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Related Concept Videos

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

A CO2 Concentration Gradient Facility for Testing CO2 Enrichment and Soil Effects on Grassland Ecosystem Function
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Global Vegetation Greening Is Exacerbating Soil Dryness.

Zhuoran Qu1,2,3,4, Xiaoyan Li2,3, Josep Peñuelas4,5,6

  • 1Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disasters of Chinese Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

Global Change Biology
|May 8, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Global vegetation greening is worsening soil dryness, leading to intensified droughts and drying trends. This effect is significant and growing, impacting water resources and climate change adaptation efforts.

Keywords:
Earth system modelscausal analysisdrought eventglobal vegetation greeningsoil dryingtemporal trendvegetation–soil feedback

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Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Climate Science
  • Hydrology

Background:

  • Global vegetation greenness and soil dryness have increased concurrently in recent decades.
  • While soil dryness impacts on vegetation are known, the reverse effect of greening on soil dryness is poorly understood.
  • This knowledge gap hinders accurate prediction of water resource crises and climate change adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effects of vegetation greenness on soil drought (ESD) and soil moisture trends (EST) globally from 1982 to 2020.
  • To quantify the extent to which vegetation greening exacerbates soil dryness.
  • To assess the role of vegetation greenness compared to precipitation and temperature in driving soil dryness.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of satellite-derived vegetation greenness data from 1982 to 2020.
  • Quantification of vegetation greenness's effect on soil drought (ESD) and soil moisture trends (EST).
  • Comparison of vegetation's impact with those of precipitation and temperature across different aridity gradients.

Main Results:

  • Vegetation greenness negatively impacts soil drought (ESD) in 71% and soil moisture trends (EST) in 59% of vegetated areas.
  • These effects are most pronounced in semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones.
  • Vegetation's influence on ESD and EST exceeds that of precipitation and temperature in a significant proportion of regions.
  • Negative ESD and EST have intensified over time, driven by increased transpiration.
  • Earth system models show limitations in simulating these vegetation-driven soil dryness effects.

Conclusions:

  • Global vegetation greening significantly exacerbates soil dryness, posing risks to water resources.
  • The impact of vegetation greenness on soil moisture trends is intensifying, necessitating updated climate models.
  • Sustainable ecological management is crucial to mitigate hydrological risks associated with global greening.