NDVI-based vegetation dynamics and its resistance and resilience to different intensities of climatic events

The growing season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIGS) of vegetation and their responses to climate extremes are critical in assessing the resistance and resilience of the terrestrial ecosystem. Using satellite-derived NDVIGS and widely used Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) datasets of 18 sites in cold steppe, humid temperate and temperate dry steppe ecoregions for the period of 1982–2012, the NDVIGS response, resistance, and resilience to climate extreme intensity were assessed. The results showed that the mean NDVIGS varied significantly across ecoregions, where higher mean NDVIGS was observed in humid temperate and lower was in temperate dry steppe. The NDVIGS at most sites in three ecoregions showed significantly positive correlations with increasing SPEI. The responses of NDVIGS to climate extreme…