Zhao et al. (2026) Urban vegetation experienced less damage than rural vegetation during the 2022 compound hot–dry event in eastern China

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Environmental Research Letters
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-10-14
• Authors: Zhihan Zhao, Bo Qiu, Jiuyi Chen, Yueyang Ni, Chen Chen
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aeb435

Research Groups

• Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Key Laboratory of Environmental Optics and Remote Sensing, CAS
• University of Science and Technology of China

Short Summary

This study examines the impact of compound hot–dry events on vegetation growth in urban and rural areas of the Yangtze River Basin in China. The results show that urban vegetation is more resilient to these extreme events than rural vegetation.

Objective

• Investigate how urban environments influence vegetation responses to compound hot–dry events

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional (Yangtze River Basin, China)
• Temporal Scale: 2022 CHDE event (specifically analyzed)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: None mentioned; analysis based on remote sensing data
• Data sources: Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) anomalies from satellite observations

Main Results

• Urban vegetation showed weaker declines in EVI during the 2022 CHDE compared to rural vegetation and croplands.
• Smaller damaged area and higher resistance among affected pixels were observed in urban areas.

Contributions

• This study highlights the importance of considering urban vegetation in climate-extreme impact assessments, which can provide valuable insights for adaptive management under intensifying heat and water stress.

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42175022)
• Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. QYZDY-SSW-DQC008)

Citation

@article{Zhao2026Urban,
  author = {Zhao, Zhihan and Qiu, Bo and Chen, Jiuyi and Ni, Yueyang and Chen, Chen},
  title = {Urban vegetation experienced less damage than rural vegetation during the 2022 compound hot–dry event in eastern China},
  journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aeb435},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb435}
}