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Drylands provide a wide range of important ecosystem functions but are sensitive to environmental changes, especially human management. Two major land use types of drylands are grasslands and croplands, which are influenced by intensive grazing activities and agricultural management, respectively. However, little is known about whether the ecosystem functioning of these two land use types is predominated affected by human management, or environmental factors (intrinsic environmental factors and factors modified by human management). This limits our understanding of the ecosystem functions under intensive human management in drylands. Here we reported a study where we collected data from 40 grassland and 30 cropland sites along an extensive aridity gradient in China's drylands to quantify the effects of human management intensity, intrinsic environmental factors (i.e., aridity), and environmental factors modified by human management (i.e., soil bulk density and plant density) on specific ecosystem functions (ecosystem multifunctionality, productivity, carbon storage, soil water, and soil nutrients). We found that the relative importance of each function differed between croplands and grasslands. Ecosystem functions varied with human management intensity, with lower productivity and plant carbon storage in grasslands under high grazing intensity than un-grazed, while multifunctionality and carbon storage increased with greater fertilization only in arid croplands. Furthermore, among environmental factors, soil bulk density had the greatest negative effects, which directly reduced multifunctionality in grasslands and indirectly reduced multifunctionality in croplands via suppressing crop density. Crop density was the major environmental factor that positively related to multifunctionality in croplands. However, these effects would be exacerbated with increasing aridity. Our study demonstrated that compared with the direct impacts of human management, environmental factors modified by human management (e.g., soil bulk density) are the major drivers of ecosystem functions, indicating that improving soil structure by alleviating human interferences (e.g., reducing livestock trampling) would be an effective way to restore ecosystem functions in drylands under global warming and drying.
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5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (5-HMF) is a by-product of Maillard reaction and widely exists in food and environment, which may lead to lung cancer. However, the relevant mechanism is unknown. This study aims to predict the key targets of 5-HMF-induced lung cancer through network toxicology, analyze the relationship between the key targets and lung cancer through network informatics, and further validate them through in vitro experiments. By using ChEMBL, STITCH, GeneCards, and OMIM databases, 51 toxic targets were identified. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated a strong correlation between toxic targets and lung cancer. Through protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, MAPK3, MAPK1, and SRC were identified as key targets implicated in 5-HMF-induced lung cancer. The HPA database showed high expression of these three key targets in lung cancer tissues. Kaplan-Meier database demonstrated that the higher expression of these key targets in lung cancer patients was associated with a poorer prognosis. The TIMER database revealed that the high expression of these key targets had a significant impact on the level of immune cell infiltration in lung cancer, particularly impacting CD4+ T cells and macrophages. Finaly, in In vitro experiments demonstrated that prolonged exposure to 5-HMF induced malignant transformation of BEAS-2B cells and the upregulation of key targets. The findings suggest that 5-HMF is a contributing factor in the development of lung cancer, with MAPK3, MAPK1, and SRC potentially playing crucial roles in this process.
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Although urban areas negatively impact the environment, they supply a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), mainly cultural ones. Recreation near urban green areas is widespread, including fishing. In northern latitudes, during the winter, lakes are frozen, and several urban dwellers practice ice fishing. Although this activity is well known, no attempts were made to assess and map winter recreational fishery ES supply in lakes. In this work, we developed a methodology to map this ES, taking an urban lake in Vilnius (Lithuania) as an example. A standardized protocol was developed using an unmanned aerial vehicle (proximal sensing), further georeferencing and correcting the gathered images, vectorizing the fishing ice holes, and mapping them using two different methods: Kernel and Point Density. The method developed in this work can be applied in northern areas to identify recreational fishing ES during the winter.â¢A novel method was developed to map winter recreational fishery ES supply in lakes;â¢High-resolution images were taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle to identify fishing ice holes in an urban lake.â¢The method maps a cultural ES, which is trendy in northern latitudes.
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The ecosystems in China's arid and semiarid regions are notably fragile and experiencing dramatic land degradation. At the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in October 2015, a definition for land degradation neutrality (LDN) was proposed and subsequently integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Research on LDN has developed in terms of conceptual framework constructions, quantitative assessments, and empirical studies. However, LDN and its drivers must be clarified in China's arid and semiarid regions since some representative processes have yet to be fully considered in the assessment. Here, we develop an LDN indicator system specialised for the area, assess their LDN status, and determine the impacts of human activities and climate change on LDN. Our research aims to refine the LDN indicator system tailored for China's arid and semiarid regions by incorporating the trends of wind and water erosion. We also identify the influence of human activity and climate change on LDN, which provides insightful strategies for ecological restoration and sustainable development in drylands with climate-sensitive ecosystems. The results show that: (1) In 2020, more than half of areas of China's arid and semiarid regions achieved LDN, with more pronounced success in the southeastern areas compared to the central regions. (2) For LDN drivers, elevation shows negligible influence on LDN, whereas increased temperature promotes LDN achievement. Conversely, factors like vapour pressure deficit and v-direction wind speed hinder it. In conclusion, China's arid and semiarid regions achieved LDN, and the dominant factor that substantially influences LDN varies across geographical zones, with higher wind speeds and elevated GDP levels generally obstructing LDN in most areas.
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Sophora davidii, a vital forage species, predominantly thrives in the subtropical karst mountains of Southwest China. Its resilience to poor soil conditions and arid environments renders it an ideal pioneer species for ecological restoration in these regions. This study investigates the influence of acidic, aluminum-rich local soil on the germination and seedling growth physiology of S. davidii. Experiments were conducted under varying degrees of acidity and aluminum stress, employing three pH levels (3.5 to 5.5) and four aluminum concentrations (0.5 to 2.0 mmol·L-1). The results showed that germination rate, germination index, and vigor index of S. davidii seeds were decreased but not significantly under slightly acidic conditions (pH 4.5-5.5), while strong acid (pH = 3.5) significantly inhibited the germination rate, germination index, and vigor index of white spurge seeds compared with the control group. Aluminum stress (≥0.5 mmol·L-1) significantly inhibited the germination rate, germination index, and vigor index of S. davidii seed. Moreover, the seedlings' root systems were sensitive to the changes of aluminum concentration, evident from significant root growth inhibition, characterized by root shortening and color deepening. Notably, under aluminum stress (pH = 4.3), the levels of malondialdehyde and proline in S. davidii escalated with increasing aluminum concentration, while antioxidant enzyme activities demonstrated an initial increase followed by a decline. The study underscores the pivotal role of cellular osmoregulatory substances and protective enzymes in combating aluminum toxicity in S. davidii, a key factor exacerbating growth inhibition in acidic environments. These findings offer preliminary theoretical insights for the practical agricultural utilization of S. davidii in challenging soil conditions.
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Plantones , Sophora , Germinación , Aluminio/toxicidad , Semillas , Antioxidantes/farmacología , Suelo/química , Estrés FisiológicoRESUMEN
Ecological restoration projects in the Tibetan Plateau aimed to reverse ecosystem degradation and safeguard the fragile alpine ecological environment. However, it is still being determined if the vegetation restoration is successful on a large scale or reaches the expected magnitude, restricting our ability to adapt practices to maximise the benefit. With multiple vegetation indices (VIs: NDVI, LAI, and GPP) from satellite observations and random forest machine-learning models, we performed an attribution study on vegetation growth trends caused by climate change and human activities. Then, we further explored the relationship between vegetation growth and ecological projects and human footprint without the influence of climate. The results showed that climatic change was a relatively strong driver of vegetation growth. The positive contributions of ecological restoration occurred only in half of the plateau due to the increased human footprint. Vegetation enhancement resulting from ecological restoration occurred in 13.1%-23.1% of the plateau. Among these values, ecological restoration counteracted the negative climate effects in 4.7%-8.3% of the plateau (about half of the negative climate effect area). In forest and grassland protection areas, the ecological restoration was more successful. The study provides a better understanding of the role of ecological projects in vegetation restoration and potential threats to its effectiveness. This is essential to improve future restoration projects.
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Ecosistema , Ambiente , Humanos , Tibet , Temperatura , Cambio Climático , ChinaRESUMEN
Ecological civilization has emerged as an innovative form of civilization in China, and sustainable development has been widely recognized as a globally leading development model. These two concepts are closely related. The international English literature focuses on hot topics in the field of sustainable development such as climate change, urbanization, government management, and ecosystems, while the Chinese literature emphasizes ecological civilization concepts with Chinese characteristics, such as green development, beautiful China, and scientific development concepts. Ecological civilization and sustainable development are both responses to resource, environmental, and ecological crises and have emerged from the same historical background. The two concepts complement each other, with ecological civilization providing an ideological foundation for sustainable development, and sustainable development serving as the implementation path and concrete manifestation of ecological civilization. To deepen research on ecological civilization and sustainable development, it is necessary to build a global community with a shared future, address the major strategic needs of different countries or regions, innovate and develop interdisciplinary theories, methods, and technologies, strengthen international cooperation, provide disciplinary support for ecological civilization and sustainable development research, and provide country-specific research solutions for global and regional sustainable development.
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Ecosistema , Desarrollo Sostenible , Bibliometría , Cooperación Internacional , China , Civilización , Conservación de los Recursos NaturalesRESUMEN
Declining ecosystem services have prompted numerous studies aiming at developing more sustainable management practices for vegetation restoration. Advances in functional ecology indicate that the sustainable management of afforestation ecosystems should be performed based on plant functional traits, which provides pivotal knowledge for long-term sustainable vegetation restoration. Currently, the mechanism of how plant functional traits affect long term ecosystem services in restored areas is still unclear. This study investigates plant functional traits and the associated ecosystem services from artificial forestlands (Robinia pseudoacacia, Caragana korshinskii) and natural grasslands following different durations of vegetation restoration (10, 20, 30 and 40 years) in the Danangou watershed, a loess hilly-gully region in the Loess Plateau, China. The results showed that 1) the water conservation services of artificial forestlands first decreased and then increased over time, whereas the soil conservation service had an opposite trend; in turn, natural grassland led to a consistent increase in soil conservation and carbon sequestration services over time. 2) Artificial forestlands had greater soil conservation and carbon sequestration services than natural grassland but had lower water conservation services. 3) Leaves had a greater impact on carbon sequestration and water conservation services than did root length and root biomass density. 4) Root biomass density had a greater effect on soil conservation services than did leaf carbon content and soil organic matter. 5) Leaf carbon content, specific root length, and root biomass density had significant effects on the trade-off value between any two ecosystem services with increasing time after restoration of artificial forestland. 6) Specific leaf area had a greater effect on the trade-off values among the three services than did the other functional traits in the natural grassland. In arid ecosystems, natural grasslands are the best restoration strategy given their higher water conservation services. However, in soil erosion-affected areas, restoration through artificial forestlands is more appropriate. To mitigate the trade-offs between ecosystem services, it is recommended that artificial forestlands be thinned before the leaf carbon content, specific root length, and root biomass density reach a maximum (i.e., mature forestland).
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Ecosistema , Pradera , Bosques , Suelo , Plantas , Carbono/análisis , ChinaRESUMEN
Drylands with fragile socio-ecological systems are vulnerable to soil erosion. China's drylands face the dual threat of water (WAE) and wind erosion (WIE). To mitigate soil erosion in drylands, China has implemented numerous ecological restoration measures. However, whether vegetation and soil have different effects on soil erodibility for water erosion (soil erodibility, K) and wind erosion (soil erodible fraction, EF) in drylands is unclear, hindering decision makers to develop suitable ecological restoration strategies. Here, we conducted a large-scale belt transect survey to explore the spatial variation of K and EF in China's drylands, and examined the linear and nolinear effects of aridity (aridity index), vegetation (fractional vegetation cover and below-ground biomass), and soil properties (bulk density, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus) on K and EF. The results showed in China's drylands that the K ranges from 0.02 to 0.07, with high values recorded in the northern Loess Plateau and the eastern Inner Mongolia Plateau. The EF ranges from 0.26 to 0.98, and shows longitudinal zonation with higher values in the east and lower values in the west. Aridity has a negative linear effect on K and an inverse U-shaped nonlinear effect on EF. Aridity can affect K and EF by suppressing vegetation growth and disrupting soil properties. However, K and EF had different responses to some vegetation and soil variables. K and EF had opposite relationships with soil bulk density, and EF was significantly affected by fractional vegetation cover, while K was not. Overall, the effects of aridity and soil properties on soil erodibility were more pronounced than those from vegetation, whose effect on soil erodibility was limited. This study provides relevant information to support reducing soil water and wind erosion by highlighting the hotspot areas of soil erodibility, relevant for implementing vegetation restoration and soil conservation measures in drylands.
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COVID-19 has ravaged Brazil, and its spread showed spatial heterogeneity. Changes in the environment have been implicated as potential factors involved in COVID-19 transmission. However, considerable research efforts have not elucidated the risk of environmental factors on COVID-19 transmission from the perspective of infectious disease dynamics. The aim of this study is to model the influence of the environment on COVID-19 transmission and to analyze how the socio-ecological factors affecting the probability of virus transmission in 10 states dramatically shifted during the early stages of the epidemic in Brazil. First, this study used a Pearson correlation to analyze the interconnection between COVID-19 morbidity and socio-ecological factors and identified factors with significant correlations as the dominant factors affecting COVID-19 transmission. Then, the time-lag effect of dominant factors on the morbidity of COVID-19 was investigated by constructing a distributed lag nonlinear model and standard two-stage meta-analytic model, and the results were considered in the improved SEIR model. Lastly, a machine learning method was introduced to explore the nonlinear relationship between the environmental propagation probability and socio-ecological factors. By analyzing the impact of environmental factors on virus transmission, it can be found that population mobility directly caused by human activities had a greater impact on virus transmission than temperature and humidity. The heterogeneity of meteorological factors can be accounted for by the diverse climate patterns in Brazil. The improved SEIR model was adopted to explore the interconnection of COVID-19 transmission and the environment, which revealed a new strategy to probe the causal links between them.
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Afforestation and grassland restoration have been proposed as important pathways for nature-based solutions. However, the effects of different ecological restoration projects on multiple ecosystem services are poorly understood, inhibiting our ability to maximize ecosystem services for further restoration. Here, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the impact of different ecological projects on ecosystem services (carbon storage, water conservation, soil retention), using a pairwise comparative study of samples from 90 project-control pairs in the Tibetan Plateau. Our results found that afforestation increased carbon storage (31.3%) and soil retention (37.6%), but the effects of grassland restoration on services were mixed, while the overall changes in water conservation were negligible. Prior land use/measures and the age of project implementation were key factors in regulating ecosystem service responses. For example, afforestation on bare land increased carbon storage and soil retention but indirectly decreased water conservation by influencing vegetation cover, while cropland afforestation increased water and soil retention. Ecosystem services increased with project age after afforestation. For grassland restoration, short-term recovery increased carbon storage but was not effective in improving water and soil retention. Climate and topography also directly or indirectly controlled the response of ecosystem services by affecting the changes in total nitrogen, total porosity, clay and fractional vegetation cover following the projects. This study improves our current understanding of the mechanisms underlying the responses of ecosystem services to afforestation and grassland restoration. Our results suggest that sustainable restoration management taking into account prior land use/measures, implementation age, climate, topography and other resources is critical for optimizing ecosystem services.
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Ecosistema , Pradera , Tibet , Suelo , Carbono/análisis , Agua , ChinaRESUMEN
Establishing nature reserves (NRs) is a common method to avoid biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystem services (ESs). The evaluation of ESs in NRs and the exploration of associated influencing factors are the basis for improving ESs and management. However, the ES effectiveness of NRs over time remains questionable, namely due to the heterogeneity of landscape characteristics inside and outside of NRs. This study (i) quantifies the role of 75 NRs in China in maintaining ESs (i.e., net primary production (NPP), soil conservation, sandstorm prevention and water yield) from 2000 to 2020, (ii) reveals the trade-offs/synergies, and (iii) identifies the main influencing factors of the ES effectiveness of NRs. The results show that more than 80% of NRs had positive ES effectiveness, which was greater in older NRs. For different ESs, effectiveness over time increases for NPP (E_NPP), soil conservation (E_SC) and sandstorm prevention (E_SP) but declines for water yield (E_WY). There is a clear synergistic relationship between E_NPP and E_SC. Moreover, the effectiveness of ESs is closely correlated with elevation, precipitation, and perimeter area ratio. Our findings can provide important information to support site selection and management of reserves to improve the delivery of critical ecosystem services.
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Conservación de los Recursos Naturales , Ecosistema , Conservación de los Recursos Naturales/métodos , China , Biodiversidad , SueloRESUMEN
Agriculture is responsible for about one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and it is the primary driver of habitat destruction. A paradigm shift embracing changes in lifestyles, agricultural practices, and policies is required to realize a sustainable transition in the agri-food sector.
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In the production of soy sauce-aroma type baijiu (SSAB), the quality of base liquor significantly affects the finished liquor's quality. Moreover, low-quality liquor may cause health problems. The different quality grades of base liquor were analyzed to investigate the relationship between the quality and the key compounds in SSAB. In this study, samples were evaluated by the sensory and further analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) coupled with electronic nose (E-nose). First, by sensory evaluation, the sauce, floral and fruity, fermented aromas and taste indicators (softness, fullness, harmony, purity and persistence) were positively correlated with the quality grade of the base liquor. The E-nose could distinguish the different quality grades of base liquor well. Second, differential compounds were identified via untargeted metabolome based on the HS-SPME-GC-MS. 16 common differential compounds were shared in the base liquor from different fermentation rounds, including 11 esters, 1 alcohol, 2 aldehydes and 2 ketones. It was found that the higher the quality grade of the base liquor, the richer the content of aromatics, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones. The principal component analysis (PCA) biplots of the differential compounds in the different quality grades of base liquor indicated that the superior-grade base liquor has a strong fruity aroma. By correlation analysis of the differential compounds and sensors responses of E-nose, furfuryl ethyl ether, butanoic acid ethyl ester, isopentyl hexanoate, nonanoic acid ethyl ester and 3-methyl-1-butanol had a significant effect on the response intensity of E-nose sensors. In the present study, the key differential compounds between the different quality grades of base liquor were identified, and the sensory differences between the base liquor were digitized.
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Protected areas (PAs) are considered essential for maintaining biodiversity. Several governments would like to strengthen the management levels of their PAs (as shorthand for a hierarchy in PA administrative governance) to consolidate their conservation effectiveness. This upgrade (e.g., from provincial- to national-level PAs) means stricter protection and increased funds for PA management. However, confirming whether such an upgrade can produce the expected positive outcomes is key given limited conservation funds. Here, we used the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to quantify the impacts of upgrading PAs (i.e., from provincial to national) on vegetation growth on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). We found that the impacts of PA's upgrading can be divided into two impact types: 1) curbed or reversed declines in conservation effectiveness and 2) rapidly increased conservation effectiveness before the upgrade. These results indicate that the PA's upgrading process (including the pre-upgrade operations) can improve PA effectiveness. Nevertheless, the gains did not always occur after the official upgrade. This study demonstrated that in comparison to other PAs, those with more resources or stronger management policies were more effective.
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Conservación de los Recursos Naturales , Ecosistema , Conservación de los Recursos Naturales/métodos , Tibet , Biodiversidad , ChinaRESUMEN
Synergistically maintain or enhance the numerous beneficial contributions of nature to the quality of human life is an important but challenging question for achieving Sustainable Development Goals. However, the spatiotemporal distributions of global nature's contributions to people (NCPs) and their interactions remain unclear. We built a rapid assessment indicator framework and produced the first spatially explicit assessment of all 18 NCPs at a global scale. The 18 global NCPs in 1992 and 2018 were globally assessed in 15,204 subbasins based on two spatial indicator dimensions, including nature's potential contribution and the actual contribution to people. The results show that most of the high NCP values are highly localized. From 1992 to 2018, 6 regulating NCPs, 3 material NCPs, and 2 nonmaterial NCPs declined; 29 regulating-material NCP combinations (54 in total) dominated 76% of the terrestrial area, and the area with few NCPs accounted for 22%; and synergistic relationships were more common than tradeoff relationships, while the relationships among regulating and material NCPs generally traded-off with each other. Transitional climate areas contained few NCPs and have strong tradeoff relationships. However, the high synergistic relationship among NCPs in low latitudes could be threatened by future climate change. These findings provide a general spatiotemporal understanding of global NCP distributions and can be used to interpret the biogeographic information in a functional way to support regional coordination and achieve landscape multifunctionality for the enhancement of human well-being.
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Cambio Climático , Desarrollo Sostenible , HumanosRESUMEN
Ecosystem carbon sequestration service (ECSS) is the benefits humans derive from the ecosystem carbon sequestration process, which is key to regulating climate, stabilising the natural foundation for development, and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement. However, how ECSS contributes to the SDGs still needs to be discovered. Here, based on downscaling localisation SDG indicators, regression methods, and mechanism analysis, we identified the contribution of ECSS to the SDGs, taking China's Loess Plateau (LP) region as an example. The results showed that the LP made higher progress on resource and environmental SDGs, such as SDGs 13, 12, 6, and 7 (climate, consumption and production, water, and energy) in the last two decades. As for the relationships between ECSS and SDGs, the progress of SDGs 6, 7, 13 and 15 (water, energy, climate, and ecosystems) showed positive linear responses to ECSS. The response of SDGs 1, 4, 8, and 12 (poverty reduction, education, economic growth, and consumption and production) to ECSS showed a threshold when the standardised ECSS value was 0.11. To improve ECSS for a more sustainable ecological foundation underpinning the SDGs, ECSS management should be improved to protect the ecosystem carbon pool and improve carbon sequestration function, as well as to promote the social-ecological co-benefits. This work links carbon sequestration service to sustainable development and can help in leveraging nature's contributions towards carbon neutrality and the 2030 Agenda.
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Ecosistema , Desarrollo Sostenible , Humanos , Secuestro de Carbono , Desarrollo Económico , Carbono , ObjetivosRESUMEN
Drylands cover about 40% of the terrestrial surface and are sensitive to climate change, but their relative contributions to global vegetation greening and productivity increase in recent decades are still poorly known. Here, by integrating satellite data and biosphere modeling, we showed that drylands contributed more to global gross primary productivity (GPP) increase (65% ± 16%) than to Earth greening (33% ± 15%) observed during 1982-2015. The enhanced productivity per unit leaf area, i.e., light-use efficiency (LUE), was the mechanism behind this pattern. We also found that LUE was more sensitive to soil moisture than to atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in drylands, while the opposite was observed (i.e., LUE was more sensitive to VPD) in humid areas. Our findings suggest the importance of using different moisture stress metrics in projecting the vegetation productivity changes of dry versus humid regions and highlight the prominent role of drylands as key controllers of the global carbon cycle.
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This work aims to map and assess the recreational culture ecosystem services (CES) supply and demand in Vilnius. A novel framework individually assessed natural recreational CES supply and cultural recreational CES supply dimensions. So far, the previous works did not consider both CES components individually. Also, the validation of CES models is scarce and challenging. This work aims to map and assess natural recreational supply CES, cultural recreational CES supply, natural + cultural recreational CES supply, and cultural recreational CES demand. The results showed that the natural recreational CES supply dimension was the highest in protected areas. In contrast, the cultural, recreational CES supply dimension had the highest scores in the city centre. Natural + cultural recreational CES supply was high in the areas where the previous models had the highest values (e.g., protected areas and the city centre). The natural + cultural recreational CES supply model was validated using an online survey. Recreational CES demand was the highest in the areas near the city centre. There was a mismatch between the natural recreational CES supply and recreational demand. Nevertheless, we identified a match between cultural recreational CES supply dimension, Natural + cultural recreational CES supply and recreation CES demand. All the studied parameters had a clustered pattern. The natural recreational CES supply dimension had a hot spot in the northern part of the city. In contrast, cultural recreational CES supply dimension, Natural + cultural recreational CES supply and recreational CES demand were clustered in the city centre. Overall, it is vital to preserve the areas with maximum natural recreation CES supply and limit the urban expansion in these areas. Also, it is essential to reduce the car traffic to the centre and improve public transport accessibility to increase air quality and the impact of pollutants on cultural heritage sites.
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Conservación de los Recursos Naturales , Ecosistema , Conservación de los Recursos Naturales/métodos , Lituania , CiudadesRESUMEN
Armed conflicts disturb the environment and impair land productivity. Afghanistan has been submerged in conflict for >20 years, affecting the environment dramatically. In this study, we used the Normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) to investigate vegetation's spatial and temporal changes and the potential underpinned mechanisms. We found a 16.44 % increase in NDVI in Afghanistan from 2000 to 2021. The average NDVI growth rate was 11.33 % (within 5 km distance from the armed conflict), higher in the conflict group than in the non-conflict group. People migration may have reduced the human impacts on the environment. The relative contribution of armed conflict to vegetation growth was 3.17 %. Our results showed that the vegetation in Afghanistan increased, confirming the idea that depopulation increase greenness. Despite the reduced variance explained by the war (R2 values around 0.3), our study provides empirical evidence on the linkages between the war and vegetation change in Afghanistan.