Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau

Soil moisture governs vegetation growth and distribution, which in turn affects its dynamics through transpiration, interception, root water uptake, and soil structure improvement. Understanding these interactions is vital for effective ecosystem management and sustainable development. This study an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shubo Zhang, Siqin Tong, Jinyuan Ren, Gang Bao, Xiaojun Huang, Yuhai Bao, Dorjsuren Altantuya
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-08-01
Series:International Journal of Digital Earth
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2532774
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849224327152533504
author Shubo Zhang
Siqin Tong
Jinyuan Ren
Gang Bao
Xiaojun Huang
Yuhai Bao
Dorjsuren Altantuya
author_facet Shubo Zhang
Siqin Tong
Jinyuan Ren
Gang Bao
Xiaojun Huang
Yuhai Bao
Dorjsuren Altantuya
author_sort Shubo Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Soil moisture governs vegetation growth and distribution, which in turn affects its dynamics through transpiration, interception, root water uptake, and soil structure improvement. Understanding these interactions is vital for effective ecosystem management and sustainable development. This study analyzes the interactions and lag effects between soil moisture at different depths and NDVI on the Mongolian Plateau from 1982–2022 using trend, correlation, and nonlinear Granger causality analyses. The results show that the significant increase in vegetation is accompanied by a notable decrease in soil moisture. Increased vegetation promotes shallow soil moisture retention but accelerates deep soil moisture depletion as drought intensifies, extending the lag time. Concurrently, while soil moisture generally positively affects NDVI, this relationship becomes negatively correlated in deeper layers. Overall, soil moisture had a causal relationship with NDVI in 65.7 to 76.9% of the areas, indicating broad influence by soil moisture. Conversely, vegetation exerted a regulatory effect on soil moisture in 38.9to 66.5% of the regions. As depth increased, bidirectional causality gradually weakened, transitioning to a unidirectional influence of soil moisture on NDVI. In arid regions, NDVI more significantly impacted deep soil moisture, highlighting the need for increased focus on vegetation's effect on water consumption.
format Article
id doaj-art-d99e98d73b3c4af3a5ecb86f902a4f39
institution Kabale University
issn 1753-8947
1753-8955
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series International Journal of Digital Earth
spelling doaj-art-d99e98d73b3c4af3a5ecb86f902a4f392025-08-25T11:28:50ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Digital Earth1753-89471753-89552025-08-0118110.1080/17538947.2025.2532774Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian PlateauShubo Zhang0Siqin Tong1Jinyuan Ren2Gang Bao3Xiaojun Huang4Yuhai Bao5Dorjsuren Altantuya6College of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, People’s Republic of ChinaCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, People’s Republic of ChinaMongolian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaSoil moisture governs vegetation growth and distribution, which in turn affects its dynamics through transpiration, interception, root water uptake, and soil structure improvement. Understanding these interactions is vital for effective ecosystem management and sustainable development. This study analyzes the interactions and lag effects between soil moisture at different depths and NDVI on the Mongolian Plateau from 1982–2022 using trend, correlation, and nonlinear Granger causality analyses. The results show that the significant increase in vegetation is accompanied by a notable decrease in soil moisture. Increased vegetation promotes shallow soil moisture retention but accelerates deep soil moisture depletion as drought intensifies, extending the lag time. Concurrently, while soil moisture generally positively affects NDVI, this relationship becomes negatively correlated in deeper layers. Overall, soil moisture had a causal relationship with NDVI in 65.7 to 76.9% of the areas, indicating broad influence by soil moisture. Conversely, vegetation exerted a regulatory effect on soil moisture in 38.9to 66.5% of the regions. As depth increased, bidirectional causality gradually weakened, transitioning to a unidirectional influence of soil moisture on NDVI. In arid regions, NDVI more significantly impacted deep soil moisture, highlighting the need for increased focus on vegetation's effect on water consumption.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2532774Vegetationsoil moisturegranger causalitytime-lag effectsnon-linear interactions
spellingShingle Shubo Zhang
Siqin Tong
Jinyuan Ren
Gang Bao
Xiaojun Huang
Yuhai Bao
Dorjsuren Altantuya
Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau
International Journal of Digital Earth
Vegetation
soil moisture
granger causality
time-lag effects
non-linear interactions
title Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau
title_full Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau
title_fullStr Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau
title_full_unstemmed Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau
title_short Bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation NDVI and multi-depth soil moisture in the Mongolian Plateau
title_sort bilateral coupling relationships between vegetation ndvi and multi depth soil moisture in the mongolian plateau
topic Vegetation
soil moisture
granger causality
time-lag effects
non-linear interactions
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2532774
work_keys_str_mv AT shubozhang bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau
AT siqintong bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau
AT jinyuanren bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau
AT gangbao bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau
AT xiaojunhuang bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau
AT yuhaibao bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau
AT dorjsurenaltantuya bilateralcouplingrelationshipsbetweenvegetationndviandmultidepthsoilmoistureinthemongolianplateau