The impact of large-scale climate oscillations on the vegetation cover on the Crimean Peninsula

The paper examines the response of Crimean vegetation (deciduous, pine, juniper species, mountain steppe yayla) to the changes in teleconnection indices using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) based on remote sensing data for the period of 2000–2023. The interrelation of the NDVI and nine Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns is analyzed using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, multiregression modeling, and composite analysis. It was found that 80% of variability of the vegetation index of forest species in April–June is associated with the joint impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation, East Atlantic pattern (EA), Arctic Oscillation, and Polar/Eurasia pattern from December to May. At the same time, 59 % of variability of in the NDVI index for steppe species in April–June is explained by the EA and Mediterranean Oscillation indices from January to May. The vegetation index of all plant communities increases during the phases of teleconnection patterns that are accompanied, as a rule, by increased cyclone activity. At the same time, the NDVI of forest communities increases with a decrease in cyclone activity in the winter months, which may be due to more frosty conditions for maintaining solid precipitation in the mountains.