Buyantuyev_2012_Landscape-and-Urban-Planning.pdf

U I p A a b a A R R A A K V L S U R M 1 c p ( w b a d t o e t e a H ( 0 dLandscape and Urban Planning 105 (2012) 149– 159 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Landscape and Urban Planning jou rn al h om epa ge: www.elsev ier .com/ locate / landurbplan rbanization diversifies land surface phenology in arid environments: nteractions among vegetation, climatic variation, and land use attern in the Phoenix metropolitan region, USA lexander Buyantuyeva,b,?, Jianguo Wua,b School of Life Sciences and Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA Sino-US Center for Conservation, Energy, and Sustainability Science (SUCCESS), Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China r t i c l e i n f o rticle history: eceived 22 February 2011 eceived in revised form 7 December 2011 ccepted 21 December 2011 vailable online 10 January 2012 eywords: egetation phenology and surface phenology onoran desert rban–rural gradient a b s t r a c t Urbanization transforms vegetation pattern and ecosystem processes which are controlled primarily by climate in desert regions. The objective of this study was to investigate how urbanization affects vegetation phenology and its coupling with climate in the Phoenix metropolitan region, USA. Our analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time-series reveals a complex pattern of land surface phenology in response to urbanization. Croplands and urbanized areas show growth multimodality, which is usually found in riparian areas of the region but absent in the native desert. Agriculture is characterized by the shortest growth length and fastest greening and senescing rates. Conversely, urban vegetation stays photosynthetically active for longer periods. Desert NDVI is regulated by 3–5 month accumulated precipitation, but riparian v