L.\}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2024 Elsevier Copyright {\textcopyright} and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. This document is the author{\textquoteright}s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it. ",

year = "2024",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.envres.2024.118450",

language = "English",

volume = "250",

journal = "Environmental Research",

issn = "0013-9351",

publisher = "Academic Press",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluating the relative influence of climate and human activities on recent vegetation dynamics in West Bengal, India

AU - Banerjee, Abhishek

AU - Kang, Shichang

AU - Meadows, Michael E.

AU - Sajjad, Wasim

AU - Bahadur, Ali

AU - Moazzam, Muhammad Farhan Ul

AU - Xia, Zilong

AU - Mango, Joseph

AU - Das, Bappa

AU - Kirsten, Kelly L.

N1 - © 2024 Elsevier Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. This document is the author’s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

PY - 2024/6/1

Y1 - 2024/6/1

N2 - Assessing the relative importance of climate change and human activities is important in developing sustainable management policies for regional land use. In this study, multiple remote sensing datasets, i.e. CHIRPS (Climate Hazard Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station Data) precipitation, MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET), Soil Moisture (SM), WorldPop, and nighttime light have been analyzed to investigate the effect that climate change (CC) and regional human activities (HA) have on vegetation dynamics in eastern India for the period 2000 to 2022. The relative influence of climate and anthropogenic factors is evaluated on the basis of non-parametric statistics i.e., Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope estimator. Significant spatial and elevation-dependent variations in precipitation and LST are evident. Areas at higher elevations exhibit increased mean annual temperatures (0.22 °C/year, p < 0.05) and reduced winter precipitation over the last two decades, while the northern and southwest parts of West Bengal witnessed increased mean annual precipitation (17.3 mm/year, p < 0.05) and a slight cooling trend. Temperature and precipitation trends are shown to collectively impact EVI distribution. While there is a negative spatial correlation between LST and EVI, the relationship between precipitation and EVI is positive and stronger (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05). Associated hydroclimatic parameters are potent drivers of EVI, whereby PET in the southwestern regions leads to markedly lower SM. The relative importance of CC and HA on EVI also varies spatially. Near the major conurbation of Kolkata, and confirmed by nighttime light and population density data, changes in vegetation cover are very clearly dominated by HA (87%). In contrast, CC emerges as the dominant driver of EVI (70–85%) in the higher elevation northern regions of the state but also in the southeast. Our findings inform policy regarding the future sustainability of vulnerable socio-hydroclimatic systems across the entire state.

AB - Assessing the relative importance of climate change and human activities is important in developing sustainable management policies for regional land use. In this study, multiple remote sensing datasets, i.e. CHIRPS (Climate Hazard Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station Data) precipitation, MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET), Soil Moisture (SM), WorldPop, and nighttime light have been analyzed to investigate the effect that climate change (CC) and regional human activities (HA) have on vegetation dynamics in eastern India for the period 2000 to 2022. The relative influence of climate and anthropogenic factors is evaluated on the basis of non-parametric statistics i.e., Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope estimator. Significant spatial and elevation-dependent variations in precipitation and LST are evident. Areas at higher elevations exhibit increased mean annual temperatures (0.22 °C/year, p < 0.05) and reduced winter precipitation over the last two decades, while the northern and southwest parts of West Bengal witnessed increased mean annual precipitation (17.3 mm/year, p < 0.05) and a slight cooling trend. Temperature and precipitation trends are shown to collectively impact EVI distribution. While there is a negative spatial correlation between LST and EVI, the relationship between precipitation and EVI is positive and stronger (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05). Associated hydroclimatic parameters are potent drivers of EVI, whereby PET in the southwestern regions leads to markedly lower SM. The relative importance of CC and HA on EVI also varies spatially. Near the major conurbation of Kolkata, and confirmed by nighttime light and population density data, changes in vegetation cover are very clearly dominated by HA (87%). In contrast, CC emerges as the dominant driver of EVI (70–85%) in the higher elevation northern regions of the state but also in the southeast. Our findings inform policy regarding the future sustainability of vulnerable socio-hydroclimatic systems across the entire state.

KW - Anthropogenic activities

KW - Climate variation

KW - Google earth engine

KW - Non-parametric trend test

KW - Vegetation dynamics

KW - West Bengal

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85185503497

U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118450

DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118450

M3 - Article

SN - 0013-9351

VL - 250

JO - Environmental Research

JF - Environmental Research

M1 - 118450

ER -

Evaluating the relative influence of climate and human activities on recent vegetation dynamics in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this