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

Abstract Grassland ecosystem, an important carbon sink, performs a crucial role in the material circulation and energy flow of the terrestrial ecosystem. In this study, the spatio-temporal dynamic pattern of grassland NPP and their climate control in China from 1982 to 2016 were evaluated based on the CASA model and ground-based climate data at different annual and seasonal scales. Results showed that the mean grassland NPP was 294.58 gC·m-2·a-1 over the 35 years; the largest NPP value was observed in Alpine sub-alpine meadow (219.52±13.06 TgC·a-1), while the smallest NPP value occurred in Slope grasslands (45.69±6.21 TgC·a-1). Temporally, grassland NPP exhibited an extremely significant increasing trend (slope=2.4 gC·m-2·a-1; p