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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2020, Vol. 12 Issue (1): 1-17    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-019-0070-1     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-019-0070-1
Research article     
Spatial and temporal change patterns of net primary productivity and its response to climate change in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China from 2000 to 2015
GUO Bing1,2,3,4,5, ZANG Wenqian6, YANG Fei3, HAN Baomin1,*(), CHEN Shuting1, LIU Yue1, YANG Xiao1, HE Tianli1, CHEN Xi1, LIU Chunting1, GONG Rui1
1 School of Civil Architectural Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China
2 Key Laboratory of Geomatics and Digital Technology of Shandong Province, Qingdao 266590, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
4 State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
5 Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
6 Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
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Abstract  

The vegetation ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, considered to be the ′′natural laboratory′′ of climate change in the world, has undergone profound changes under the stress of global change. Herein, we analyzed and discussed the spatial-temporal change patterns and the driving mechanisms of net primary productivity (NPP) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 2000 to 2015 based on the gravity center and correlation coefficient models. Subsequently, we quantitatively distinguished the relative effects of climate change (such as precipitation, temperature and evapotranspiration) and human activities (such as grazing and ecological construction) on the NPP changes using scenario analysis and Miami model based on the MOD17A3 and meteorological data. The average annual NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau showed a decreasing trend from the southeast to the northwest during 2000-2015. With respect to the inter-annual changes, the average annual NPP exhibited a fluctuating upward trend from 2000 to 2015, with a steep increase observed in 2005 and a high fluctuation observed from 2005 to 2015. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the regions with the increase in NPP (change rate higher than 10%) were mainly concentrated in the Three-River Source Region, the northern Hengduan Mountains, the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, and the eastern parts of the North Tibet Plateau, whereas the regions with the decrease in NPP (change rate lower than -10%) were mainly concentrated in the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Ali Plateau. The gravity center of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has moved southwestward during 2000-2015, indicating that the increment and growth rate of NPP in the southwestern part is greater than those of NPP in the northeastern part. Further, a significant correlation was observed between NPP and climate factors in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The regions exhibiting a significant correlation between NPP and precipitation were mainly located in the central and eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the regions exhibiting a significant correlation between NPP and temperature were mainly located in the southern and eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Furthermore, the relative effects of climate change and human activities on the NPP changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau exhibited significant spatial differences in three types of zones, i.e., the climate change-dominant zone, the human activity-dominant zone, and the climate change and human activity interaction zone. These research results can provide theoretical and methodological supports to reveal the driving mechanisms of the regional ecosystems to the global change in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Key words： NPP      gravity center model      driving mechanisms      global change      human activities      Qinghai-Tibet Plateau     
Received: 17 May 2019      Published: 10 February 2020
Corresponding Authors:
About author: *Corresponding author: HAN Baomin (E-mail: hanbaomin@sdut.edu.cn)
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Bing GUO
Wenqian ZANG
Fei YANG
Baomin HAN
Shuting CHEN
Yue LIU
Xiao YANG
Tianli HE
Xi CHEN
Chunting LIU
Rui GONG
Cite this article:

GUO Bing, ZANG Wenqian, YANG Fei, HAN Baomin, CHEN Shuting, LIU Yue, YANG Xiao, HE Tianli, CHEN Xi, LIU Chunting, GONG Rui. Spatial and temporal change patterns of net primary productivity and its response to climate change in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China from 2000 to 2015. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(1): 1-17.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-019-0070-1     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2020/V12/I1/1

Fig. 1 Spatial distributions of the average annual NDVI (during 2000-2015) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and locations of the meteorological stations and interpolated stations in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the surrounding areas
Change trend of NPP Scenario Kc Kh Relative effects of climate change (%) Relative effects of human activities (%)
Ka>0
(vegetation restoration)		 Scenario 1 >0 >0 100 0
Scenario 2 <0 <0 0 100
Scenario 3 >0 <0 Combined effects Combined effects
Ka<0
(vegetation degradation)		 Scenario 4 >0 >0 0 100
Scenario 5 <0 <0 100 0
Scenario 6 <0 >0 Combined effects Combined effects
Table 1 Relative effects of climate change and human activities on the NPP changes
Fig. 2 Spatial distributions of average annual NPP (net primary productivity) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
Fig. 3 Area percentages of regions with different grades in the change rate of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
Fig. 4 Spatial distributions of regions with different grades in the change rate of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
Fig. 5 Distributions of the gravity centers of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
Fig. 6 Polar coordinates of the gravity centers of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015. The green dots indicate the gravity centers.
Fig. 7 Migration trajectory of the gravity centers of NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015 at different temporal scales (3-, 5- and 16-a temporal scales)
Fig. 8 Inter-annual variations of average annual NPP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
Fig. 9 Inter-annual variations of (a) annual precipitation and (b) annual mean temperature in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
Fig. 10 Partial correlation coefficient, multiple correlation coefficient and significant test results of NPP with precipitation and temperature in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. (a), partial correlation coefficients between NPP and precipitation; (b), significance of T test for the partial correlation coefficients between NPP and precipitation; (c), partial correlation coefficients between NPP and temperature; (d), significance of T test for the partial correlation coefficients between NPP and temperature; (e), complex correlation coefficients between NPP and climate factors (precipitation and temperature); (f), significance of F test for the complex correlation coefficients between NPP and climate factors. Coeff., correlation coefficient.
Fig. 11 Distinction of the relative effects of climate change and human activities on the NPP changes (increase or decrease). A1 and A2 refer to the regions mainly affected by climate change; B refers to the region affected by the combined effects of climate change and human activities; C1 and C2 refer to the regions mainly affected by human activities; L1, L2, L3 and L4 refer to the boundary lines for different regions.
Fig. 12 Spatial distributions of change trend coefficients of (a) precipitation and (b) temperature in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2000-2015
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