1. |
- Madani, Nima, et al.
(author)
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Below-surface water mediates the response of African forests to reduced rainfall
- 2020
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9318 .- 1748-9326. ; 15:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Terrestrial ecosystem gross primary productivity (GPP) is the largest land-atmosphere carbon flux and the primary mechanism of photosynthetic fixation of atmospheric CO2 into plant biomass. Anomalous rainfall events have been shown to have a great impact on the global carbon cycle. However, less is known about the impact of these events on GPP, especially in Africa, where in situ observations are sparse. Here, we use a suite of satellite and other geospatial data to examine the responses of major ecosystems in Africa to anomalous rainfall events from 2003 to 2017. Our results reveal that higher-than-average groundwater storage in tropical ecosystems offsets the rainfall deficit during the dry years. While the inter-annual variations in GPP in semi-arid ecosystems are controlled by near surface soil water, deeper soil moisture and groundwater control the inter-annual variability of the GPP in dense tropical forests. Our study highlights the critical role of groundwater in buffering rainfall shortages and continued availability of near-surface water to plants through dry spells.
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2. |
- Madani, Nima, et al.
(author)
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The Impacts of Climate and Wildfire on Ecosystem Gross Primary Productivity in Alaska
- 2021
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. - 2169-8953. ; 126:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The increase in wildfire occurrence and severity seen over the past decades in the boreal and Arctic biomes is expected to continue in the future in response to rapid climate change in this region. Recent studies documented positive trends in gross primary productivity (GPP) for Arctic boreal biomes driven by warming, but it is unclear how GPP trends are affected by wildfires. Here, we used satellite vegetation observations and environmental data with a diagnostic GPP model to analyze recovery from large fires in Alaska over the period 2000–2019. We confirmed earlier findings that warmer-than-average years provide favorable climate conditions for vegetation growth, leading to a GPP increase of 1 Tg C yr−1, contributed mainly from enhanced productivity in the early growing season. However, higher temperatures increase the risk of wildfire occurrence leading to direct carbon loss over a period of 1–3 years. While mortality related to severe wildfires reduce ecosystem productivity, post-fire productivity in moderately burned areas shows a significant positive trend. The rapid GPP recovery following fires reported here might be favorable for maintaining the region's net carbon sink, but wildfires can indirectly promote the release of long-term stored carbon in the permafrost. With the projected increase in severity and frequency of wildfires in the future, we expect a reduction of GPP and therefore amplification of climate warming in this region.
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3. |
- Tagesson, Torbern, et al.
(author)
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A physiology-based Earth observation model indicates stagnation in the global gross primary production during recent decades
- 2021
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 27:4, s. 836-854
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Earth observation-based estimates of global gross primary production (GPP) are essential for understanding the response of the terrestrial biosphere to climatic change and other anthropogenic forcing. In this study, we attempt an ecosystem-level physiological approach of estimating GPP using an asymptotic light response function (LRF) between GPP and incoming photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) that better represents the response observed at high spatiotemporal resolutions than the conventional light use efficiency approach. Modelled GPP is thereafter constrained with meteorological and hydrological variables. The variability in field-observed GPP, net primary productivity and solar-induced fluorescence was better or equally well captured by our LRF-based GPP when compared with six state-of-the-art Earth observation-based GPP products. Over the period 1982–2015, the LRF-based average annual global terrestrial GPP budget was 121.8 ± 3.5 Pg C, with a detrended inter-annual variability of 0.74 ± 0.13 Pg C. The strongest inter-annual variability was observed in semi-arid regions, but croplands in China and India also showed strong inter-annual variations. The trend in global terrestrial GPP during 1982–2015 was 0.27 ± 0.02 Pg C year−1, and was generally larger in the northern than the southern hemisphere. Most positive GPP trends were seen in areas with croplands whereas negative trends were observed for large non-cropped parts of the tropics. Trends were strong during the eighties and nineties but levelled off around year 2000. Other GPP products either showed no trends or continuous increase throughout the study period. This study benchmarks a first global Earth observation-based model using an asymptotic light response function, improving simulations of GPP, and reveals a stagnation in the global GPP after the year 2000.
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4. |
- Watts, Jennifer D., et al.
(author)
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Carbon uptake in Eurasian boreal forests dominates the high-latitude net ecosystem carbon budget
- 2023
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 29:7, s. 1870-1889
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Arctic-boreal landscapes are experiencing profound warming, along with changes in ecosystem moisture status and disturbance from fire. This region is of global importance in terms of carbon feedbacks to climate, yet the sign (sink or source) and magnitude of the Arctic-boreal carbon budget within recent years remains highly uncertain. Here, we provide new estimates of recent (2003–2015) vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco), net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE; Reco − GPP), and terrestrial methane (CH4) emissions for the Arctic-boreal zone using a satellite data-driven process-model for northern ecosystems (TCFM-Arctic), calibrated and evaluated using measurements from >60 tower eddy covariance (EC) sites. We used TCFM-Arctic to obtain daily 1-km2 flux estimates and annual carbon budgets for the pan-Arctic-boreal region. Across the domain, the model indicated an overall average NEE sink of −850 Tg CO2-C year−1. Eurasian boreal zones, especially those in Siberia, contributed to a majority of the net sink. In contrast, the tundra biome was relatively carbon neutral (ranging from small sink to source). Regional CH4 emissions from tundra and boreal wetlands (not accounting for aquatic CH4) were estimated at 35 Tg CH4-C year−1. Accounting for additional emissions from open water aquatic bodies and from fire, using available estimates from the literature, reduced the total regional NEE sink by 21% and shifted many far northern tundra landscapes, and some boreal forests, to a net carbon source. This assessment, based on in situ observations and models, improves our understanding of the high-latitude carbon status and also indicates a continued need for integrated site-to-regional assessments to monitor the vulnerability of these ecosystems to climate change.
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5. |
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- 2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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