Human‐Climate Coupled Changes in Vegetation Community Complexity of China Since 1980s

Abstract Vegetation community complexity is a critical factor influencing terrestrial ecosystem stability. China, the country leading the world in vegetation greening resulting from human activities, has experienced dramatic changes in vegetation community composition during the past 30 years. However, how China's vegetation community complexity varies spatially and temporally remains unclear. Here, we examined the spatial pattern of China's vegetation community complexity and its temporal changes from the 1980s to 2015 using two vegetation maps of China as well as more than half a million field samples. Spatially, China's vegetation community complexity distribution is primarily dominated by elevation, although temperature and precipitation can be locally more influential than elevation when they become the factors limiting plant growth. Temporally, China's vegetation community…