Evaluating the dynamics of grassland net primary productivity in response to climate change in China

• Published in: Global ecology and conservation 2021-08, Vol.28, p.e01574, Article e01574
• Main Authors: Liu, Yangyang, Zhou, Ronglei, Ren, Hanyu, Zhang, Wei, Zhang, Zhixin, Zhang, Zhaoying, Wen, Zhongming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CASA model; Climate change; Hurst index; Mann-Kendall test; Net primary productivity
• ISSN: 2351-9894; 2351-9894
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01574

Net primary productivity (NPP) has been considered as a direct indicator to access the terrestrial primary production. However, considerable uncertainties remain toward the response mechanism of NPP to climate change across annual and seasonal scales, especially for grassland ecosystems. In this study, the spatiotemporal dynamics of grassland NPP and its prominent climate-controlling factor were evaluated based on the CASA model and ground-based meteorological data across annual and seasonal scales in China from 1982 to 2016. Results showed that the annual mean grassland NPP was 294.58 gC·m−2·a−1 over the 35 years; the largest annual mean NPP was observed in Alpine sub-alpine meadow (235.72 ± 13.21 gC·m−2·a−1), while the smallest annual mean NPP value occurred in Desert grassland (97.27 ± 9.64 gC·m−2·a−1). Moreover, the multiyear mean grassland NPP showed a decreasing trend from the southeast to the northwest spatially. Temporally, grassland NPP exhibited a significant increasing trend (slope = 2.4 gC·m−2·a−1; p