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Climate sensitivity functions and net primary production: A framework for incorporating climate mean and variability
Jennifer A Rudgers1, Y Anny Chung1, Gregory E Maurer1
1Department of Biology, MSC03-2020, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131, USA.
Ecology
|January 10, 2018
Summary
Climate significantly impacts net primary production (NPP), with variance in climate drivers like aridity potentially altering NPP nonlinearities. This study reveals unique climate sensitivity functions for different dryland ecosystems, suggesting rising temperatures could shift these relationships.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Climate Science
- Dryland Ecosystems
Background:
- Net primary production (NPP) is a key ecological metric influenced by climate.
- Temporal climate variability within a site can be less impactful than spatial differences.
- Climate sensitivity functions offer a framework to analyze NPP responses to climate mean and variance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how climate mean and variance influence NPP over time using climate sensitivity functions.
- To explore nonlinearities in NPP response to climate variance, particularly at ecosystem transition zones.
- To analyze long-term data from central New Mexico drylands to understand ecosystem-specific climate sensitivities.
Main Methods:
- Utilized climate sensitivity functions to model the relationship between ecological responses (NPP) and climate drivers (aridity index).
- Analyzed long-term ecological data from three distinct dryland ecosystems.
- Examined nonlinearities in climate-NPP relationships to predict effects of climate variance.
Main Results:
- Each of the three studied dryland ecosystems displayed a unique climate sensitivity function.
- These functions correlated with observed long-term vegetation changes at ecosystem ecotones.
- Nonlinear responses indicate that climate variance can have both positive (convex) and negative (concave) effects on NPP.
Conclusions:
- Climate sensitivity functions provide insights into how climate trends affect NPP across different ecosystems.
- Dryland ecosystems exhibit distinct responses to climate variability, influenced by species' physiological thresholds.
- Projected increases in dryland temperatures may alter the balance of precipitation variance effects on primary production.
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