Effects of Land Cover Changes on Net Primary Productivity in the Terrestrial Ecosystems of China from 2001 to 2012

Hanwei Li, Juhua Ding, Jiang Zhang, Zhenan Yang, Bin Yang, Qiuan Zhu and Changhui Peng
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Hanwei Li: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Juhua Ding: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Jiang Zhang: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Zhenan Yang: Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation, China West Normal University, Ministry of Education, Nanchong 637009, China
Bin Yang: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Qiuan Zhu: College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Changhui Peng: Center for Ecological Forecasting and Global Change, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: The 2001–2012 MODIS MCD12Q1 land cover data and MOD17A3 NPP data were used to calculate changes in land cover in China and annual changes in net primary productivity (NPP) during a 12-year period and to quantitatively analyze the effects of land cover change on the NPP of China’s terrestrial ecosystems. The results revealed that during the study period, no changes in land cover type occurred in 7447.31 thousand km 2 of China, while the area of vegetation cover increased by 160.97 thousand km 2 in the rest of the country. Forest cover increased to 20.91%, which was mainly due to the conversion of large areas of savanna (345.19 thousand km 2 ) and cropland (178.96 thousand km 2 ) to forest. During the 12-year study period, the annual mean NPP of China was 2.70 PgC and increased by 0.25 PgC, from 2.50 to 2.75 PgC. Of this change, 0.21 PgC occurred in areas where there was no land cover change, while 0.04 PgC occurred in areas where there was land cover change. The contributions of forest and cropland to NPP exhibited increasing trends, while the contributions of shrubland and grassland to NPP decreased. Among these land cover types, the contributions of forest and cropland to the national NPP were the greatest, accounting for 40.97% and 27.95%, respectively, of the annual total NPP. There was no significant correlation between changes in forest area and changes in total annual NPP (R 2 < 0.1), while the correlation coefficient for changes in cropland area and total annual NPP was 0.48. Additionally, the area of cropland converted to other land cover types was negatively correlated with the changes in NPP, and the loss of cropland caused a reduction in the national NPP.

Keywords: land cover change; net primary productivity; MODIS; China land cover (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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