Spatiotemporal Variation in Vegetation and Its Driving Mechanisms in the Southwest Alpine Canyon Area of China

Comments

Authors reply

1. Please use the complete form of climatic variables (e.g., Tem, Pre, etc) in the Abstract.

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s suggestions. The abbreviated form in the abstract has been revised.

2. Line 33; Please use the complete form of CC and HA in their first presence in the main body of the manuscript. Please consider this comment for other abbreviations

 The authors appreciate the reviewer’s suggestions. The abbreviated form in the abstract has been revised.

3. The introduction section is nice and can guide the readers to be informed about the necessity of the research. The objectives are clear. However, a point should be considered in the Introduction section to make it more exhaustive. In Line 83, the authors mentioned that many studies have been conducted in the SACA, but a few explanations are provided. I recommend adding more case studies. Please also clarify which climatic parameters have been studied and which are new to this study. This can better justify the objectives of the manuscript.

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s suggestions. More research cases have been added.

4. Section 3.1; The descriptions of the data sources are not complete, and the current state is not acceptable. Please introduce each data source with more detail, and provide their original source of data (e.g., satellite data) and their specifications (e.g., accuracy or uncertainty). These points should be stated clearly to ensure the reliability of the results.

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. Details of data sources and processing methods have been added In section 3.1.

5. Please include a new figure and represent each factor for a sample year.

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s comments and suggestions. Sample year of each factor have been added to the flow chart.

6. Did you use an annual time series? If yes, how did you aggregate/produce the annual time series for each data source?

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s comments and suggestions. Details of data sources and processing methods have been added In section 3.1.

7. Line 132; How did you resample the data? What was the final spatial resolution that you considered?

Resampling of data by ArcGIS software. The final spatial resolution is 1km.  Details of data sources and processing methods have been added In section 3.1.

8. Section 3.2.4; Why only linear terms were considered for NDVI-CC estimation. The vegetation dynamics may present non-linear behavior. Please clearly state your reasons and justify your considerations. Please also include the associated uncertainties of the considered model.

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments, The choice to only consider linear terms for the NDVI-CC estimation is driven by our desire to maintain model simplicity for ease of interpretation and understanding in our study. Despite the potential non-linear behavior of vegetation dynamics, the authors have consulted numerous studies, and in our analysis, a linear model has proven to effectively capture and explain the relationship between NDVI and climate change. Additionally, given that non-linear terms may introduce more complexity, our primary goal is to provide a clear and interpretable model, facilitating a better understanding of vegetation response to climate change.

9. How did you determine the unknown coefficients in Equation 2? How many pixels were used for such analysis? What was their spatial distribution across the study area? How did you evaluate your model?

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments, Firstly, we employed fitting to determine the unknown coefficients in Equation 2 by fitting NDVI and climate factors. In the analysis process, we conducted a pixel-wise analysis on the dataset, covering the entire study area.

10. Figure 4; how were three climatic factors' trends calculated?

Trends of climatic factors were calculated by the Theil-Sen trend method. Already described in section 4.2.1.

11. Figure 6; Please add the name of each land cover class in the upper sub-figure.

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great suggestions. We have revised the upper part of Figure 6 and included the names of each land cover class in the subfigures.

Comments

Authors reply

1. Abstract

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. In terms of abbreviations, the author considered the necessity of using these abbreviations in the abstract. Following your advice, there is an intention to avoid excessive use of abbreviations in the abstract unless these terms are repeated multiple times.

Regarding the clarity and consistency of the abstract, I have rewritten it to clearly state the purpose of the study, the issues at hand, the shortcomings of previous research, and the proposed improvements and contributions. I will ensure that each sentence in the abstract is tightly connected to the preceding one, allowing readers to systematically understand the content of the study without the need for back-and-forth referencing, guessing abbreviations, or terminology meanings.

2. Introduction

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. The author has revised the whole introduction, especially the problems existing in the research area and the purpose of the research, as well as the expression of some sentences, as detailed in the introductory section.

3. Study area

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. The division of protected areas is based on soil and water conservation functions. The authors have added a flow chart that includes samples for each factor, which can clearly distinguish population densities.

4. Data and methods

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. The authors have described the data sources and processing in detail in section 3.1. In section 3.2, the description of the method section has been refined so that the reader can understand it more easily and flowcharts have been added.

5. Results and Analysis

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. According to the reviewers' comments, the authors have revised all figures and tables.

6. Discussion

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. I've given careful consideration to your points, and indeed, there are seemingly conflicting statements in the manuscript. The author has made revisions to the discussion section, highlighted in red font. Through this approach, I aim to eliminate any confusion regarding the apparent contradictions between different statements.

7. Conclusions

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great comments and suggestions. I have carefully considered your opinions and indeed found that the conclusion section is too general. I will revisit the introduction and abstract to clearly define the objectives of the paper, and in the conclusion, I will articulate more specific statements related to these objectives. At the same time, I will ensure that the conclusion is concise and clear, avoiding the repetition of summary statements from the discussion section to enhance the overall quality. Your advice is greatly appreciated and helpful to me. Thank you for your guidance.

8. References

The authors appreciate the reviewer’s great and suggestions. The author has added this reference.