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Global and regional studies have shown that there are scientific doubts as to how stable the higher levels of greenness achieved actually are, bringing uncertainties to the sustainable development of ecosystems. Droughts occur frequently in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, and vegetation recovery periods are barely long enough, further complicating the research on vegetation resilience. Based on satellite-derived vegetation data from 2000 to 2023, this study evaluates vegetation dynamics and resilience in the Sichuan-Chongqing region. Given that the recovery rate (lag-1 autocorrelation, AR(1)) is difficult to quantitatively characterize the ecological damage caused by droughts, this study introduces the concept of recovery debt, identifies drought events from 2005 to 2023 using the three-threshold run theory, and quantifies the long-term cumulative impacts of droughts on vegetation functions from the perspective of cumulative deficit in Net Primary Productivity (NPP). The results indicate an overall greening trend in the Sichuan-Chongqing region from 2000 to 2023, with vegetation resistance transitioning from a declining to an increasing trend around October 2014. An increase in greenness does not necessarily entail an improvement in resilience. No recovery debt was formed during 2006–2009 and 2009–2013, and NPP could recover to the baseline level. From 2013 to 2023, recovery debt continued to accumulate due to the cumulative effect of droughts, leading to a significant deficit in vegetation productivity. It is recommended that vegetation resilience and recovery debt be integrated into ecological restoration and conservation practices in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, so as to provide scientific support for the efficient management and sustainable development of ecosystems.
Su et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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