Abstract: Ningxia is an important agriculture-pastoral area in China. Research on the temporal and spatial variations of net primary productivity (NPP) in this area and its driving factors would help understand the trends and leading factors of NPP variations, and reveal vegetation restoration status and causes. Based on the NPP data of MODIS, we used Theil-Sen Median trend analysis, correlation analysis, overlay analysis and other methods to analyze the spatiotemporal variations and driving factors of NPP in Ningxia. The results showed that NPP of Ningxia vegetation showed a fluctuating upward trend during 2000-2019, with a linear growth rate of 5.46 g C·m^-2·a^-1. The NPP presented a spatial characteristics of “two high and two low”, with the highest in the southern mountain area, followed by the Yellow River irrigation area, and the lowest in the hilly area of the central arid zone and Helan Mountain. 84.2% of the NPP in the study area was under significant restoration, mainly distributed in the central and southern mountainous and hilly areas. The NPP varied significantly with altitude and was significantly affected by the terrain. NPP center of gravity had generally moved to the south, with the increase and growth rate of NPP of vegetation in the south being greater than that in the north. The annual precipitation in Ningxia had shown an increasing trend, while the average annual temperature had slightly decreased. The NPP was significantly affec-ted by precipitation (R²=0.291), whereas the correlation between mean annual temperature and NPP was weak. 96.9% of the study area was at a state of vegetation restoration, which was promoted by both climate change and human activities.

Key words: net primary productivity, driving factor, human activity, Ningxia