Decreasing Net Primary Productivity in Response to Urbanization in Liaoning Province, China

Tan Chen,Shulin Deng,Miao Liu,Qiuhao Huang,Dong Chen,Le’An Qu,Manchun Li

doi:10.3390/su9020162

Abstract

Regional ecosystems have been greatly affected by the rapid expansion of urban areas. In order to explore the impact of land use change on net primary productivity (NPP) in rapidly developing cities during the current urbanization process, we quantified land use change in Liaoning province between 2000 and 2010 using net primary productivity as an indicator of ecosystem productivity and health. The Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach model was used to estimate NPP by region and land use. We used a unit circle-based evaluation model to quantify local urbanization effects on NPP around eight representative cities. The dominant land use types were farmland, woodland and urban, with urban rapidly replacing farmland. Mean annual NPP and total NPP decreased faster from 2005 to 2010 than from 2000 to 2005, reflecting increasing urbanization rates. The eastern, primarily woodland part of Liaoning province had the greatest reduction in NPP, while the western part, which was primarily farmland and grassland, had the lowest reduction.

Highlights

Human activities have caused unsustainable changes on half of the earth’s land surface [1]
Urbanization can directly lead to land use/cover change, loss of farmland and woodland resulting in vegetation loss
The change from farmland to woodland occurred as a resuIlntfoorfmCahtioinnao’ns “laGndrauinsefcohraGngreeseinn”Lpiaroonjiencgt pthroavtinincevforlovmed20r0e0tutorn20in10gwmaas rogbitnaianlefdarthmroluagnhds to forests as pasfaurrptmeolrfaimnadpp,oowseloidcoydsltdaanteidsstiigacsnndeudsuirntboganitmharpreeeraoslavwnedeerenusvtehiremotnahpmreseefnmrotaamilncdolaifnnfeddrieutnistoenptsey.rpiToesdosti.anlAtwhseosrhoeodswelaanrncdhin,agFreirgaau,srwseliat2hn, d and bare landfaarrmealasnhdaavnedsuerebnanliatrteleaschhaavningget;hheomwoestvseigr,nwifiecatnlatnchdaanrgeeas sbehcaauvseedtheecalirneaedofafasrtmhleayndarweacsorendvuecretded to farmland aanndduharbdamnaianrleyabse.en transformed to urban areas

Summary

Introduction

Human activities have caused unsustainable changes on half of the earth’s land surface [1]. Urbanization can directly lead to land use/cover change, loss of farmland and woodland resulting in vegetation loss. Urbanization is characterized by a loss of vegetation, which can be quantified using net primary productivity (NPP). NPP refers to the net accumulation of photosynthetic carbon by plants as a balance between gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration. Changes in NPP reflect the ecosystem carbon balance [11,12,13,14,15], and its response to global climate change and human activities [16,17,18]

Methods

Results

Conclusion