Assessing the impact of the urbanization process on net primary productivity in China in 1989–2000

Urban development affects the material circulation and energy flow of ecosystems, thereby affecting the Net Primary Productivity (NPP). The loss of NPP due to urban expansion was calculated integrating GLO-PEM with remote sensing and GIS techniques in China during the period of 1989–2000. Using urban expansion and the mean NPP for the different land use types in the fourteen regions, the total loss of NPP was calculated as 0.95 Tg C, which accounted for 0.03% of the national NPP of 1989. The total loss of NPP due to the transformation from cropland to urban land accounted for 91.93%, followed by forest (7.17%) and grassland (0.69%). However, the conversion from unused land, industrial and construction land, and water bodies to urban land resulted in an increase in the NPP. The regions locating in eastern China and middle China had large reductions in the total NPP due to urban expansion. •This paper assesses the impact of urbanization process on net primary productivity in China.•TM images were interpreted to obtain the extent and spatial distribution of urban development.•Using mean NPP for different land uses, we calculated total loss of NPP was 0.949447 Tg C in China.•The total loss of NPP owing to the transformation from cropland to urban land accounted for 91.93%. The loss of NPP due to urban expansion was calculated as 0.95 Tg C in China in 1989–2000, which accounted for 0.03% of the national NPP of 1989.