The Innovation Team of Agricultural Remote Sensing of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has made significant progress in understanding the dynamical biophysical impacts of forest loss on surface temperature. The research results, titled "Contrasting temporal dynamics of land surface temperature responses to different types of forest loss," have been published in the top-tier Innovation interdisciplinary journal (IF=33.2).

The biophysical temperature effects of global forest cover changes are a hot topic in ecological and climate science. Existing remote sensing observations have confirmed static differences in land surface temperature before and after forest loss, but have overlooked the dynamic temperature responses caused by vegetation changes following deforestation or forest disturbance.

To address this scientific issue, the team proposed a new method for evaluating temperature dynamic responses by combining time-series change detection algorithms. They tracked the temperature response process from abrupt and gradual changes in temperature trend and changes in temperature seasonal cycles. Analysis of the team's developed long-term land surface temperature products revealed that globally, forest loss had a significant abrupt warming effect (+0.12K), but this warming effect decreased at a rate of -0.14K per decade. Agricultural expansion and urbanization in the mid-low latitudes led to sustained warming effects, while warming effects caused by disturbances such as agricultural shifts, forestry management, and fires decreased as vegetation recovered. In the boreal zones, forestry management and fires intensified local cooling. Furthermore, forest loss significantly amplified the temperature seasonality amplitude in the boreal zones, leading to an earlier phase shift of the seasonal cycle in low-latitude regions. These findings help reconcile inconsistent  traditional research conclusions based on static temperature differences and offer critical insights for the development of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Figure 1: Temporal Changes in Land Surface Temperature 1 to 14 Years After Forest Loss

Dr. Li Jing, Postdoctoral Researcher, Associate Researcher Liu Xiangyang, Associate Researcher Liu Meng, Researcher Duan Sibo, and Researcher Leng Pei from the IARRP Innovation Team of Agricultural Remote Sensing, all participated in this study. The research was supported by the National Key Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Farmland in Northern Arid and Semi-arid Areas and the National Natural Science Foundation Innovation Research Group Project on "Agricultural Remote Sensing Mechanisms and Methods."

Original Article Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2025.100875