{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T09:30:54Z","timestamp":1771925454407,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,18]],"date-time":"2014-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1403049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Long-term trends in photosynthetic capacity measured with the satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are usually associated with climate change. Human impacts on the global land surface are typically not accounted for. Here, we provide the first global analysis quantifying the effect of the earth\u2019s human footprint on NDVI trends. Globally, more than 20% of the variability in NDVI trends was explained by anthropogenic factors such as land use, nitrogen fertilization, and irrigation. Intensely used land classes, such as villages, showed the greatest rates of increase in NDVI, more than twice than those of forests. These findings reveal that factors beyond climate influence global long-term trends in NDVI and suggest that global climate change models and analyses of primary productivity should incorporate land use effects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs6065717","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,18]],"date-time":"2014-06-18T11:40:25Z","timestamp":1403091625000},"page":"5717-5731","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":68,"title":["Human Land-Use Practices Lead to Global Long-Term Increases in Photosynthetic Capacity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Thomas","family":"Mueller","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA"},{"name":"Biodiversity and Climate Research Center, Senckenberg Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Stra\u00dfe 9,  D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany"},{"name":"Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal,  VA 22630, USA"}]},{"given":"Gunnar","family":"Dressler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ecological Modeling, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ,  D-04318 Leipzig, Germany"}]},{"given":"Compton","family":"Tucker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Code 610.9, NASA\/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA"}]},{"given":"Jorge","family":"Pinzon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Code 610.9, NASA\/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Leimgruber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal,  VA 22630, USA"}]},{"given":"Ralph","family":"Dubayah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20771, USA"}]},{"given":"George","family":"Hurtt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20771, USA"},{"name":"National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 1 Park Place, Suite 300,  Annapolis, MD 21401, USA"}]},{"given":"Katrin","family":"B\u00f6hning-Gaese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biodiversity and Climate Research Center, Senckenberg Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Stra\u00dfe 9,  D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany"}]},{"given":"William","family":"Fagan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA"},{"name":"National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 1 Park Place, Suite 300,  Annapolis, MD 21401, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"596","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaridenv.2005.03.007","article-title":"Analysis of Sahelian vegetation dynamics using NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data from 1981\u20132003","volume":"63","author":"Anyamba","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Arid Environ"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4927","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160701253279","article-title":"Persistent changes in NDVI between 1982 and 2003 over India using AVHRR GIMMS (Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies) data","volume":"28","author":"Jeyaseelan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"556","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaridenv.2005.03.008","article-title":"A recent greening of the Sahel\u2014Trends, patterns and potential causes","volume":"63","author":"Olsson","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Arid Environ"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1380","DOI":"10.1109\/36.649788","article-title":"Estimation of global leaf area index and absorbed par using radiative transfer models","volume":"35","author":"Myneni","year":"1997","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1560","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1082750","article-title":"Climate-driven increases in global terrestrial net primary production from 1982 to 1999","volume":"300","author":"Nemani","year":"2003","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1395","DOI":"10.1080\/01431168608948944","article-title":"Satellite remote-sensing of primary production","volume":"7","author":"Tucker","year":"1986","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hickler, T., Eklundh, L., Seaquist, J.W., Smith, B., Ardo, J., Olsson, L., Sykes, M.T., and Sjostrom, M. (2005). Precipitation controls Sahel greening trend. Geophys. Res. Lett, 32.","DOI":"10.1029\/2005GL024370"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1007\/s10021-003-0189-x","article-title":"Remotely sensed interannual variations and trends in terrestrial net primary productivity 1981\u20132000","volume":"7","author":"Cao","year":"2004","journal-title":"Ecosystems"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"891","DOI":"10.1641\/0006-3568(2002)052[0891:THFATL]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"The human footprint and the last of the wild","volume":"52","author":"Sanderson","year":"2002","journal-title":"Bioscience"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10309","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1732458100","article-title":"Wilderness and biodiversity conservation","volume":"100","author":"Mittermeier","year":"2003","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"570","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1111772","article-title":"Global consequences of land use","volume":"309","author":"Foley","year":"2005","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1007\/s10584-011-0153-2","article-title":"Harmonization of land-use scenarios for the period 1500\u20132100: 600 years of global gridded annual land-use transitions, wood harvest, and resulting secondary lands","volume":"109","author":"Hurtt","year":"2011","journal-title":"Clim. Chang"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1890\/070062","article-title":"Putting people in the map: Anthropogenic biomes of the world","volume":"6","author":"Ellis","year":"2008","journal-title":"Front. Ecol. Environ"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5397","DOI":"10.3390\/s8095397","article-title":"Long-term satellite NDVI data sets: Evaluating their ability to detect ecosystem functional changes in South America","volume":"8","author":"Baldi","year":"2008","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"334","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2486.2007.01479.x","article-title":"Comparison of phenology trends by land cover class: A case study in the Great Basin, USA","volume":"14","author":"Bradley","year":"2008","journal-title":"Glob. Chang. Biol"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1749","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2007.08.018","article-title":"North American vegetation dynamics observed with multi-resolution satellite data","volume":"112","author":"Neigh","year":"2008","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4799","DOI":"10.3390\/rs5104799","article-title":"Global trends in seasonality of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), 1982\u20132011","volume":"5","author":"Eastman","year":"2013","journal-title":"Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Niyogi, D., Kishtawal, C., Tripathi, S., and Govindaraju, R.S. (2010). Observational evidence that agricultural intensification and land use change may be reducing the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Water Resour. Res.","DOI":"10.1029\/2008WR007082"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"933","DOI":"10.1641\/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Terrestrial ecoregions of the worlds: A new map of life on earth","volume":"51","author":"Olson","year":"2001","journal-title":"Bioscience"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2011.12.015","article-title":"Evaluation of earth observation based global long term vegetation trends\u2014Comparing GIMMS and MODIS global NDVI time series","volume":"119","author":"Fensholt","year":"2012","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"692","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2010.10.011","article-title":"Analysis of monotonic greening and browning trends from global NDVI time-series","volume":"115","author":"Schaepman","year":"2011","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1025","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2486.2008.01746.x","article-title":"Climate-related trends in Australian vegetation cover as inferred from satellite observations, 1981\u20132006","volume":"15","author":"Donohue","year":"2009","journal-title":"Glob. Chang. Biol"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Verbyla, D. (2011). Browning boreal forests of western North America. Environ. Res. Lett, 6.","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/6\/4\/041003"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"373","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1461-0248.2011.01598.x","article-title":"Changes in forest productivity across Alaska consistent with biome shift","volume":"14","author":"Beck","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ecol. Lett"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2006.03.011","article-title":"Changes in land surface temperatures and NDVI values over Europe between 1982 and 1999","volume":"103","author":"Julien","year":"2006","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3303","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160310001618149","article-title":"European plant phenology and climate as seen in a 20-year AVHRR land-surface parameter dataset","volume":"25","author":"Stockli","year":"2004","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Piao, S.L., Fang, J.Y., Zhou, L.M., Guo, Q.H., Henderson, M., Ji, W., Li, Y., and Tao, S. (2003). Interannual variations of monthly and seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) in China from 1982 to 1999. J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos.","DOI":"10.1029\/2002JD002848"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"385","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2006.11.025","article-title":"AVHRR derived phenological change in the Sahel and Soudan, Africa, 1982\u20132005","volume":"108","author":"Heumann","year":"2007","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2011.02.002","article-title":"Can a 25-year trend in Soudano-Sahelian vegetation dynamics be interpreted in terms of land use change? A remote sensing approach","volume":"21","author":"Begue","year":"2011","journal-title":"Glob. Environ. Chang"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2289","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2010.11.023","article-title":"Modelling the impact of nitrogen deposition, climate change and nutrient limitations on tree carbon sequestration in Europe for the period 1900\u20132050","volume":"159","author":"Posch","year":"2011","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut"},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"(2011). The State of the World\u2019s Forests, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2816","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2010.07.001","article-title":"A scalable approach to mapping annual land cover at 250 m using MODIS time series data: A case study in the Dry Chaco ecoregion of South America","volume":"114","author":"Clark","year":"2010","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pinzon, J.E., and Tucker, C.J. (2014). A non-stationary 1981\u20132012 AVHRR NDVI3g time series. Remote Sens, submitted.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs6086929"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4485","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160500168686","article-title":"An extended AVHRR 8-km NDVI dataset compatible with MODIS and SPOT vegetation NDVI data","volume":"26","author":"Tucker","year":"2005","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20069","DOI":"10.1029\/2000JD000115","article-title":"Variations in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999","volume":"106","author":"Zhou","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4267","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2010.486414","article-title":"Global trends in NDVI-derived parameters obtained from GIMMS data","volume":"32","author":"Sobrino","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2547","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2011.05.012","article-title":"Global evaluation of four AVHRR-NDVI data sets: Intercomparison and assessment against Landsat imagery","volume":"115","author":"Beck","year":"2011","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(02)00084-6","article-title":"An overview of MODIS Land data processing and product status","volume":"83","author":"Justice","year":"2002","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ"},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Available online: http:\/\/www.naturalearthdata.com\/."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2486.2003.00507.x","article-title":"Northern hemisphere photosynthetic trends 1982\u201399","volume":"9","author":"Slayback","year":"2003","journal-title":"Glob. Chang. Biol"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1551","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160512331326657","article-title":"A statistical framework for the analysis of long image time series","volume":"26","author":"Henebry","year":"2005","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"760","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2486.2009.01956.x","article-title":"Debating the greening vs. Browning of the North American boreal forest: Differences between satellite datasets","volume":"16","author":"Chuvieco","year":"2010","journal-title":"Glob. Chang. Biol"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"691","DOI":"10.1093\/biomet\/78.3.691","article-title":"A note on a general definition of the coefficient of determination","volume":"78","author":"Nagelkerke","year":"1991","journal-title":"Biometrika"},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Available online: http:\/\/sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu\/gpw."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Available online: http:\/\/daac.ornl.gov\/\/CLIMATE\/guides\/global_N_deposition_maps.html."},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"Available online: http:\/\/www.fao.org\/nr\/water\/aquastat\/irrigationmap\/index10.stm."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0587.2012.07348.x","article-title":"Collinearity: A review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their performance","volume":"36","author":"Dormann","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ecography"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Saleska, S.R., Didan, K., Huete, A.R., and da Rocha, H.R. (2007). Amazon forests green-up during 2005 drought. Science.","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1146663"}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/6\/6\/5717\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:12:37Z","timestamp":1760217157000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/6\/6\/5717"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,18]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,6]]}},"alternative-id":["rs6065717"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs6065717","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,18]]}}}