*2.1. Study Area*

Qinling is the highest mountain range in the central region of China and also a geographical boundary between the north and the south of China, with an elevation range of 51 to 5120 m and a spatial range from 30.8◦ to 35.5◦N to 102.5◦ to 114.6◦E (Figure 1a). Its climate differs significantly between north and south, with a humid northern subtropical climate in the south and a warm temperate semi-humid and semiarid climate in the north (Figure 1a). It has also been classified as one of the critical terrestrial biodiversity areas of world significance [31], with mixed coniferous and deciduous broadleaved forests widely distributed on its northern slopes, while the southern slopes are dominated by mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests (Figure 1b).

**Figure 1.** An overview of (**a**) the study area and (**b**) spatial distribution of vegetation types. Only pixels with unchanged vegetation types were analyzed in this study period. The dataset with a total of 218,899 pixels was divided into seven vegetation types.
