Assessing the Dynamics of Grassland Net Primary Productivity in Response to Climate Change at the Global Scale

Abstract

Understanding the net primary productivity (NPP) of grassland is crucial to evaluate the terrestrial carbon cycle. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution and the area of global grassland across the globe. Then, we used the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model to estimate global grassland NPP and explore the spatio-temporal variations of grassland NPP in response to climate change from 1982 to 2008. Results showed that the largest area of grassland distribution during the study period was in Asia (1737.23 × 104 km2), while the grassland area in Europe was relatively small (202.83 × 104 km2). Temporally, the total NPP increased with fluctuations from 1982 to 2008, with an annual increase rate of 0.03 Pg C/yr. The total NPP experienced a significant increasing trend from 1982 to 1995, while a decreasing trend was observed from 1996 to 2008. Spatially, the grassland NPP in South America and Africa were higher than the other regions, largely as a result of these regions are under warm and wet climatic conditions. The highest mean NPP was recorded for savannas (560.10 g C/(m2·yr)), whereas the lowest was observed in open shrublands with an average NPP of 162.53 g C/(m2·yr). The relationship between grassland NPP and annual mean temperature and annual precipitation (AMT, AP, respectively) varies with changes in AP, which indicates that, grassland NPP is more sensitive to precipitation than temperature.