Bradley C. Reed Larry L. Tieszen C. Ricotta 2002 <p><span>Time integrated normalized difference vegetation index (ΣNDVI) derived from NOAA AVHRR multitemporal imagery over a 10-yr period (1989-1998) was used as a surrogate for primary production to investigate the impact of interannual climate variability on grassland performance for central and northern U.S. Great Plains. First, the contribution of&nbsp;</span><span class="roman">C</span>₃<span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><span class="roman">C</span>₄<span>&nbsp;species abundances to the major grassland ecosystems of the U.S. Great Plains is described. Next, the relation between mean ΣNDVI and the ΣNDVI coefficient of variation (CV ΣNDVI) used as a proxi for interannual climate variability is analyzed. Results suggest that the differences in the long-term climatic control over ecosystem performance approximately coincide with changes between&nbsp;</span><span class="roman">C</span>₃<span>- and&nbsp;</span><span class="roman">C</span>₄<span>-dominant grassland classes. Variation in remotely sensed net primary production over time is higher for the southern and western plains grasslands (primarily C4 grasslands), whereas the&nbsp;</span><span class="roman">C</span>₃<span>-dominated classes in the northern and eastern portion of the U.S. Great Plains generally show lower CV ΣNDVI values.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1142/9789812777249_0043 en World Scientific The contribution of C3 and C4 grasses to interannual variability in time-integrated NDVI over the U.S. Great Plains text