Temperature and vegetation seasonality diminishment over northern lands

• Published in: Nature Climate Change
• Main Authors: Xu, L., Myneni, R. B., Chapin, F. S., III, Callaghan, T. V., Pinzon, J. E., Tucker, C. J., Zhu, Z., Bi, J., Ciais, P., Tommervik, H., Euskirchen, E. S., Forbes, B. C., Piao, S. L., Anderson, B. T., Ganguly, S., Nemani, R. R., Goetz, S. J., Beck, P. S. A., Bunn, A. G., Cao, C., Stroeve, J. C.
• Other Authors: Xu, L (reprint author), Boston Univ, Dept Earth & Environm, Boston, MA 02215 USA., Boston Univ, Dept Earth & Environm, Boston, MA 02215 USA., Univ Alaska Fairbanks, Inst Arctic Biol, Fairbanks, AK 99775 USA., Royal Swedish Acad Sci, S-10405 Stockholm, Sweden., Univ Sheffield, Dept Anim & Plant Sci, Sheffield S10 2TN, S Yorkshire, England., NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Biospher Sci Branch, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA., UVSQ, CNRS, CEA, Lab Sci Climat & Environm, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France., Norwegian Inst Nat Res, Fram High North Res Ctr Climate & Environm, N-9296 Tromso, Norway., Univ Lapland, Arctic Ctr, FI-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland., Peking Univ, Dept Ecol, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, Beijing 100085, Peoples R China., NASA, Ames Res Ctr, Bay Area Environm Res Inst, Moffett Field, CA 94035 USA., NASA, Ames Res Ctr, Adv Supercomp Div, Moffett Field, CA 94035 USA., Woods Hole Res Ctr, Falmouth, MA 02540 USA., Western Washington Univ, Huxley Coll, Dept Environm Sci, Bellingham, WA 98225 USA., Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Remote Sensing & Digital Earth, State Key Lab Remote Sensing Sci, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China., Univ Elect Sci & Technol China, Sch Resource & Environm, Chengdu 611731, Sichuan, Peoples R China., Univ Colorado, Natl Snow & Ice Data Ctr, Boulder, CO 80309 USA.
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: nature climate change 2013
• Subjects: ARCTIC VEGETATION; TUNDRA; ECOSYSTEMS; PLANT; DYNAMICS; Arctic; Tundra
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/391476; https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE1836

Global temperature is increasing, especially over northern lands (>50 degrees N), owing to positive feedbacks(1). As this increase is most pronounced in winter, temperature seasonality (S-T)-conventionally defined as the difference between summer and winter temperatures-is diminishing over time(2), a phenomenon that is analogous to its equatorward decline at an annual scale. The initiation, termination and performance of vegetation photosynthetic activity are tied to threshold temperatures(3). Trends in the timing of these thresholds and cumulative temperatures above them may alter vegetation productivity, or modify vegetation seasonality (S-V), over time. The relationship between S-T and S-V is critically examined here with newly improved ground and satellite data sets. The observed diminishment of S-T and S-V, is equivalent to 4 degrees and 7 degrees (5 degrees and 6 degrees) latitudinal shift equatorward during the past 30 years in the Arctic. (boreal) region. Analysis of simulations from 17 state-of-the-art climate models(4) indicates an additional S-T diminishment equivalent to a 20 equatorward shift could occur this century. How S-V will change in response to such large projected S-T declines and the impact this will have on ecosystem services(5) are not well understood. Hence the need for continued monitoring(6) of northern lands as their seasonal temperature profiles evolve to resemble those further south. http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000321166400019&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701 Environmental Sciences Environmental Studies Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences SCI(E) SSCI 120 ARTICLE 6 581-586 3