Decreasing effects of precipitation on grassland spring phenology in temperate China

Vegetation phenology is highly sensitive to climate change. The timing of spring phenology in temperate grasslands is primarily regulated by temperature and precipitation. This study aims to study whether the primary factor regulating vegetation phenology changed under ongoing climate change and its underlying mechanisms. In this study, we extracted Start of Season (SOS) dates using five standard methods from satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data and determined the primary regulating factor for spring phenology using partial correlation analysis.