Net ecosystem productivity of grasslands: A chamber-based global database

Net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of global grasslands-one of the largest and most variable components of the terrestrial carbon budget-provides critical insight into the magnitude and dynamics of the global carbon balance. Extensive field measurements have been derived from static-chamber techniques; however, these data have remained fragmented at individual sites or regions and have seldom been synthesized into a consistent global product. Here, chamber-based NEP measurements from 221 publications (1992-2023) in global grasslands were obtained, critically filtered, and condensed in a comprehensive global database. This database comprised 1521 individual NEP records from 275 sites across 30 countries. The dataset further included information on site location, ecosystem type, dominant species, climatic variables, soil properties, measurement timing (year, month, and day), and sampling protocol. The study sites encompassed global grasslands with latitudinal range of 62.22° S to 78.88° N, longitudinal range of 156.62° W to 161.51° E, and altitudes from -1 to 4852 m above sea level, covering broad climatic gradients (mean annual temperature: -17°C to 32.1°C; mean annual precipitation: 17-2226 mm; potential evapotranspiration: 152-1819 mm year^-1). Our database enables (1) elucidation of the biogeographic pattern of grassland NEP, (2) assessment of grassland carbon-sequestration potential under future global-change scenarios, and (3) validation of both machine-learning and process-based model estimates of grassland NEP at the global scale. The database is available under a CC BY 4.0 license. The authors kindly request users to cite this data paper while using the database in acknowledgment of all the hard work that went into compiling the data.