Analysis of Vegetation Changes in Fujian Province Using MODIS EVI Time Series Data (2000~2017)

Fujian province has the highest forest coverage rate in China for decades, which has played an important role in maintaining a good ecosystem quality in southeastern China. This study conducted an investigate aiming to find out the spatial and temporal changes of the vegetation status in Fujian and the impact factor involving in the vegetation growth during the period from 2000 to 2017, using the summer data of MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) product, associated with meteorological and non-meteorological data. The results showed that the mean EVI of Fujian rose as a whole during the 17 study years, from 0.454 in 2000 to 0.505 in 2017, increased by 11.2% in the period. This indicates that the overall vegetation status in Fujian has been improved, especially in, south and west parts of the province, while eastern coastal areas have shown decrease in vegetation coverage. Correlation analysis showed that during the study period, meteorological factors (temperature and precipitation) had no significant impact on the provincial EVI change, and the improvement of the vegetation status mainly due to non-meteorological factors. Both the construction of the ecological province in Fujian starting in 2003 and the soil erosion treatment starting in 2012 have strong relationships with vegetation increase. The increase of forest coverage rate and the decrease of soil erosion area have contributed significantly to the enhancement of Fujian’s EVI in the past 17 years.