Forest net primary productivity dynamics and driving forces in Jiangxi Province,China

Aims Subtropical forest ecosystem has great carbon sequestration capacity. Net primary productivity (NPP) plays a critical role in forest carbon cycle and is affected by a number of factors, including climate change, atmospheric composition, forest disturbance intensity and frequency, and forest age, etc. However, the contribution of these factors to the temporal-spatial dynamics of NPP is still not clear. Quantifying the main driving forces on the temporal-spatial dynamics of NPP for subtropical forest ecosystems is a critical foundation for understanding their carbon cycle.
Methods We utilized multi-sources dataset, including observed meteorological data, inversed annual maximum leaf area index (LAI), referenced NPP (simulated by Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) model), forest age and forest types, land cover, digital elevation model (DEM), soil texture, CO₂ concentration and nitrogen deposition. We used the InTEC (integrated terrestrial ecosystem carbon-budget) model to simulate the NPP dynamics for forest ecosystems in Jiangxi Province during the period of 1901-2010. The effects of climate change, forest age, CO₂ concentration and nitrogen (N) deposition on forest NPP from 1970 to 2010 were discussed through designed scenarios.
Important findings (1) Validations by flux measurements and forest inventory data indicated that the InTEC model was able to capture the interannual and spatial variations of forest NPP. (2) The average forest NPP was 47.7 Tg C·a^-1 (± 4.2 Tg C·a^-1) during 1901-2010. The NPP in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s was 50.7, 48.8, 45.4, and 55.2 Tg C·a^-1, respectively. As forest regrows, NPP significantly increased for forests in Jiangxi Province in the 2000s, and exceed that in the 1970s for more than 60% of the forest area. (3) During 1970-2010, under the scenarios of disturbance and non-disturbance, the forest NPP were underestimated by 7.3 Tg C·a^-1 (14.5%) and overestimated by 3.6 Tg C·a^-1 (7.1%) compared to the scenarios of all disturbance and non-disturbance factors, respectively. Compared to the average NPP during 1970-2010, climate change decreased NPP by -2.0 Tg C·a^-1 (-4.7%), N deposition increased NPP by 4.5 Tg C·a^-1 (10.4%), CO₂ concentration change, and the integrated fertilization of CO₂ and N deposition increased NPP by 4.4 Tg C·a^-1 (10.3%) and 9.4 Tg C·a^-1 (21.8%), respectively.