Monitoring Vegetation Degradation and Recovery Patterns Using NDVI Time Series in Hormozgan Province

Forozanfard, Massomeh; Bazrafshan, Ommolbanin; Esmaeilpour,, Yahya; Zamani,, Hossein; Mohammadi, Mojtaba

doi:10.22059/ije.2025.404133.1890

Monitoring Vegetation Degradation and Recovery Patterns Using NDVI Time Series in Hormozgan Province

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

¹ Phd Student, Department of Natural Resources Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran

² Department of Natural Resources Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran

³ Department of Statistics and mathematics, Faculty of Science, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran

⁴ Department of Desert Management and Control, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Planning and Sustainable Development, University of Saravan, Saravan, Iran

10.22059/ije.2025.404133.1890

Abstract

Background: This research evaluates the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation degradation and restoration in the arid and fragile ecosystems of Hormozgan province.
Objective: The main objective of this study was to analyze the trends of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) changes at overall, seasonal, and monthly time scales during the 2000-2018 period, and to identify the main hotspots of vegetation increase (greening) and decrease (browning) across the province.
Method: This study utilized 19-year time-series data of the NDVI from the MOD13Q1 product with a spatial resolution of 250 meters. For trend analysis at the pixel level, the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was used to detect significant trends, and Sen’s Slope estimator was employed to determine the magnitude of changes. All analyses were conducted in the R software environment.
Results: The results indicate the dominance of a widespread declining trend (browning) in the western and central regions of the province. Seasonal analysis revealed a key paradox: the degradation trend occurred not only in the hot and dry summer but also significantly during the wet winter season. In contrast, autumn showed a dual pattern, where the eastern half of the province experienced a notable increasing trend (greening) due to the impact of monsoon precipitation. June and July were identified as the most critical periods of degradation, while August and September were the only periods of significant restoration (limited to the eastern part of the province).
Conclusion: The ecosystem of Hormozgan province is undergoing an increasing degradation trend, and the ecological balance is shifting towards a reduction in plant biomass. The discovery of a declining trend during the winter precipitation season is a serious warning for the region’s water security and biological sustainability, emphasizing the need to adopt adaptive, location-based, and evidence-based management strategies to combat the consequences of climate change and prevent irreversible alterations.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Ecohydrology

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