Spatial and Temporal Effects of Wind Speed on Global Vegetation Growth

Abstract

Wind effects on vegetation growth have not been examined at the global scale. In this work, the spatial and temporal effects of wind speed on global Solar-induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) and Gross Primary Production (GPP) were analyzed. The results show: (1) Spatially, wind has almost the same area percentage (about 12%) of positive influence on SIF (GPP) no matter SIF (GPP) changes or not. Wind itself explains the negative impact more than it does the positive impact. (2) Temporally, there is significant increase in the area percentage (0%~3.9% each year) and magnitude of positive wind effects on SIF and GPP globally for most of vegetation types from 2001 to 2018. (3) Based on SIF and GPP, different types of vegetations enjoy different level of optimal wind speeds. This work provides an overall picture of wind speed effects on vegetation growth globally, and are important for understanding sustainability while climate changes.