Spatiotemporal dynamics of grassland aboveground biomass in northern China and the alpine region: Impacts of climate change and human activities

Abstract

Grassland plays a crucial role in the global cycles of matter, energy, water and, climate regulation. Biomass serves as one of the fundamental indicators for evaluating the ecological status of grassland. This study utilized the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model to estimate Net Primary Productivity (NPP) from meteorological data and the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling System (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) remote sensing data for northern China’s temperate and alpine grasslands from 1981 to 2015. NPP was subsequently converted into aboveground biomass (AGB). The dynamic changes in grassland AGB were analyzed, and the influence of climate change was examined. The results indicate strong agreement between AGB estimations from the CASA model and Gill method based on field-measured AGB, confirming the model’s reliability for these regions. The dynamic changes in AGB exhibited a significant increasing trend of 1.31 g/m2. Grazing intensity (GI), soil moisture, and mean annual precipitation are identified as key factors influencing changes in grassland AGB. Our findings indicate that precipitation and soil moisture are the primary drivers of AGB accumulation during the growing season (spring, summer, and autumn), while temperature plays a critical role in supporting biomass accumulation during winter. Higher temperatures in winter contributes to increased AGB in the following spring, particularly in desert steppe and alpine meadow ecosystems. These insights highlight the complex interaction between climate factors and human activities in shaping grassland productivity across different seasons.