Xiao Jianhua, He Panxing, Li Yong, Shi Mingjie, Li Yang, Ma Jun
Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Mar 4;16:1549519. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1549519. eCollection 2025.
The deployment of Utility-Scale Solar Energy (USSE) systems is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone strategy in mitigating climate change. However, the environmental ramifications of such extensive developments remain the subject of considerable debate, with marked regional variability in their ecological effects, particularly across different biomes. As such, there is a pressing need for comprehensive, systems-level investigations to evaluate the multifaceted environmental impacts of USSE in both arid and humid ecosystems. Here, we undertake an exhaustive assessment utilizing a high-resolution (10 m) dataset of photovoltaic (PV) station distributions across China, complemented by Landsat-derived NDVI remote sensing data from 2019 to 2023. This approach facilitates the quantification of the dynamic effects of PV infrastructure development on vegetation greenness (NDVI and NDVI), and allows for the assessment of scale-dependent ecological responses across two contrasting regions: the arid zone of Ningxia and the humid zone of Anhui. Our results indicate that in the arid region, the construction of PV facilities has a negligible effect on vegetation greenness, with inter-annual variations in NDVI remaining consistently below 0.05, and no discernible change in NDVI. In contrast, PV development in the humid region led to a dramatic deterioration in vegetation greenness, with NDVI declining sharply from 0.42 to below 0.20-representing a reduction of over 50%, particularly during the growing season (April to October). Furthermore, the relationship between the scale of PV installations and their ecological impact in the humid region was characterized by a pronounced non-linearity, with large-scale PV plants (spanning >10,000 pixels) causing near-total vegetation collapse, driving NDVI toward near-zero. Collectively, these findings suggest that the sparse vegetation and enhanced microclimatic regulation characteristic of arid ecosystems provide greater resilience to external disturbances, whereas the high-biomass vegetation typical of humid regions is significantly more vulnerable to perturbations. Based on these insights, we advocate for the strategic prioritization of arid regions with greater ecological adaptability for future USSE development, alongside the incorporation of ecological restoration measures and the optimization of facility scale to mitigate potential environmental disturbances. Our study emphasizes the need for a synergistic approach to optimize both energy transition and ecological conservation in the context of regional variability, offering a solid scientific basis for the national-scale planning and site selection of photovoltaic energy projects.
公用事业规模太阳能(USSE)系统的部署日益被视为缓解气候变化的一项基石战略。然而,这种大规模发展的环境影响仍是相当多辩论的主题,其生态效应存在显著的区域差异,尤其是在不同生物群落之间。因此,迫切需要进行全面的系统层面调查,以评估USSE在干旱和湿润生态系统中的多方面环境影响。在此,我们利用中国光伏电站分布的高分辨率(10米)数据集,并辅以2019年至2023年陆地卫星衍生的归一化植被指数(NDVI)遥感数据,进行了详尽评估。这种方法有助于量化光伏基础设施发展对植被绿度(NDVI和NDVI)的动态影响,并能够评估两个对比区域——宁夏干旱区和安徽湿润区——中尺度依赖性生态响应。我们的结果表明,在干旱地区,光伏设施的建设对植被绿度影响可忽略不计,NDVI的年际变化始终低于0.05,且NDVI没有明显变化。相比之下,湿润地区的光伏发展导致植被绿度急剧恶化,NDVI从0.42急剧下降至0.20以下,降幅超过50%,特别是在生长季节(4月至10月)。此外,湿润地区光伏装置规模与其生态影响之间的关系具有明显的非线性特征,大规模光伏电站(跨越>10000像素)导致植被几乎完全崩溃,使NDVI接近零。总体而言,这些发现表明,干旱生态系统稀疏的植被和增强的微气候调节特性使其对外部干扰具有更大的恢复力,而湿润地区典型的高生物量植被则明显更容易受到扰动。基于这些见解,我们主张将生态适应性更强的干旱地区作为未来USSE发展的战略优先区域,同时纳入生态恢复措施并优化设施规模,以减轻潜在的环境干扰。我们的研究强调,在区域差异背景下,需要采取协同方法来优化能源转型和生态保护,为国家层面的光伏能源项目规划和选址提供坚实的科学依据。