Abstract:Vegetation is an important part of terrestrial ecosystems, and the study of the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and its influencing factors is of great significance for regional ecological conservation and management. By using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and pixel binary model, the FVC of Hainan Island from 2000 to 2020 was calculated. The spatial and temporal variability of the FVC was analyzed using the Theil-Sen Median trend analysis, the Mann-Kendall test and the Hurst index. Finally, structural equation modelling and geographic detector were used to analyze the response mechanisms of the spatial distribution characteristics of FVC in Hainan Island to climate, topography and human activities. The results showed that FVC in Hainan Island had a significant increasing trend in the past 21 years, with a growth rate of 0.025/10 a. The FVC changes were mainly not significantly improved and extremely significantly improved, accounting for 35.34% and 29.38% of the study area. In the future, the vegetation changes was dominated by weak counter-persistent increase and weak persistent increase. Land use type, elevation, slope, and population density were the dominant factors affecting the spatial distribution of FVC. Interaction type was dominated by bivariate enhancement and nonlinear enhancement. The interaction between land use type ∩ population density and land use type ∩ elevation was stronger, with q values of 49.56% and 48.38%. Therefore, it might provide a theoretical basis for the vegetation restoration policy on Hainan Island.