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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (9): 1541-1554.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.609

• Plant Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and its influencing factors of net primary productivity of vegetation in Mongolia form 2000 to 2020

HUANG Jing1(), LI Ting1(), LI Pengfei1, Altansukh OCHIR2, YANG Meihuan1, WANG Tao1, LI Sha1   

  1. 1. College of Geomatics, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
    2. College of Engineering and Applied Science, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 210646, Mongolia
  • Received:2024-10-11 Revised:2024-12-04 Online:2025-09-25 Published:2025-09-17
  • Contact: LI Ting E-mail:22210226097@stu.xust.edu.cn;liting19@xust.edu.cn

Abstract:

Mongolia, China’s northern neighbor, has a grassland ecosystem that is highly susceptible to natural factors and human activities. A univariate linear regression model was used to analyze the spatiotemporal variations in net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation in Mongolia from 2000 to 2020. A random forest regression model, combined with the Gridded Livestock of the World (GLW) dataset, was used to simulate livestock grazing density in Mongolia for 2020. The geographic detector method was then utilized to examine the factors influencing NPP changes at both national and provincial scales, incorporating indicators such as average annualland surface temperature, average annual precipitation, downward shortwave radiation, soil moisture, NO2 emissions, and the human footprint index. The results indicated that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the NPP in Mongolia exhibited spatial characteristics of increasing in the east and north and decreasing in the west and south. There is an overall increasing trend, dominated by nonsignificant increases, with nonsignificantly increasing areas accounting for 62.539% of Mongolia’s land area. (2) Single-factor analysis revealed that climatic factors were the primary drivers of NPP changes in Mongolia, with downward shortwave radiation (q=0.615) and average annual precipitation (q=0.602) showing the highest contribution. However, the interactions between the human footprint index or NO2 emissions and climatic factors exceeded the explanatory power of individual factors. (3) At the provincial-scale, climate and topography remained the main drivers of NPP changes in the eastern and western regions of Mongolia. In contrast, NPP changes in the Central and Khangai regions of Mongolia were more influenced by the interaction between human activities (grazing density and NO2 emissions) and natural factors, making these areas critical for the prevention and control of future grassland degradation risk. These findings provide scientific insights for the effective management of grassland ecosystems in various regions of Mongolia and for the formulation of sustainable development strategies.

Key words: NPP, spatial and temporal changes, influencing factors, grazing density, Mongolia