Quantitative Assessment of the Impact of Human Activities on Terrestrial Net Primary Productivity in the Yangtze River Delta

Qing Huang, Fangyi Zhang, Qian Zhang, Hui Ou and Yunxiang Jin
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Qing Huang: International Institute for Earth System Science, School of Geography and Ocean Science, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Fangyi Zhang: School of Public Administration, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
Qian Zhang: International Institute for Earth System Science, School of Geography and Ocean Science, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Hui Ou: School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China
Yunxiang Jin: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: The continuous growth of the economy and population have promoted increasing consumption of natural resources, and raised concerns regarding the upper limits of the terrestrial ecosystems with biomass accessible for humanity. Here, human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) was employed to assess the influence of human activities on terrestrial net primary production (NPP), and a detailed method was introduced to simulate the magnitude and trends of HANPP in the Yangtze River Delta. The results showed that the total HANPP of the Yangtze River Delta increased from 102.3 Tg C yr −1 to 142.2 Tg C yr −1 , during 2005–2015, with an average of 121.3 Tg C yr −1 . NPP changes induced by harvest (HANPP harv ) made the dominant contribution of 79.9% to the total HANPP, and the increase of HANPP harv in cropland was the main driver of total HANPP growth, which was significantly correlated with the improvement in agricultural production conditions, such as total agricultural machinery power and effective irrigation area. The proportion of HANPP ranged from 59.3% to 72.4% of potential NPP during 2005–2015 in the Yangtze River Delta, and distinguishable differences in the proportions were found among the four provinces in the Yangtze River Delta. Shanghai had the largest proportion of 84.3%, while Zhejiang had the lowest proportion of 32.0%.

Keywords: net primary productivity; HANPP; human activities; land use; Yangtze River Delta (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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