Abstract: Net primary production (NPP) of terrestrial wegetation is significant in global change study.Different NPP models were developed to simulate the distribution of global and regional NPPin the last two decades, of wbich, climate relative models,process models and energy use efficiency models were the main ones. Each kind of these NPPmodels had its advantages and disadvantages.Climate relative models were attractive for their applicability to climate change problems, but little insight into nonequlibrium phenomena was provided. Process models emphasized on the physiological and ecological processes of plant growth, but they were too complicated to get some parameters.Energy use efficiency models were attractive because the vegetation index data from satellite remotely sensed observations could be directly used to estimate the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation.The NPPresearch status and the application of remote sensing in NPPresearch in China were also reviewed in this paper.

Key words: Net primary productivity, Vegetation, Remote sensing, Global change, photosynthesis, physiological integration, Zoysia japonica, nutrient heterogeneity