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Coupling of ecosystem-scale plant water storage and leaf phenology observed by satellite

Tian, Feng LU ; Wigneron, Jean-pierre ; Ciais, Philippe ; Chave, Jérôme ; Ogée, Jérôme ; Peñuelas, Josep ; Ræbild, Anders ; Domec, Jean-christophe ; Tong, Xiaoye and Brandt, Martin , et al. (2018) In Nature Ecology and Evolution 2(9). p.1428-1435
Abstract
Plant water storage is fundamental to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems by participating in plant metabolism, nutrient and sugar transport, and maintenance of the integrity of the hydraulic system of the plant. However, a global view of the size and dynamics of the water pools stored in plant tissues is still lacking. Here, we report global patterns of seasonal variations in ecosystem-scale plant water storage and their relationship with leaf phenology, based on space-borne measurements of L-band vegetation optical depth. We find that seasonal variations in plant water storage are highly synchronous with leaf phenology for the boreal and temperate forests, but asynchronous for the tropical woodlands, where the seasonal development... (More)
Plant water storage is fundamental to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems by participating in plant metabolism, nutrient and sugar transport, and maintenance of the integrity of the hydraulic system of the plant. However, a global view of the size and dynamics of the water pools stored in plant tissues is still lacking. Here, we report global patterns of seasonal variations in ecosystem-scale plant water storage and their relationship with leaf phenology, based on space-borne measurements of L-band vegetation optical depth. We find that seasonal variations in plant water storage are highly synchronous with leaf phenology for the boreal and temperate forests, but asynchronous for the tropical woodlands, where the seasonal development of plant water storage lags behind leaf area by up to 180 days. Contrasting patterns of the time lag between plant water storage and terrestrial groundwater storage are also evident in these ecosystems. A comparison of the water cycle components in seasonally dry tropical woodlands highlights the buffering effect of plant water storage on the seasonal dynamics of water supply and demand. Our results offer insights into ecosystem-scale plant water relations globally and provide a basis for an improved parameterization of eco-hydrological and Earth system models. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Ecology and Evolution
volume
2
issue
9
pages
1428 - 1435
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85052139303
  • pmid:30104750
ISSN
2397-334X
DOI
10.1038/s41559-018-0630-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
10194413-e0bc-40ab-b484-a0dadc7ebba4
date added to LUP
2018-08-14 09:59:48
date last changed
2022-04-25 08:29:18
@article{10194413-e0bc-40ab-b484-a0dadc7ebba4,
  abstract     = {{Plant water storage is fundamental to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems by participating in plant metabolism, nutrient and sugar transport, and maintenance of the integrity of the hydraulic system of the plant. However, a global view of the size and dynamics of the water pools stored in plant tissues is still lacking. Here, we report global patterns of seasonal variations in ecosystem-scale plant water storage and their relationship with leaf phenology, based on space-borne measurements of L-band vegetation optical depth. We find that seasonal variations in plant water storage are highly synchronous with leaf phenology for the boreal and temperate forests, but asynchronous for the tropical woodlands, where the seasonal development of plant water storage lags behind leaf area by up to 180 days. Contrasting patterns of the time lag between plant water storage and terrestrial groundwater storage are also evident in these ecosystems. A comparison of the water cycle components in seasonally dry tropical woodlands highlights the buffering effect of plant water storage on the seasonal dynamics of water supply and demand. Our results offer insights into ecosystem-scale plant water relations globally and provide a basis for an improved parameterization of eco-hydrological and Earth system models.}},
  author       = {{Tian, Feng and Wigneron, Jean-pierre and Ciais, Philippe and Chave, Jérôme and Ogée, Jérôme and Peñuelas, Josep and Ræbild, Anders and Domec, Jean-christophe and Tong, Xiaoye and Brandt, Martin and Mialon, Arnaud and Rodriguez-fernandez, Nemesio and Tagesson, Torbern and Al-yaari, Amen and Kerr, Yann and Chen, Chi and Myneni, Ranga B. and Zhang, Wenmin and Ardö, Jonas and Fensholt, Rasmus}},
  issn         = {{2397-334X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{1428--1435}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Ecology and Evolution}},
  title        = {{Coupling of ecosystem-scale plant water storage and leaf phenology observed by satellite}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0630-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41559-018-0630-3}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}