Effects of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle: concepts,processes and potential future impacts |
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| Authors: | Dorothea Frank Markus Reichstein Michael Bahn Kirsten Thonicke David Frank Miguel D. Mahecha Pete Smith Marijn van der Velde Sara Vicca Flurin Babst Christian Beer Nina Buchmann Josep G. Canadell Philippe Ciais Wolfgang Cramer Andreas Ibrom Franco Miglietta Ben Poulter Anja Rammig Sonia I. Seneviratne Ariane Walz Martin Wattenbach Miguel A. Zavala Jakob Zscheischler |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany;2. Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria;3. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) e.V., Potsdam, Germany;4. Berlin‐Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany;5. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland;6. Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;7. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK;8. Ecosystems Services and Management Program, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria;9. Research Group of Plant and Vegetation Ecology, Biology Department, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium;10. Laboratory of Tree‐Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA;11. Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;12. ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;13. Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Canberra, ACT, Australia;14. IPSL – Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement CEA‐CNRS‐UVSQ, Gif sur Yvette, France;15. Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Avignon Université, Aix‐en‐Provence, France;16. Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Roskilde, Denmark;17. IBIMET‐CNR, Firenze, Italy;18. FoxLab, Fondazione E.Mach, San Michele a/Adige, Trento, Italy;19. Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany;20. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre For Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;21. Forest Ecology and Restoration Group, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Extreme droughts, heat waves, frosts, precipitation, wind storms and other climate extremes may impact the structure, composition and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, and thus carbon cycling and its feedbacks to the climate system. Yet, the interconnected avenues through which climate extremes drive ecological and physiological processes and alter the carbon balance are poorly understood. Here, we review the literature on carbon cycle relevant responses of ecosystems to extreme climatic events. Given that impacts of climate extremes are considered disturbances, we assume the respective general disturbance‐induced mechanisms and processes to also operate in an extreme context. The paucity of well‐defined studies currently renders a quantitative meta‐analysis impossible, but permits us to develop a deductive framework for identifying the main mechanisms (and coupling thereof) through which climate extremes may act on the carbon cycle. We find that ecosystem responses can exceed the duration of the climate impacts via lagged effects on the carbon cycle. The expected regional impacts of future climate extremes will depend on changes in the probability and severity of their occurrence, on the compound effects and timing of different climate extremes, and on the vulnerability of each land‐cover type modulated by management. Although processes and sensitivities differ among biomes, based on expert opinion, we expect forests to exhibit the largest net effect of extremes due to their large carbon pools and fluxes, potentially large indirect and lagged impacts, and long recovery time to regain previous stocks. At the global scale, we presume that droughts have the strongest and most widespread effects on terrestrial carbon cycling. Comparing impacts of climate extremes identified via remote sensing vs. ground‐based observational case studies reveals that many regions in the (sub‐)tropics are understudied. Hence, regional investigations are needed to allow a global upscaling of the impacts of climate extremes on global carbon–climate feedbacks. |
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| Keywords: | carbon cycle climate change climate extremes climate variability disturbance terrestrial ecosystems |
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