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Warming homogenizes apparent temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration
Ben Niu1,2, Xianzhou Zhang3,4, Shilong Piao5,6
1Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Science Advances
|April 10, 2021
Summary
Future warming may reduce terrestrial ecosystem carbon loss. The temperature sensitivity of respiration (Q10) is expected to homogenize globally, potentially lessening previously assumed carbon release from soils.
Area of Science:
- Earth System Science
- Ecology
- Climate Science
Background:
- Terrestrial ecosystem respiration (Re) releases carbon, influenced by temperature sensitivity (Q10).
- High latitudes experience rapid warming, potentially increasing Re and Q10.
- The temporal stability of Q10-temperature relationships under future warming is uncertain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the spatial relationship between Q10 and temperature holds temporally.
- To predict how Q10 variability will change under future climate scenarios.
- To re-evaluate potential warming-induced carbon loss from terrestrial ecosystems.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of apparent Q10 values from 74 FLUXNET sites.
- Comparison with a meta-analysis of 54 global warming experiments.
- Modeling future Q10 homogenization under RCP 8.5 emissions.
Main Results:
- Warming-induced decline in Q10 is more pronounced in colder regions.
- Global Q10 variability is predicted to decrease significantly by the end of the century.
- An average Q10 of 1.44 is projected globally under a high emission scenario.
Conclusions:
- The spatial relationship between Q10 and temperature appears to hold temporally.
- Future warming is likely to homogenize Q10 values across diverse global ecosystems.
- Warming-induced carbon loss from terrestrial ecosystems may be less than previously estimated due to Q10 homogenization.
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