Grassland Productivity Under Grazing Treatments in India, 1986-1989

Monthly biomass measurements from three derived savanna sites on India's Vindhyan plateau reveal how decades of grazing pressure affects ecosystem productivity. Mean total net primary production for ungrazed areas was estimated at 1,082 and 1,391 grams per square meter per year for two consecutive annual cycles. The dataset includes nearly a century of supporting climate data from a nearby weather station, spanning 1893 to 1990.

Use Cases

• Modeling the impact of long-term grazing on above- and below-ground biomass based on treatment comparisons.
• Analyzing inter-annual variability in net primary production using the multi-year productivity estimates.
• Correlating plant productivity with long-term climate patterns using the 97-year weather station record.
• Comparing productivity estimation methods (trough-peak analysis vs. root in-growth studies) as described in the methodology.

Strengths

• Provides detailed, site-specific productivity estimates, with mean ANPP for ungrazed areas ranging from 377 to 664 g/m2/yr.
• Includes a long-term climate context with weather station data covering 97 years (1893-1990).
• Dataset has been revised and corrected, indicating quality control, as noted in the revision notes for BNPP estimates.

Limitations

• Column names and exact file structure are not provided in the available metadata, limiting immediate usability.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one platform lists a last update date in 2026, while another lists 1990, creating uncertainty about data currency.
• The dataset size (rows, file size) is unknown across all sources.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Biomass measured by harvest methods; ANPP estimated via trough-peak analysis, BNPP via biomass increments and root in-growth studies.

Time Range

Productivity data: 1986-1989; Climate data: 1893-1990

Freshness

Conflicting: One source lists last updated as 2026-04-09, another as 1990-11-30.

Geography

Three derived savanna sites (Ranitali, Hathinala, Telburva) on the Vindhyan plateau in northern India; climate data from Daltonganj, India.