Reversal of the Spatiotemporal Patterns at the End of the Growing Season of Typical Steppe Vegetation in a Semi-Arid Region by Increased Precipitation

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 1)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The revised manuscript has addressed all the issures and it can be published.

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 3)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The author has made sufficient revisions to the article to reach the level of academic publication. I have no other opinions.

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report (Previous Reviewer 4)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors added some information about the ground observations. I suggest that for future studies more than one site should be used for ground observation. Please expand on the criteria used for the ground observations.

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Reviewer 4 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I would ask the authors take consider of the following comments and suggestion on your article:

1.     In the abstract section, there are some rooms to improve the content. The method may be introduced first and the conclusion may come after. At present, both contents are twisted.  

2.     In the conclusion section, the main findings from this study were not summarized. Some points may refer to the abstract.

3.     In the discussion section, the weakness of the method may be discussed but some results that were from other study area and not closely related to your study area may be removed.

4.     In Fig 1. , the legend for Tmean is not compatible with PRE. You may use the same legend but the higher temperature will be better in red color.

5.     In Fig. 8 and 10, what do you mean by 7/8/9 month?  July, August and September?

6.     What does the threshold for the EOS mean according to the fig.3 ?

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Please check the language carefully and polish where there are not proper. 

Author Response

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Reviewer 5 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Overall comment:

This article investigates the effects of climate change, especially increased precipitation in August, on the end of the growing season (EOS) of typical grassland vegetation in semi-arid regions. The article has a clear theme, detailed data, scientific methodology, and significant results. Some specific suggestions and comments are provided below:

1. Suggest removing “in August” from the title.

2. Emphasize the main findings and their importance more clearly in the abstract.

3. Lines 40-42 are repetitive and it is recommended to simplify the expression.

4. In the data processing, you mentioned resampling the resolution of the meteorological data from 1000m to 500m to be consistent with the remotely sensed data. How was this resampling process done and does it affect the accuracy of the data?

5. The legend titles of Figures 1(d) and (e) should have a counterpart in the figure caption. The same should be the case for the other figures in the text.

6. In the conclusion section, the practical application of the findings should be further emphasized.

7. You mentioned using ground-based observations to validate the accuracy of remotely sensed data. What are the specific sources and observation methods of these ground observation data? How are these data matched and verified with the remote sensing data? Please explain.

8. Do the ground-based observations cover the entire study area? If not, how can we ensure that these observations are representative? Please explain.

9. How do you ensure the robustness of the conclusion that increased precipitation in August is a key factor in the delay of EOS? How were other factors (such as soil moisture, vegetation type, etc.) excluded? Please explain.

10. What are the limitations of the study? Please clarify.

Author Response

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Reviewer 6 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article has been substantially revised. Accept in present form.

Author Response

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This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Understanding of the climatic determinants influence on the vegetation phenology is crucial to understand the ecosystem changes under future climate change. Study of these processes is a popular topic in recent years. At the same time, the main part of the study deals with the semi-arid region of Inner Mongolia. This study suggests that FPAR can well reflect the EOS of typical grassland vegetation in semi-arid areas. In the manuscript, the reply of the important phenological indicators (EOS) to temperature and precipitation changes were analyzed for the long period in the semi -arid grassland region of the Inner Mongolia. Partial Least Squares regression (PLS) a quick, efficient and optimal regression method, was applied to a have a deep insight. The study yielded interesting findings.

The manuscript is well written. The problem is actual and substantial, the methods correspond to the current level of research, and the results significantly contribute to the field of study. The manuscript may be approved after minor changes.

Minor points:

1. The conclusion section is somewhat similar to the abstract section, please simplify the conclusion section.

 

2. English language and style are minor check required. Minor improvements in English grammar.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Please check the full text carefully to avoid grammatical errors.

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Review

The article describes the impact of climate warming on the phenology of vegetation. The authors' study was conducted using MODIS and meteorological data based on the semi-arid region of Inner Mongolia from 2003 to 2022. The authors also studied the response of EOS to the dynamics of temperature and precipitation.

The researchers obtained very interesting results, conclusions on the use of FPAR for monitoring the EOS of typical steppe vegetation, as well as the influence of changes in precipitation and temperature on EOS depending on the season and territory. In particular, the authors, in addition to the temperature factor, revealed a fairly strong influence of summer precipitation (in August) on EOS variability.

In my opinion, the research is presented quite well, the authors have carried out an in-depth analysis, presented new interesting results, and the work can be recommended for publication.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

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Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1."2.1. Study area"：The description of the climatic conditions in the study area can be more specific.

 

2. Suggested modifications to Figure 1: unify the widths of (a), (b-c), and (d-e). Xilinhot’s presentation in (b-e) suggests adding longitude and latitude and a scale.

 

3. The spatial resolution of land cover data is 10m, the meteorological data is about 1km, and the EOS data is 500m, what is the final unified spatial resolution of the research results? It is recommended to add a section to solve the spatial scale problem.

 

4.L148-149, “it was compared with ground observation results, and the accuracy was evaluated by correlation coefficient (r) and p-value.” It is recommended to add the source of ground observation data in the data source.

 

5.L217-219 What is the basis for selecting the 49 spatial points here? Are the altitudes divided into levels or are the points randomly selected? Does the altitude span of 900-1600m include the entire study area (800-1600m in the study area overview)? Can the 49 spatial points fully represent the overall situation? It is recommended to improve the experimental process of this part.

 

6. The spatial pattern of EOS in the two subsections “3.3. Spatial pattern of the EOS of typical grassland vegetation” and “3.4. Spatial dynamics pattern of the EOS of typical grassland vegetation EOS” is not reflected, and there is a lack of description of the spatial distribution and spatial dynamic changes.

 

7. The results of the least squares regression analysis are too simple. It is recommended to add more specific data descriptions. In addition, some explanations of the mechanism are also necessary.

 

8. Figures 9 and 11 suggest some merging.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Moderate editing of English language required.

Author Response

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Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

It was difficult to evaluate this manuscript because there was no description of the ground observations used to evaluate and validate the results.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Note that "semi-arid region of Inner Mongolia" should read either "a"semi-arid region of Inner Mongolia" or "the "semi-arid region of Inner Mongolia"

Author Response

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