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Enhanced peak growth of global vegetation and its key mechanisms

Huang, Kun ; Xia, Jianyang ; Wang, Yingping ; Ahlström, Anders LU orcid ; Chen, Jiquan ; Cook, Robert B. ; Cui, Erqian ; Fang, Yuanyuan ; Fisher, Joshua B. and Huntzinger, Deborah Nicole , et al. (2018) In Nature Ecology and Evolution 2(12). p.1897-1905
Abstract

The annual peak growth of vegetation is critical in characterizing the capacity of terrestrial ecosystem productivity and shaping the seasonality of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The recent greening of global lands suggests an increasing trend of terrestrial vegetation growth, but whether or not the peak growth has been globally enhanced still remains unclear. Here, we use two global datasets of gross primary productivity (GPP) and a satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to characterize recent changes in annual peak vegetation growth (that is, GPPmax and NDVImax). We demonstrate that the peak in the growth of global vegetation has been linearly increasing during the past three... (More)

The annual peak growth of vegetation is critical in characterizing the capacity of terrestrial ecosystem productivity and shaping the seasonality of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The recent greening of global lands suggests an increasing trend of terrestrial vegetation growth, but whether or not the peak growth has been globally enhanced still remains unclear. Here, we use two global datasets of gross primary productivity (GPP) and a satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to characterize recent changes in annual peak vegetation growth (that is, GPPmax and NDVImax). We demonstrate that the peak in the growth of global vegetation has been linearly increasing during the past three decades. About 65% of the NDVImax variation is evenly explained by expanding croplands (21%), rising CO2 (22%) and intensifying nitrogen deposition (22%). The contribution of expanding croplands to the peak growth trend is substantiated by measurements from eddy-flux towers, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and a global database of plant traits, all of which demonstrate that croplands have a higher photosynthetic capacity than other vegetation types. The large contribution of CO2 is also supported by a meta-analysis of 466 manipulative experiments and 15 terrestrial biosphere models. Furthermore, we show that the contribution of GPPmax to the change in annual GPP is less in the tropics than in other regions. These multiple lines of evidence reveal an increasing trend in the peak growth of global vegetation. The findings highlight the important roles of agricultural intensification and atmospheric changes in reshaping the seasonality of global vegetation growth.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Ecology and Evolution
volume
2
issue
12
pages
1897 - 1905
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85056666820
  • pmid:30420745
ISSN
2397-334X
DOI
10.1038/s41559-018-0714-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ed3b8f82-e30c-4808-8eea-a8c555050a88
date added to LUP
2018-11-29 08:37:47
date last changed
2024-06-26 03:51:03
@article{ed3b8f82-e30c-4808-8eea-a8c555050a88,
  abstract     = {{<p>The annual peak growth of vegetation is critical in characterizing the capacity of terrestrial ecosystem productivity and shaping the seasonality of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations. The recent greening of global lands suggests an increasing trend of terrestrial vegetation growth, but whether or not the peak growth has been globally enhanced still remains unclear. Here, we use two global datasets of gross primary productivity (GPP) and a satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to characterize recent changes in annual peak vegetation growth (that is, GPP<sub>max</sub> and NDVI<sub>max</sub>). We demonstrate that the peak in the growth of global vegetation has been linearly increasing during the past three decades. About 65% of the NDVI<sub>max</sub> variation is evenly explained by expanding croplands (21%), rising CO<sub>2</sub> (22%) and intensifying nitrogen deposition (22%). The contribution of expanding croplands to the peak growth trend is substantiated by measurements from eddy-flux towers, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and a global database of plant traits, all of which demonstrate that croplands have a higher photosynthetic capacity than other vegetation types. The large contribution of CO<sub>2</sub> is also supported by a meta-analysis of 466 manipulative experiments and 15 terrestrial biosphere models. Furthermore, we show that the contribution of GPP<sub>max</sub> to the change in annual GPP is less in the tropics than in other regions. These multiple lines of evidence reveal an increasing trend in the peak growth of global vegetation. The findings highlight the important roles of agricultural intensification and atmospheric changes in reshaping the seasonality of global vegetation growth.</p>}},
  author       = {{Huang, Kun and Xia, Jianyang and Wang, Yingping and Ahlström, Anders and Chen, Jiquan and Cook, Robert B. and Cui, Erqian and Fang, Yuanyuan and Fisher, Joshua B. and Huntzinger, Deborah Nicole and Li, Zhao and Michalak, Anna M. and Qiao, Yang and Schaefer, Kevin and Schwalm, Christopher and Wang, Jing and Wei, Yaxing and Xu, Xiaoni and Yan, Liming and Bian, Chenyu and Luo, Yiqi}},
  issn         = {{2397-334X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{1897--1905}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Ecology and Evolution}},
  title        = {{Enhanced peak growth of global vegetation and its key mechanisms}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0714-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41559-018-0714-0}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}