The spatio-temporal impacts of forest cover changes on water, heat, and carbon in Shaoguan and Zhaoqing of Guangdong Province and their interactive effects

To establish a comprehensive framework for evaluating the impact of forest cover change on water, heat and carbon and interactive effects through multi-source remote sensing data and satellite observation methods.

This paper analyzed the spatiotemporal characteristics of water, heat, and carbon in forest change based on the moving window strategy and spatio-temporal change analysis method in Shaoguan City and Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province from 2000 to 2020 by utilizing the Chinese land cover dataset, InVEST model, land surface temperature (LST), air temperature, and precipitation data. The interactions between water, heat, and carbon change are analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression method.

Afforestation in Shaoguan City and Zhaoqing City led to an average LST decrease of -1.14 ± 0.25 ℃ and -1.29 ± 0.20 ℃, respectively, while deforestation caused an LST increase of 1.63 ± 0.13 ℃ and 1.24 ± 0.43 ℃, respectively. It reveals that Shaoguan City, at the higher latitudes, experiences weaker cooling and more significant warming. Afforestation and deforestation respectively caused the precipitation and carbon storage in the two cities to increase and decrease. In Zhaoqing City, afforestation has reversed the effects of deforestation on carbon storage, while in Shaoguan City; deforestation has negated the impact of afforestation on carbon storage. In deforested areas, there is a relatively clear negative correlation between temperature and precipitation changes.

The water-heat-carbon mechanism in forest change is universal, although uncertainties remain. This study emphasizes enhancing forest carbon sinks through rational forest management practices to combat climate change and foster sustainable urban development.