Grassland Conservation Effectiveness of National Nature Reserves in Northern China

Grasslands are crucial ecosystem biomes for breeding livestock and combatting climate change. By 2018, the national nature reserves (NNRs) in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) had constituted 8.55% of land area. However, there is still a knowledge gap about their effectiveness grasslands. Based on multiyear time series growing season composite from 2000 to 2020, we proposed an score assess NNRs, using 250 m MOD13Q1 NDVI data with Theil–Sen Mann–Kendall trend analysis methods. We found following: 22 30 NNRs were deemed effective protecting Mongolian The increased pixels sustainable 19.26% 20.55% higher than unprotected areas IMAR, respectively. CVNDVI < 0.1 (i.e., coefficient variation) >35.22% more those IMAR. changes within showed that 63.64% significant greening before change point, which suggests general NNRs. also achieved heterogeneous scores across protection types. Forest ecology wildlife animal types most efficient, whereas vegetation least type. This study enriches understanding grassland conservation sheds light future direction management