Vegetation Response to Rising CO<sub>2</sub> Amplifies Contrasts in Water Resources Between Global Wet and Dry Land Areas

Cui, Jiangpeng; Yang, Hui; Huntingford, Chris; Kooperman, Gabriel J.; Lian, Xu; He, Mingzhu; Piao, Shilong

doi:10.1029/2021gl094293

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The minimalistic model we employ offers a similar explanation from a hydrological perspective: water savings in dry regions allow for a higher vegetation cover and a greater fraction of precipitation to be transpired by vegetation, while for wetter regions where ecosystems are mostly energy limited, water savings essentially decrease the transpiration fraction and hence the sensitivity of transpiration to precipitation. This contrasting response is also supported by the observed divergent trends in global runoff for drylands and non-drylands 52,53 . Other factors including soil texture, rooting depth, water table depth, precipitation seasonality, and stomatal sensitivity to drought also affect ecosystem water availability and precipitation sensitivity, and their interactions with CO 2 needs to be further explored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2

et al. 2022

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Water availability plays a critical role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in low- and mid-latitude regions. The sensitivity of vegetation growth to precipitation strongly regulates global vegetation dynamics and their responses to drought, yet sensitivity changes in response to climate change remain poorly understood. Here we use long-term satellite observations combined with a dynamic statistical learning approach to examine changes in the sensitivity of vegetation greenness to precipitation over the past four decades. We observe a robust increase in precipitation sensitivity (0.624% yr−1) for drylands, and a decrease (−0.618% yr−1) for wet regions. Using model simulations, we show that the contrasting trends between dry and wet regions are caused by elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2). eCO2 universally decreases the precipitation sensitivity by reducing leaf-level transpiration, particularly in wet regions. However, in drylands, this leaf-level transpiration reduction is overridden at the canopy scale by a large proportional increase in leaf area. The increased sensitivity for global drylands implies a potential decrease in ecosystem stability and greater impacts of droughts in these vulnerable ecosystems under continued global change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2

et al. 2022

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“…More seriously, the increase in vegetation cover may stagnate because the region has reached the vegetation capacity threshold (Feng et al., 2016). Widely speaking, the increase of E weakens the amount of available water in most places around the world, also causing severe drought issues and threatening vegetation growth (Cui et al., 2021; Douville et al., 2021; Feng et al., 2021). In addition, an inverse trend in Ea and Et occurred in the semiarid and semihumid areas (a strip extending from southwestern to northeastern China).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Vegetation Changes and Multiple Environmental Factors on Evapotranspiration Across China Over the Past 34 Years

Zheng

Miao

et al. 2022

Earth's Future

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Documenting the spatiotemporal changes in vegetation cover and hydrological cycle of the Earth system and understanding how they interact are important especially under climate warming. In this research, we quantified the changes in vegetation and evapotranspiration (E) across China during 1982–2015 and then revealed the complex relationships in climate–vegetation–evapotranspiration system. Results show that the upward trend in vegetation leaf area index (LAI) during 2000–2015 (an increase of 0.95% per year) was almost 8 times the trend during 1982–1999. The zones of the Loess Plateau and the Three‐North Shelter Forest Program are the most notable areas for LAI increases between these two periods, with increases of 11.65% and 2.87%, respectively. Increased LAI, along with the warming climate, has accelerated E across China in the past several decades, and the annual increase in the E rate was 0.34% (1.34 mm year−1) during 1982–1999 and 0.40% (1.62 mm year−1) during 2000–2015. The zones of the Loess Plateau and the karst landform are the most notable areas for transpiration increases, with individual increases of 10% and 5%, respectively. In general, the dominant causes for evaporation changes across all of China are temperature and precipitation, while the main reasons for transpiration changes include temperature, LAI, and sunshine duration. This study improves our understanding of the relationships within the climate–vegetation–evapotranspiration system and provides important support for future ecological policies across China.

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“…In China, there are regional differences in response to CO 2 concentration (Cui et al ., 2021; Tian, 2021). The regions with large PET trend changes after considering CO 2 concentration are mainly in the southeast of China, Xinjiang in the northwest, Inner Mongolia, and parts of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; however, the scPDSI trend changes in the southeast do not have a significant difference.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of CO₂ concentration on drought assessment in China

Jiang

Wang

et al. 2022

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Global climate change is projected to increase the probability of occurrence and severity of droughts. Increased CO2 concentration drives partial closure of plant stomata and reduces evapotranspiration. However, the impact of reduced evapotranspiration due to CO2 on future droughts characteristics in China is unclear. In this study, we have used the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) global climate model simulations (GCMs) under historical period, and four shared socioeconomic pathway scenarios (SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5) to estimate drought. We used a widely applicable drought index (i.e., the self‐calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index [scPDSI]) to evaluate the historical and future drought conditions, using the Penman–Monteith formula with and without the CO2 concentrations. The results show that the increasing trend of scPDSI slows down when the CO2 effect is considered in all scenarios, especially in Heilongjiang, northern Xinjiang, and the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The divergence in the slowdown trend among the different scenarios becomes greater after 2030, with higher emission scenarios implying a greater slowdown in the increasing trend of scPDSI. After considering CO2, drought characteristics such as the drought frequency, intensity, and drought area decrease. Increased CO2 concentration on vegetation physiological processes could mitigate future drought. Therefore, the effects of CO2 on plant physiology should be considered in studies of future drought trends to develop more realistic response and adaptation policies to future drought changes.

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Vegetation Response to Rising CO₂ Amplifies Contrasts in Water Resources Between Global Wet and Dry Land Areas

Cited by 19 publications

References 60 publications

Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2

Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2

Effects of Vegetation Changes and Multiple Environmental Factors on Evapotranspiration Across China Over the Past 34 Years

Effect of CO₂ concentration on drought assessment in China

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Vegetation Response to Rising CO2 Amplifies Contrasts in Water Resources Between Global Wet and Dry Land Areas

Cited by 19 publications

References 60 publications

Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2

Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2

Effects of Vegetation Changes and Multiple Environmental Factors on Evapotranspiration Across China Over the Past 34 Years

Effect of CO2 concentration on drought assessment in China

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Vegetation Response to Rising CO₂ Amplifies Contrasts in Water Resources Between Global Wet and Dry Land Areas

Effect of CO₂ concentration on drought assessment in China