In the first section of this study, we explored the relationship between ring width index (RWI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series on varying timescales and spatial resolutions, hypothesizing positive associations between RWI and current and previous- year NDVI at 69 forest sites scattered in the Northern Hemisphere. We noted that the relationship between RWI and NDVI varies over space and between tree types (deciduous versus coniferous), bioclimatic zones, cumulative NDVI periods, and spatial resolutions. The high-spatial-resolution NDVI (MODIS) reflected stronger growth patterns than those with coarse-spatial-resolution NDVI (GIMMS3g). In the second section, we explore the link between RWI, climate and NDVI phenological metrics (in place of NDVI) for the same forest sites using random forest models to assess the complicated and nonlinear relationships among them. The results are as following (a) The model using high-spatial-resolution NDVI time series explained a higher proportion of the variance in RWI than that of the model using coarse-spatial-resolution NDVI time series. (b) Amongst all NDVI phenological metrics, summer NDVI sum could best explain RWI followed by the previous year’s summer NDVI sum and the previous year’s spring NDVI sum. (c) We demonstrated the potential of NDVI metrics derived from phenology to improve the existing RWI-climate relationships. However, further research is required to investigate the robustness of the relationship between NDVI and RWI, particularly when more tree-ring data and longer records of the high-spatial-resolution NDVI become available. Full article

We analyzed potential land degradation processes in semiarid regions worldwide using long time series of remote sensing images and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the period 1981 to 2011. The objectives of the study were to identify semiarid regions showing a marked decrease in potential vegetation activity, indicative of the occurrence of land degradation processes, and to assess the possible influence of the observed drought trends quantified using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). We found that the NDVI values recorded during the period of maximum vegetation activity (NDVI_max) predominantly showed a positive evolution in the majority of the semiarid regions assessed, but NDVI_max was highly correlated with drought variability, and the trends of drought events influenced trends in NDVI_max at the global scale. The semiarid regions that showed most increase in NDVI_max (the Sahel, northern Australia, South Africa) were characterized by a clear positive trend in the SPEI values, indicative of conditions of greater humidity and lesser drought conditions. While changes in drought severity may be an important driver of NDVI trends and land degradation processes in semiarid regions worldwide, drought did not apparently explain some of the observed changes in NDVI_max. This reflects the complexity of vegetation activity processes in the world’s semiarid regions, and the difficulty of defining a universal response to drought in these regions, where a number of factors (natural and anthropogenic) may also affect on land degradation. Full article