Areas with both an increase in NPP and RUE are agglomerated around 15 deg N. This greening up region coincides with the 300 mm isohyet. At this level of annual rainfall dryland agriculture becomes possible, and hence the increase in RUE around this latitude can be driven by agricultural potentials and shifts in agricultural and pastoral practices. Further to the south and north such changes could be hypothesized to be less pronounced. That managerial practices might have influenced the greening up, both accelerating and decelerating it, is supported by the stronger transitions along international borders and along the major rivers in the region.
