Global assessment of lagged and cumulative effects of drought on grassland gross primary production

Drought legacies and ecosystem responses to subsequent drought

“…These post‐drought effects are commonly referred to as “drought legacies” (Vilonen et al, 2022) and have been demonstrated for various aspects of ecosystem structure and functioning. Drought legacy effects have been associated with altered carbon (C) cycling (Craine et al, 2013; Kannenberg et al, 2020; Liu et al, 2022; Scott et al, 2010; Wei et al, 2022; Xie et al, 2020), nitrogen (N) cycling (DeLong et al, 2019; DeVries et al, 2012; Legay et al, 2018), growth (Anderegg, Schwalm, et al, 2015; Gazol et al, 2020; Wu et al, 2018; Zhao et al, 2020), phenology (Berwaers et al, 2019; Hoover et al, 2021; Kang et al, 2018; Peng et al, 2019; Sippel et al, 2018; Zeng et al, 2021), species composition (DeBoeck et al, 2018; Griffin‐Nolan et al, 2019; Stampfli et al, 2018; Stampfli & Zeiter, 2020; Winkler et al, 2019), herbivory (Gutbrodt et al, 2011), as well as soil physicochemical properties (Goebel et al, 2011; Sánchez‐García et al, 2019). Drought legacies have also been associated with increased plant mortality (Bigler et al, 2007; Hammond, 2020; Hartmann et al, 2018; Sippel et al, 2018; Trugman et al, 2018; Zhou et al, 2019), and with reduced plant defense against pests and pathogens (Jactel et al, 2012; Trugman et al, 2021; Wiley et al, 2016).…”

Increased Sensitivity of Global Vegetation Productivity to Drought Over the Recent Three Decades

“…Zhang et al (2022) declared that drought had a widespread impact on global vegetation and that factors such as vegetation types and long-term hydrothermal conditions, could affect the dominant time scale of GPP response to drought. Compared to the lagged effect of drought considering only one previous water deficit event, continuous cumulative water deficits better reflect the relationship between vegetation activity and drought (Wei et al, 2022). Therefore, the time scale of SPEI with strongest drought effect on GPP is a promising measure for investigating the sensitivity of vegetation to drought.…”

Quantifying Vegetation Stability under Drought in the Middle Reaches of Yellow River Basin, China

“…The lower the drought threshold, the stronger the ability of vegetation to resist risks. Because of the legacy of drought, vegetation growth could be more affected by previous drought conditions, and there is a lag time between vegetation and drought [37].…”

“…More than 3% of the grassland recovered to normal after 4 months, whereas 56.1% of the grassland recovered within 3-4 months. Research has shown that the effects of drought on severely water-stressed grasslands were greater than those with less water-stressed grasslands [37], which explained why the drought threshold was lower in the border regions of Inner Mongolia (Figure 5a); they can endure drought on longer timescales, with greater severity.…”