Evidence for a weakening relationship between interannual temperature variability and northern vegetation activity

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Piao, Shilong, Nan, Huijuan, Huntingford, Chris, Ciais, Philippe, Friedlingstein, Pierre, Sitch, Stephen, Peng, Shushi, Ahlstrom, Anders, Canadell, Josep G., Cong, Nan, Levis, Sam, Levy, Peter E., Liu, Lingli, Lomas, Mark R., Mao, Jiafu, Myneni, Ranga B., Peylin, Philippe, Poulter, Ben, Shi, Xiaoying, Yin, Guodong, Viovy, Nicolas, Wang, Tao, Wang, Xuhui, Zaehle, Soenke, Zeng, Ning, Zeng, Zhenzhong, Chen, Anping
• Other Authors: Piao, SL (reprint author), Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, Key Lab Alpine Ecol & Biodivers, Beijing 100085, Peoples R China., Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, Key Lab Alpine Ecol & Biodivers, Beijing 100085, Peoples R China., Peking Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Sino French Inst Earth Syst Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Chinese Acad Sci, CAS Ctr Excellence Tibetan Plateau Earth Sci, Beijing 100085, Peoples R China., Ctr Ecol & Hydrol, Wallingford OX10 8BB, Oxon, England., UVSQ, CNRS, CEA, Lab Sci Climat & Environn, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France., Univ Exeter, Coll Engn Comp & Math, Exeter EX4 4QF, Devon, England., Univ Exeter, Coll Life & Environm Sci, Exeter EX4 4RJ, Devon, England., Lund Univ, Dept Earth & Ecosyst Sci, SE-22362 Lund, Sweden., CSIRO, Ocean & Atmospher Flagship, Global Carbon Project, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia., Natl Ctr Atmospher Res, Boulder, CO 80301 USA., Ctr Ecol & Hydrol, Penicuik EH26 0QB, Midlothian, Scotland., Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Bot, State Key Lab Vegetat & Environm Change, Beijing 100093, Peoples R China., Univ Sheffield, Dept Anim & Plant Sci, Sheffield S10 2TN, S Yorkshire, England., Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Climate Change Sci Inst, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA., Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Div Environm Sci, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA., Boston Univ, Dept Geog & Environm, Boston, MA 02215 USA., Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, D-07701 Jena, Germany., Univ Maryland, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, College Pk, MD 20740 USA., Princeton Univ, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA.
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: nature communications 2014
• Subjects: NET PRIMARY PRODUCTION; CARBON-DIOXIDE; CLIMATE; CO2; ACCLIMATION; ADAPTATION; ECOSYSTEMS; DROUGHT; TRENDS; GROWTH; Arctic; Tundra
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/322080; https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6018

Satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a proxy of vegetation productivity, is known to be correlated with temperature in northern ecosystems. This relationship, however, may change over time following alternations in other environmental factors. Here we show that above 30 degrees N, the strength of the relationship between the interannual variability of growing season NDVI and temperature (partial correlation coefficient RNDV-GT) declined substantially between 1982 and 2011. This decrease in RNDVI-GT is mainly observed in temperate and arctic ecosystems, and is also partly reproduced by process-based ecosystem model results. In the temperate ecosystem, the decrease in RNDVI-GT coincides with an increase in drought. In the arctic ecosystem, it may be related to a nonlinear response of photosynthesis to temperature, increase of hot extreme days and shrub expansion over grass-dominated tundra. Our results caution the use of results from interannual time scales to constrain the decadal response of plants to ongoing warming. http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000343935000001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701 Multidisciplinary Sciences SCI(E) PubMed 45 ARTICLE [e-mail] 5018 5