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Too early to infer a global NPP decline since 2000

Ahlström, Anders LU orcid ; Miller, Paul LU and Smith, Benjamin LU (2012) In Geophysical Research Letters 39.
Abstract
The global terrestrial carbon cycle plays a pivotal role in regulating the atmospheric composition of greenhouse gases. It has recently been suggested that the upward trend in net primary production (NPP) seen during the 1980's and 90's has been replaced by a negative trend since 2000 induced by severe droughts mainly on the southern hemisphere. Here we compare results from an individual-based global vegetation model to satellite-based estimates of NPP and top-down reconstructions of net biome production (NBP) based on inverse modelling of observed CO2 concentrations and CO2 growth rates. We find that simulated NBP exhibits considerable covariation on a global scale with interannual fluctuations in atmospheric CO2. Our simulations also... (More)
The global terrestrial carbon cycle plays a pivotal role in regulating the atmospheric composition of greenhouse gases. It has recently been suggested that the upward trend in net primary production (NPP) seen during the 1980's and 90's has been replaced by a negative trend since 2000 induced by severe droughts mainly on the southern hemisphere. Here we compare results from an individual-based global vegetation model to satellite-based estimates of NPP and top-down reconstructions of net biome production (NBP) based on inverse modelling of observed CO2 concentrations and CO2 growth rates. We find that simulated NBP exhibits considerable covariation on a global scale with interannual fluctuations in atmospheric CO2. Our simulations also suggest that droughts in the southern hemisphere may have been a major driver of NPP variations during the past decade. The results, however, do not support conjecture that global terrestrial NPP has entered a period of drought-induced decline. Citation: Ahlstrom, A., P. A. Miller, and B. Smith (2012), Too early to infer a global NPP decline since 2000, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L15403, doi:10.1029/2012GL052336. (Less)
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author
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Geophysical Research Letters
volume
39
publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
external identifiers
  • wos:000307464000002
  • scopus:84865436342
ISSN
1944-8007
DOI
10.1029/2012GL052336
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c0579ea2-a974-4715-b8c4-37126851311a (old id 3069664)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:09:30
date last changed
2022-01-27 17:39:50
@article{c0579ea2-a974-4715-b8c4-37126851311a,
  abstract     = {{The global terrestrial carbon cycle plays a pivotal role in regulating the atmospheric composition of greenhouse gases. It has recently been suggested that the upward trend in net primary production (NPP) seen during the 1980's and 90's has been replaced by a negative trend since 2000 induced by severe droughts mainly on the southern hemisphere. Here we compare results from an individual-based global vegetation model to satellite-based estimates of NPP and top-down reconstructions of net biome production (NBP) based on inverse modelling of observed CO2 concentrations and CO2 growth rates. We find that simulated NBP exhibits considerable covariation on a global scale with interannual fluctuations in atmospheric CO2. Our simulations also suggest that droughts in the southern hemisphere may have been a major driver of NPP variations during the past decade. The results, however, do not support conjecture that global terrestrial NPP has entered a period of drought-induced decline. Citation: Ahlstrom, A., P. A. Miller, and B. Smith (2012), Too early to infer a global NPP decline since 2000, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L15403, doi:10.1029/2012GL052336.}},
  author       = {{Ahlström, Anders and Miller, Paul and Smith, Benjamin}},
  issn         = {{1944-8007}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{American Geophysical Union (AGU)}},
  series       = {{Geophysical Research Letters}},
  title        = {{Too early to infer a global NPP decline since 2000}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2012GL052336}},
  doi          = {{10.1029/2012GL052336}},
  volume       = {{39}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}