Vegetation browning: global drivers, impacts, and feedbacks

Qiu-yu, Liu; Peng, Changhui; Schneider, Robert; Cyr, Dominic; Liu, Zelin; Zhou, Xiaolu; Du, Mingxi; Jiang, Zihan; McDowell, Nate G.; Kneeshaw, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2023.03.024

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 179 publications

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“…Vegetation plays a critical role as a core component of terrestrial ecosystems and is vital in nature (Parmesan & Yohe, 2003;Yang et al, 2021). It serves as not only a link between soil, water bodies, and the atmosphere (Liu, Peng, et al, 2023), but also an important indicator of global climate change through carbon cycling (Bégué et al, 2011;Wen et al, 2017). Consequently, monitoring vegetation dynamics and its response to environmental evolution have been the focal points of global change research (e.g., Duarte et al, 2013;Zeng et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring long‐term vegetation dynamics over the Yangtze River Basin, China, using multi‐temporal remote sensing data

Fu,

Liu,

Qin

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

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Vegetation plays a crucial role in nature, with intricate interactions between it and the geographical environment. The Yangtze River Basin (YRB) refers to the third largest river basin globally and an essential ecological security barrier in China. Monitoring vegetation dynamics in the basin is of profound significance for addressing climate change, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss in the basin's ecosystems. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal variations of vegetation at both the basin and land cover scales in the YRB from 2000 to 2020. We elucidate the determinants driving the changes and explore future normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) trends. The results indicate that NDVI in the YRB increased at a rate of 0.0032 year−1 (p < 0.01) over the past 21 years, and it is anticipated to maintain an upward trend in the future. Regions in the upper and middle reaches of the YRB demonstrated higher NDVI, whereas regions in the headwater area and the lower reaches showed lower NDVI. Significant vegetation improvement was primarily concentrated in the central part of the basin, while noticeable vegetation degradation was observed in the eastern region. Temperature and wind speed were identified as the primary controlling factors affecting vegetation greenness. Global‐scale climate oscillations played a significant role in driving periodic variations in NDVI, with La Niña events tending to increase NDVI, while El Niño events hindered its rise. Land cover types were influenced by long‐term interactions between natural factors and human activities, although short‐term vegetation variations might be more affected by the latter. Our findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms behind vegetation variability driven by multiple variables, and the strong vegetation carbon sink capacity advances the conservation and development of ecosystems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring long‐term vegetation dynamics over the Yangtze River Basin, China, using multi‐temporal remote sensing data

Fu,

Liu,

Qin

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

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“…The number of tree mortality and forest decline events have increased worldwide over the last decades (Allen et al, 2015;Hammond et al, 2022), with accelerating rates being associated to climate change (McDowell et al, 2022;Parmesan et al, 2022). These decline pattens have global implications in the current climate change context as they negatively affect the global land carbon sink (Clark et al, 2010;Haberstroh et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2023). Although the primary physiological mechanisms behind tree mortality are related to water and heat stress (Allen et al, 2010(Allen et al, , 2015, climate extremes can also amplify the occurrence and impact of other disturbance drivers, such as wildfires and pathogen outbreaks (Brando et al, 2014;Gea-Izquierdo et al, 2021;Seidl et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topography modulates climate sensitivity of multidecadal trends of holm oak decline

López‐Ballesteros

Rodríguez‐Caballero

Moreno

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Forest decline events have increased worldwide over the last decades, being holm oak one of the tree species with the most worrying trends across Europe. Previous research identified drought and soil pathogens as the main causes behind holm oak decline. However, despite tree health loss is a multifactorial phenomenon where abiotic and biotic factors interact in time and space, there are some abiotic factors whose influence has been commonly overlooked. Here, we evaluate how land use (forests versus savannas), topography, and climate extremes jointly relate to spatiotemporal patterns of holm oak defoliation over almost three decades (1987-2014) in Spain, where holm oak represents the 25% of the national forested area. We found an increasing defoliation trend in 119 of the total 134 holm oak plots evaluated, being this increase rate significantly higher in forests compared to savannas. Moreover, we have detected that the interaction between topography and summer drought can explain trends of holm oak decline across the Mediterranean region. While a higher occurrence of dry summers increases defoliation trends in complex terrains where forests dominate, an inverse relationship was found at flatter terrains where savannas are located. Our results contribute to growing evidence of the influence of local topography, tightly linked to potential soil water availability, on forest functioning, as it can shape forest vulnerability against climate extremes. The present work could assist the identification of potential tree decline hotspots over the Mediterranean region. Moreover, our findings suggest that forest adaptive management will be key to guarantee the health and future stability of Mediterranean oak ecosystems, especially in the topographically more complex areas where tree vulnerability to climate extremes may be greater.

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“…Climate change has potentially large consequence for ecosystem composition and structure (Allen et al, 2010;Aleixo et al, 2019;Zhao et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2023), thereby affecting local and global net carbon balances (Reichstein et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2022). However, demographic changes are critical for understanding forest carbon balance and its response to interannual climatic variations (Lewis et al, 2009;Pan et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2016;Luo et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change reshapes plant trait spectrum to explain biomass dynamics in an old-growth subtropical forest

Wu,

Xiong,

González-M

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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Climate change leads to novel species interactions and continues to reshuffle ecological communities, which significantly declines carbon accumulation rates in mature forests. Still, little is known about the potential influence of multiple global change factors on long-term biomass dynamics and functional trait combinations. We used temporal demographic records spanning 26 years and extensive databases of functional traits to assess how old-growth subtropical forest biomass dynamics respond to various climatic change scenarios (extreme drought, subsequent drought, warming, elevated CO2 concentrations, and windstorm). We found that the initial severe drought, subsequent drought and windstorm events increased biomass loss due to tree mortality, which exceeded the biomass gain produced by survivors and recruits, ultimately resulting in more negative net biomass balances. These drought and windstorm events caused massive biomass loss due to tree mortality that tended towards acquisition species with high hydraulic efficiency, whereas biomass growth from survivors and recruits tended to consist of acquisition species with high hydraulic safety. Compensatory growth in this natural forest provided good explanation for the increase in biomass growth after drought and windstorm events. Notably, these dominant-species transitions reduced carbon storage and residence time, forming a positive carbon-climate feedback loop. Our findings suggest that climate changes could alter functional strategies and cause shifts in new dominant species, which could greatly reduce ecological functions and carbon gains of old-growth subtropical forests.

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Vegetation browning: global drivers, impacts, and feedbacks

Cited by 12 publications

References 179 publications

Monitoring long‐term vegetation dynamics over the Yangtze River Basin, China, using multi‐temporal remote sensing data

Monitoring long‐term vegetation dynamics over the Yangtze River Basin, China, using multi‐temporal remote sensing data

Topography modulates climate sensitivity of multidecadal trends of holm oak decline

Climate change reshapes plant trait spectrum to explain biomass dynamics in an old-growth subtropical forest

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