Vegetation Health Dynamics and the Impacts on Climate Change and Agriculture in Ebonyi State Southeastern Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates vegetation health dynamics and the impacts on climate change and agriculture in Ebonyi State Southeastern Nigeria using geospatial techniques covering a period 39 years (1986 to 2025). Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to assess the health of vegetation.  The results indicate that No vegetation area increased slightly from 40.7808km2 in 1986 to 40.7871km2 in 2025 representing an increase of 0.02%. Low vegetation/degraded area increased significantly from 618.8688km2 in 1986 to 1058.554km2 in 2025 representing an increase of +71%. Stressed vegetation area decreased from 2636.77 km2 in 1986 to 2546.817 km2 in 2025 representing a decrease of -3.41%. Moderately healthy vegetation area  decreased from 2469.672km2 in 1986 to 2032.174km2 in 2025 representing a decrease of -17.71% while healthy vegetation increased from 659.0556km2 in 1986 to 746.9181km2 in 2025 representing an increase of +13.33%. The largest increase was in low vegetation/degraded area (+71.05%) followed by healthy vegetation (+13.33%) while the largest decrease was in moderately healthy vegetation (-17.71%) followed by stressed vegetation (-3.41%). These findings provide valuable insights into the vegetation health dynamics and their implications for climate change and agriculture as well as ecosystem sustainability and resilience in Ebonyi State as evidenced by the very strong and significant statistical relationships among the variables. The study enhances our understanding of how climate change and human activities influence vegetation dynamics and land cover changes in the region, providing valuable insights for evidence-based decision-making and the implementation of sustainable land management practices.