Dynamic Change of Vegetation Index and Its Influencing Factors in Alxa League in the Arid Area

While there have been various studies on global vegetation dynamics, limited studies have been conducted to understand vegetation changes in arid areas. Vegetation distribution patterns can be affected by multiple factors, so understanding their interactions can help improve the capability of predicting future vegetation dynamics. This study, therefore, analyzed the dynamic vegetation changes in Alxa League, China, using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) dataset (2000–2019), with the consideration of land cover types, digital elevation model, air temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, total evaporation, and air quality. The results show that the NDVI in Alxa League is small. Before 2012, the NDVI value fluctuated, while after 2012, the NDVI value dropped sharply and then slowly recovered after 2015. High NDVI values were found in areas with high and frequent human activities (city centers). The NDVI in the northwest region showed a slight degradation trend, and the southeast showed a slight improvement trend. According to the land cover type analysis, the NDVI value was the largest when the land cover type was tree cover, and the NDVI value was the smallest when the land cover type was bare/sparse vegetation. Alxa League was dominated by a bare/sparse vegetation distribution. The terrain analysis indicates that when the height was between 1800 and 3492 m, the NDVI value was the highest, and high NDVI values were mainly distributed in the area with a slope > 25°. When the slope was flat, the NDVI value was the smallest. Considering climate factors, the NDVI was negatively correlated with air temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, and total evaporation in space, and only precipitation and soil moisture were positively correlated in time. Moreover, the population size has a strong positive correlation with the NDVI in this area. The monthly variation of the NDVI and absorbable particulate matter (PM10) was negatively correlated, i.e., strongly negatively correlated in spring, summer, and autumn, but only weakly positively correlated in winter. The seasonal variation of the NDVI was as follows: summer > autumn > spring > winter, and the seasonal variation of PM10 was spring > winter > summer > autumn. The interannual variation of the NDVI and PM10 was positively correlated. This suggests that the absorbable particulate matter (PM10) may be an essential factor for the normalized vegetation index to underestimate the dynamic changes of vegetation in arid regions. This study provides a theoretical basis for the dynamic changes of vegetation in the dry Alxa League.