Climate Change and Vegetation Coverage in Yuanmou from 1999 to 2018

Understanding climate change as well as its impacts on vegetation growth over the dry-hot valley has important implication for ecosystems. This study investigated changes in climate and the vegetation coverage over the Yuanmou. The results reveal that the annual precipitation in Yuanmou from 1999 to 2018 decreased at a rate of 7.6 mm/a, insignificantly. Meanwhile, the minimum relative humidity, the minimum value surface temperature and air temperature were increased significantly. In October 2018, the areas of medium cover, medium–high cover and high cover were 36.91, 1029.23 and 950.31 km2, accounting for 1.82, 50.69 and 46.81% of the total area of Yuanmou, respectively. Noticeably, vegetation degradation is also found in part of Yuanmou mainly resulting from human activity. This study is expected to provide scientific basis for understanding of change in drought condition and its impacts on vegetation over dry-hot valley under global warming background.