Assessing the degradation of grassland ecosystems based on the advanced local net production scaling method—The case of Inner Mongolia, China

The gradual degradation of grasslands on a global scale goes hand‐in‐hand with significant challenges for agriculture and animal husbandry development. Numerous relevant policies and projects have been implemented to protect and restore Chinese ecosystems, but it is still unclear to what degree grassland ecosystems can be recovered. In view of this, we constructed an advanced local net production scaling (ALNS) method by replacing the classification method by self‐organizing feature maps (SOFM) and tailoring the ideal state evaluation method in the LNS method. The ALNS method is used to analyze differences within grassland ecosystems, explore the ideal state of grassland ecosystems, and define degradation as the degree to which the actual state deviates from the ideal state, representing the degree to which grassland ecosystems can be recovered. It thereby quantifies and assesses the overall degradation of such systems in Inner Mongolia. Based on the results, more than 98.5% of the total grassland area failed to reach the ideal state, with the highest levels in the northeast with DN (degraded net primary productivity) values exceeding 200 gc/(m²·yr), followed by the midlands with DN values from 50 to 200 gc/(m²·yr) and the southwest with DN values between 0 and 150 gc/(m²·yr). The ALNS method can efficiently assess grassland ecosystem degradation and can be used to indicate the deviation degrees from ideal states, facilitating the development of protection and restoration programs for grassland ecosystems.