Continuous Abrupt Vegetation Shifts in the Global Terrestrial Ecosystem.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Climate Science
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Previous research focused on single abrupt ecosystem shifts.
• Real-world ecosystems experience continuous abrupt shifts (CAS), including different direction shifts (DDS) and same direction shifts (SDS).
• The patterns and drivers of these CAS are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the patterns of DDS and SDS in vegetation dynamics.
• To identify the key climate drivers influencing these shifts.
• To examine hysteresis effects in relation to primary drivers.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of two vegetation datasets to characterize DDS and SDS patterns.
• Testing climate drivers: mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), soil temperature (ST), and soil water content (SW).
• Examination of hysteresis effects using principal driver analysis.

Main Results:

• DDS and SDS patterns exhibit significant regional variations across different climatic zones.
• ST, SW, MAT, and MAP were identified as primary drivers for DDS.
• MAT and MAP were found to be the main drivers for SDS.
• Hysteresis effects were confirmed in relation to DDS.

Conclusions:

• Continuous abrupt shifts (CAS) are widespread in ecosystems globally.
• Climate change plays divergent roles in driving DDS and SDS.
• Understanding these complex shifts is crucial for ecosystem management and climate change adaptation.