Keywords: 
• forest ecology /
• net primary productivity （NPP） /
• spatial analysis /
• seasonal change /
• land use /
• Zhejiang Province

Abstract: Changes in vegetation and net primary productivity （NPP） are important indicators representing regional ecological qualitative changes. To examine NPP vegetative seasonal variation，spatial patterns，and land use change that affected variation，an NPP simulation was performed for Zhejiang Province in 2006 based on the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach （CASA） model with results further analyzed by Geographic Information System（GIS）-based software. Results showed that （1） average annual NPP was about 625.68 gm-2a-1. NPP also showed a spatial heterogeneity which lying down within the relief over the study area. NPP differed with land use type，but there seems to be a similar seasonal change which increased fast in Feb. to May and peaked in July and Aug. （2） Total NPP in 2006 was about 6 451.2 104 ta-1 with more than 70% found mainly in forest and cropland near each city in Zhejiang Province. Total NPP of Lishui City was highest （1 336.05 104 ta-1）；whereas Zhoushan City was lowest （47.18 104 ta-1）. For the Ecological Service Forests，the average annual NPP was about 815.28 gm-2a-1 which was higher than the mean values of forests. （3） Compared to 1996，total NPP in 2006 increased about 52.96 104 ta-1 due to land use type change. Thus，to effectively enhance vegetation NPP for Zhejiang Province，a forest network system should be built in the plains areas，the project accelerating the succession of coniferous forest into broadleaf forest should be conducted in mountain areas，and an intensive management for bamboo stands should be undertaken.［Ch，2 fig. 3 tab. 19 ref.］