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Published on: November 21, 2015
Drylands contribute disproportionately to observed global productivity increases
Shuai Wang1, Bojie Fu2, Fangli Wei3
1State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Drylands significantly boost global plant productivity, contributing more to increased gross primary productivity (GPP) than to greening. This enhanced light-use efficiency (LUE) is primarily driven by soil moisture, not vapor pressure deficit.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Global Change Biology
- Remote Sensing
Background:
- Drylands cover 40% of Earth's land surface and are highly sensitive to climate change.
- Understanding dryland contributions to global vegetation greening and productivity is crucial but remains poorly quantified.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the contributions of drylands to global vegetation greening and gross primary productivity (GPP) increase from 1982-2015.
- To investigate the underlying mechanisms, specifically light-use efficiency (LUE), and the influence of environmental factors like soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit (VPD).
Main Methods:
- Integration of satellite-derived vegetation data and advanced biosphere modeling.
- Analysis of trends in global vegetation greening and GPP.
- Assessment of the sensitivity of LUE to soil moisture and VPD in different biomes.
Main Results:
- Drylands accounted for 65% ± 16% of the global GPP increase, exceeding their contribution to greening (33% ± 15%) between 1982-2015.
- Enhanced light-use efficiency (LUE) was the primary driver for increased productivity in drylands.
- LUE in drylands showed higher sensitivity to soil moisture, whereas in humid areas, it was more sensitive to atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD).
Conclusions:
- Drylands play a pivotal role in controlling the global carbon cycle and mitigating climate change impacts.
- Different moisture stress metrics are essential for accurately projecting vegetation productivity changes in dry versus humid regions.
- The findings underscore the importance of considering dryland dynamics in global climate and carbon cycle models.
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