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Significant sensitivity of global vegetation productivity to terrestrial surface wind speed changes
Haohao Wu1, Congsheng Fu2, Lingling Zhang3
1Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
Nature Communications
|October 21, 2025
Summary
Terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is negatively impacted by declining wind speeds, which reduce stomatal conductance. This wind speed decline is a significant factor in GPP trends, especially for grasslands.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Climate Science
- Biogeochemistry
Background:
- Decadal changes in terrestrial surface wind speed are documented, but their impact on ecosystem productivity is unclear.
- Understanding the mechanism linking wind speed changes to terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is crucial for predicting carbon dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically explore the impacts of wind speed changes on terrestrial GPP.
- To quantify the contribution of wind speed decline to GPP trends and project future impacts.
Main Methods:
- Utilized satellite-derived data, reanalysis datasets, flux tower observations, and CMIP6 models.
- Conducted exploratory simulation experiments to analyze GPP sensitivity to wind speed variations.
- Investigated impacts across different plant functional types and time periods (1983-2100).
Main Results:
- Terrestrial GPP shows a negative sensitivity to wind speed changes, with values ranging from -156.67 to -65.82 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ (m s⁻¹)⁻¹.
- Wind speed decline impacts GPP primarily by reducing stomatal conductance through decreased atmospheric and soil dryness.
- Wind speed decline was the second most important factor after rising CO2 for the GPP increase from 1983-2010 (6.0%-7.8%) and is projected to remain significant.
Conclusions:
- Wind speed changes have substantial effects on centennial-scale global carbon dynamics.
- Grasslands are most affected by wind-induced GPP changes under current and future climates.
- Future declines in wind speed will continue to influence GPP trends, highlighting the importance of this factor in ecosystem productivity.
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