Village greenspace in Hehuang Valley, Northeastern Tibetan Plateau: proportions, influencing factors, and potential for improvement

In high-altitude regions, strong solar radiation renders greenspace shading critical for maintaining favorable human living conditions. However, previous studies have been constrained by data limitations, primarily focusing on large-scale analyses while paying insufficient attention to monitoring greenspace changes in rural areas. This study aims to assess long-term trends in village greenspace, quantifying greenspace extent and distribution and identifying areas with high potential for greenspace improvement. Using ultra-high-resolution land use data derived from UAV imagery, we quantified village greenspace in 2022 across the densely populated, low-attitude region (2494 ± 339 m). NDVI data from Google Earth Engine were used to analyze interannual changes from 2000 to 2023. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify areas with high potential for greenspace improvement. Findings indicated that one-fifth of villages exhibited a significant increase in greenspace area (P < 0.05), and a significant decline in one-third of the villages due to human–environment conflicts between 2000 and 2023 (P < 0.05). In 2022, lower-altitude southern with warmer climates had a higher forest cover (24.28 ± 9.09%) than higher-altitude northern (11.76 ± 7.35%). Elevation and population density were identified as the primary factors, contributing 64.03 and 16.92% to greenspace variation (P < 0.05). Moreover, newly established resettlement villages demonstrated substantial potential for greenspace expansion. By integrating the advantages of long-term temporal analysis with ultra-high spatial resolution, this study provides a more precise assessment of village greenspace and informs targeted strategies for improving rural environments and advancing rural revitalization.