Spatio-temporal variations in vegetation NPP and the driving factors in Taihang Mountain Area

Net primary productivity (NPP) is an important indicator for the condition of vegetation in a given region. Research on NPP is not only important for the management of vegetation resources, but also a key element of global change. Technological development (such as remote sensing, geographic information system and global positioning system) had created the conditions for the establishment of complex process-based NPP models. On this basis, global NPP products today that continuously release data for long periods of time (e.g., MODIS NPP data appeared) greatly enhance research on NPP of regional vegetation. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatio-temporal variations in NPP of vegetation in Taihang Mountain Area for the period 2000-2014 using MODIS NPP data. At the same time, the study investigated the effects of climatic factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) and of human factors (e.g., farming) on the change in NPP of vegetation in the region. Also trend analysis, correlation coefficient and zonal statistics were used in the study to analyze the various dataset (e.g., LUCC, temperature, precipitation and DEM). Results showed that the average NPP values of the study area was 284.0 g (C)·m^-2·a^-1, while those of farmland, forest and grassland were 302.5 g (C)·m^-2·a^-1, 258.1 g (C)·m^-2·a^-1 and 286.5 g (C)·m^-2·a^-1, respectively. Geographical location, topography, development history and human management influenced the distribution of the NPP of vegetation in the study area. Poor geographical environment was the main reason for the small NPP of forest vegetation in the region. The NPP of vegetation generally showed an upward trend, but was not significant for most of study area. About 16.17% area had significantly or extremely significantly increased vegetation NPP, which was mainly in the west of study area. In another 0.88% area, NPP significantly or extremely significantly dropped. The order of the NPP change rate of different vegetation types was-grassland > farmland > forest. Grassland vegetation was more effective for environmental rehabilitation because it had a better adaptability to the local conditions. Based on calculated regional averages, the vegetation NPP was significantly positively correlated with precipitation (P < 0.05), but negatively correlated with temperature (P>0.05). About 23.82% of the study area had a significantly or extremely significantly positive correlation between NPP of vegetation and precipitation, which mainly distributed in the northern section of Taihang Mountain. No significantly negative correlation was observed. Furthermore, about 8.42% of the study area had a significantly or extremely significantly negative correlation between vegetation NPP and temperature, and this was mainly in the west side of Taihang Mountain. In another 0.81% area, the vegetation NPP was significantly or extremely significantly positively correlated with temperature, which was mainly distributed in the extreme north of the study area. Also the rate of NPP change and the correlation coefficient between NPP and climatic factors was positively correlated with altitude and slope gradients-both relatively smaller at low altitude and small slope, where human activity intensity was relatively higher. The area with significantly or extremely significantly reduced vegetation NPP was across the study area, especially around construction lands, which was not as a result of climatic factors. It was therefore suggested that while climatic factors generally enhanced vegetation NPP, human factors mainly inhibited vegetation NPP in the study area during the study period.