Maximum carbon uptake rate dominates the interannual variability of global net ecosystem exchange

Terrestrial ecosystems contribute most of the interannual variability (IAV) in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations, but processes driving the IAV of net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) remain elusive. For a predictive understanding of the global C cycle, it is imperative to identify indicators associated with ecological processes that determine the IAV of NEE. Here, we decompose the annual NEE of global terrestrial ecosystems into their phenological and physiological components, namely maximum carbon uptake (MCU) and release (MCR), the carbon uptake period (CUP), and two parameters, α and β, that describe the ratio between actual versus hypothetical maximum C sink and source, respectively. Using long‐term observed NEE from 66 eddy covariance sites and global products derived from FLUXNET observations, we found that the IAV of NEE is determined predominately by MCU at the global scale, which explains 48% of the IAV of NEE on average while α, CUP, β, and MCR explain 14%, 25%, 2%, and 8%, respectively. These patterns differ in water‐limited ecosystems versus temperature‐ and radiation‐limited ecosystems; 31% of the IAV of NEE is determined by the IAV of CUP in water‐limited ecosystems, and 60% of the IAV of NEE is determined by the IAV of MCU in temperature‐ and radiation‐limited ecosystems. The Lund‐Potsdam‐Jena (LPJ) model and the Multi‐scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Inter‐comparison Project (MsTMIP) models underestimate the contribution of MCU to the IAV of NEE by about 18% on average, and overestimate the contribution of CUP by about 25%. This study provides a new perspective on the proximate causes of the IAV of NEE, which suggest that capturing the variability of MCU is critical for modeling the IAV of NEE across most of the global land surface.     

基于通量塔净生态系统碳交换数据的植被物候遥感识别方法评价

选择北美洲72座通量塔观测的净生态系统碳交换（NEE）数据来计算植被物候,并以此作为参考数据,从可行性和准确性两方面对阈值法、移动平均法和函数拟合法三大类常用的植被物候遥感识别方法进行了综合评价.结果表明： 基于局部中值的阈值法对植被物候识别的可行性和准确性均最优;其次为Logistic函数拟合法中的一阶导数方法;移动平均法对植被物候识别的可行性和准确性与移动窗口的大小有关,对于16 d合成的归一化差值植被指数（NDVI）时间序列数据来说,移动窗口大小为15时能获得较优的结果;而全局阈值法对植被物候识别的可行性和准确性均最差;Logistic函数拟合法中的曲率变化率方法在识别植被物候时虽然与基于NEE数据得到的植被物候在数值上存在较大偏差,但二者之间具有较高的相关性,说明基于曲率变化率方法识别出的植被物候能较真实地反映植被物候在时空上的变化趋势.     

Landscape controls on the timing of spring,autumn, and growing season length in mid‐Atlantic forests

The timing of spring leaf development, trajectories of summer leaf area, and the timing of autumn senescence have profound impacts to the water, carbon, and energy balance of ecosystems, and are likely influenced by global climate change. Limited field‐based and remote‐sensing observations have suggested complex spatial patterns related to geographic features that influence climate. However, much of this variability occurs at spatial scales that inhibit a detailed understanding of even the dominant drivers. Recognizing these limitations, we used nonlinear inverse modeling of medium‐resolution remote sensing data, organized by day of year, to explore the influence of climate‐related landscape factors on the timing of spring and autumn leaf‐area trajectories in mid‐Atlantic, USA forests. We also examined the extent to which declining summer greenness (greendown) degrades the precision and accuracy of observations of autumn offset of greenness. Of the dominant drivers of landscape phenology, elevation was the strongest, explaining up to 70% of the spatial variation in the onset of greenness. Urban land cover was second in importance, influencing spring onset and autumn offset to a distance of 32 km from large cities. Distance to tidal water also influenced phenological timing, but only within ~5 km of shorelines. Additionally, we observed that (i) growing season length unexpectedly increases with increasing elevation at elevations below 275 m; (ii) along gradients in urban land cover, timing of autumn offset has a stronger effect on growing season length than does timing of spring onset; and (iii) summer greendown introduces bias and uncertainty into observations of the autumn offset of greenness. These results demonstrate the power of medium grain analyses of landscape‐scale phenology for understanding environmental controls on growing season length, and predicting how these might be affected by climate change.     

Strong contribution of autumn phenology to changes in satellite‐derived growing season length estimates across Europe (1982–2011)

Land Surface Phenology (LSP) is the most direct representation of intra‐annual dynamics of vegetated land surfaces as observed from satellite imagery. LSP plays a key role in characterizing land‐surface fluxes, and is central to accurately parameterizing terrestrial biosphere–atmosphere interactions, as well as climate models. In this article, we present an evaluation of Pan‐European LSP and its changes over the past 30 years, using the longest continuous record of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) available to date in combination with a landscape‐based aggregation scheme. We used indicators of Start‐Of‐Season, End‐Of‐Season and Growing Season Length (SOS, EOS and GSL, respectively) for the period 1982–2011 to test for temporal trends in activity of terrestrial vegetation and their spatial distribution. We aggregated pixels into ecologically representative spatial units using the European Landscape Classification (LANMAP) and assessed the relative contribution of spring and autumn phenology. GSL increased significantly by 18–24 days decade^?1 over 18–30% of the land area of Europe, depending on methodology. This trend varied extensively within and between climatic zones and landscape classes. The areas of greatest growing‐season lengthening were the Continental and Boreal zones, with hotspots concentrated in southern Fennoscandia, Western Russia and pockets of continental Europe. For the Atlantic and Steppic zones, we found an average shortening of the growing season with hotspots in Western France, the Po valley, and around the Caspian Sea. In many zones, changes in the NDVI‐derived end‐of‐season contributed more to the GSL trend than changes in spring green‐up, resulting in asymmetric trends. This underlines the importance of investigating senescence and its underlying processes more closely as a driver of LSP and global change.     

Phenology shifts at start vs. end of growing season in temperate vegetation over the Northern Hemisphere for the period 1982–2008

Changes in vegetative growing seasons are dominant indicators of the dynamic response of ecosystems to climate change. Therefore, knowledge of growing seasons over the past decades is essential to predict ecosystem changes. In this study, the long‐term changes in the growing seasons of temperate vegetation over the Northern Hemisphere were examined by analyzing satellite‐measured normalized difference vegetation index and reanalysis temperature during 1982–2008. Results showed that the length of the growing season (LOS) increased over the analysis period; however, the role of changes at the start of the growing season (SOS) and at the end of the growing season (EOS) differed depending on the time period. On a hemispheric scale, SOS advanced by 5.2 days in the early period (1982–1999) but advanced by only 0.2 days in the later period (2000–2008). EOS was delayed by 4.3 days in the early period, and it was further delayed by another 2.3 days in the later period. The difference between SOS and EOS in the later period was due to less warming during the preseason (January–April) before SOS compared with the magnitude of warming in the preseason (June–September) before EOS. At a regional scale, delayed EOS in later periods was shown. In North America, EOS was delayed by 8.1 days in the early period and delayed by another 1.3 days in the later period. In Europe, the delayed EOS by 8.2 days was more significant than the advanced SOS by 3.2 days in the later period. However, in East Asia, the overall increase in LOS during the early period was weakened in the later period. Admitting regional heterogeneity, changes in hemispheric features suggest that the longer‐lasting vegetation growth in recent decades can be attributed to extended leaf senescence in autumn rather than earlier spring leaf‐out.     

中国植被生长期的时空变化

基于822个气象站点1951—2017年的日均温度数据,采用世界气象组织给定的植被生长期(GSL)定义,利用Slope、Mann-Kendall和Hurst指数分析中国各省(区)不同时期的GSL变化趋势及相应时期150、200、250、300和350 d的GSL等值线移动速度。结果表明: 研究期间中国北方地区GSL变化显著。GSL增长速度表现为北方快于南方、高海拔快于低海拔。中国大部分地区未来GSL变化趋势与当前的变化趋势相同。北方绝大部分省(区)GSL增长速度在0.1~0.2 d·a^-1,西藏的增速最快,为0.44 d·a^-1。1981—2000年是中国各省(区)GSL变化最显著的时段。除新疆GSL延长是生长期终日(GSE)主导外,其他各省(区)GSL延长总体是生长期始日(GSS)占主导。在高纬度和高海拔省(区),GSL变化对年均温度的变化更敏感。年均温越高的省(区)GSL也普遍越长。1951年以来,中国150、200、250、300和350 d的GSL等值线出现了明显移动,东北地区200 d等值线的移动速度最快,其平均北移速度为6.11 km·a^-1。中国GSL等值线总体移动规律为:等值线数值越大,北移速度越慢。其中,350 d等值线在部分区段甚至出现了南移的情况。中国GSL延长将导致农作物种植边界北移,自然植被生长期延长。该变化对中国农作物的品质、产量和生态系统碳固定的影响还有待深入研究。     

Satellite-based mapping of the growing season and bioclimatic zones in Fennoscandia

Aim  To test whether satellite-derived NDVI values obtained during the growing season as delimited by the onset of phenological phases can be used to map bioclimatically a large region such as Fennoscandia.
Location  Fennoscandia north of about 58° N and neighbouring parts of NW Russia.
Methods  Phenology data on birch from 15 research stations and the half-monthly GIMMS-NDVI data set with 8 × 8 km² resolution from the period 1982–2002 were used to characterize the growing season. To link surface phenology with NDVI data, new algorithms on a pixel-by-pixel basis that show high correlation with phenophases on birch were developed. Then, time-integrated values (TI NDVI) during the phenologically defined growing season were computed to produce a bioclimatological map of Fennoscandia, which was tested and correlated with growing degree days (GDD) obtained from 20 meteorological stations. The map was also compared vs. traditional bioclimatic maps, and analysed for error factors distorting NDVI values.
Results  The correlation between GDD and TI NDVI data during the phenologically defined growing season was very high. Therefore, the TI NDVI map could be presented as a bioclimatic map reflecting GDD. However, several major areas have interfering factors distorting NDVI values, such as the pixel heterogeneity caused by the altitudinal mosaic in western Norway, the mosaic of lakes in southeastern Finland, and the agriculture-dominated areas in southern Fennoscandia.
Main conclusions  TI NDVI data from the phenologically defined growing season during 1982–2002 in Fennoscandia can be processed as a bioclimatic map reflecting GDD, except for the areas distorting NDVI values by their strong ground-cover heterogeneity.     

Pan-Arctic modelling of net ecosystem exchange of CO2

Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of C varies greatly among Arctic ecosystems. Here, we show that approximately 75 per cent of this variation can be accounted for in a single regression model that predicts NEE as a function of leaf area index (LAI), air temperature and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The model was developed in concert with a survey of the light response of NEE in Arctic and subarctic tundras in Alaska, Greenland, Svalbard and Sweden. Model parametrizations based on data collected in one part of the Arctic can be used to predict NEE in other parts of the Arctic with accuracy similar to that of predictions based on data collected in the same site where NEE is predicted. The principal requirement for the dataset is that it should contain a sufficiently wide range of measurements of NEE at both high and low values of LAI, air temperature and PAR, to properly constrain the estimates of model parameters. Canopy N content can also be substituted for leaf area in predicting NEE, with equal or greater accuracy, but substitution of soil temperature for air temperature does not improve predictions. Overall, the results suggest a remarkable convergence in regulation of NEE in diverse ecosystem types throughout the Arctic.     

中国东部温带植被生长季节的空间外推估计

利用地面植物物候和遥感归一化差值植被指数（NDVI）数据,以及一种物候-遥感外推方法,实现植被生长季节从少数站点到较多站点的空间外推。结果表明：（1）在1982～1993年期间,中国东部温带地区植被生长季节多年平均起讫日期的空间格局与春季和秋季平均气温的空间格局相关显著;（2）在不同纬度带和整个研究区域,植被生长季节结束日期呈显著推迟的趋势,而开始日期则呈不显著提前的趋势,这与欧洲和北美地区植被生长季节开始日期显著提前而结束日期不显著推迟的变化趋势完全不同;（3）北部纬度带的植被生长季节平均每年延长1．4～3．6d,全区的植被生长季节平均每年延长1．4d,与同期北半球和欧亚大陆植被生长季节延长的趋势数值相近;（4）植被生长季节结束日期的显著推迟与晚春至夏季的区域性降温有关,而植被生长季节开始日期的不显著提前则与晚冬至春季气温趋势的不稳定变化有关;（5）在年际变化方面,植被生长季节开始和结束日期分别与2～4月份平均气温和5～6月份平均气温呈负相关关系。     

Influence of spring and autumn phenological transitions on forest ecosystem productivity

We use eddy covariance measurements of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) from 21 FLUXNET sites (153 site-years of data) to investigate relationships between phenology and productivity (in terms of both NEP and gross ecosystem photosynthesis, GEP) in temperate and boreal forests. Results are used to evaluate the plausibility of four different conceptual models. Phenological indicators were derived from the eddy covariance time series, and from remote sensing and models. We examine spatial patterns (across sites) and temporal patterns (across years); an important conclusion is that it is likely that neither of these accurately represents how productivity will respond to future phenological shifts resulting from ongoing climate change. In spring and autumn, increased GEP resulting from an ‘extra’ day tends to be offset by concurrent, but smaller, increases in ecosystem respiration, and thus the effect on NEP is still positive. Spring productivity anomalies appear to have carry-over effects that translate to productivity anomalies in the following autumn, but it is not clear that these result directly from phenological anomalies. Finally, the productivity of evergreen needleleaf forests is less sensitive to phenology than is productivity of deciduous broadleaf forests. This has implications for how climate change may drive shifts in competition within mixed-species stands.     

Spatial and temporal variability of the phenological seasons in Germany from 1951 to 1996

Various indications for shifts in plant and animal phenology resulting from climate change have been observed in Europe. This analysis of phenological seasons in Germany of more than four decades (1951–96) has several major advantages: (i) a wide and dense geographical coverage of data from the phenological network of the German Weather Service, (ii) the 16 phenophases analysed cover the whole annual cycle and, moreover, give a direct estimate of the length of the growing season for four deciduous tree species. After intensive data quality checks, two different methods – linear trend analyses and comparison of averages of subintervals – were applied in order to determine shifts in phenological seasons in the last 46 years. Results from both methods were similar and reveal a strong seasonal variation. There are clear advances in the key indicators of earliest and early spring (?0.18 to ?0.23 d y^?1) and notable advances in the succeeding spring phenophases such as leaf unfolding of deciduous trees (?0.16 to ?0.08 d y^?1). However, phenological changes are less strong during autumn (delayed by + 0.03 to + 0.10 d y^?1 on average). In general, the growing season has been lengthened by up to ?0.2 d y^?1 (mean linear trends) and the mean 1974–96 growing season was up to 5 days longer than in the 1951–73 period. The spatial variability of trends was analysed by statistical means and shown in maps, but these did not reveal any substantial regional differences. Although there is a high spatial variability, trends of phenological phases at single locations are mirrored by subsequent phases, but they are not necessarily identical. Results for changes in the biosphere with such a high resolution with respect to time and space can rarely be obtained by other methods such as analyses of satellite data.     

Canopy duration has little influence on annual carbon storage in the deciduous broad leaf forest

Vegetation phenology, the study of the timing and length of the terrestrial growing season and its connection to climate, is increasingly important in integrated Earth system science. Phenological variability is an excellent barometer of short‐ and long‐term climatic variability, strongly influences surface meteorology, and may influence the carbon cycle. Here, using the 1895–1993 Vegetation/Ecosystem Modelling and Analysis dataset and the Biome‐BGC terrestrial ecosystem model, we investigated the relationship between phenological metrics and annual net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon. For the 1167 deciduous broad leaf forest pixels, we found that NEE was extremely weakly related to canopy duration (days from leaf appearance to complete leaf fall). Longer canopy duration, did, however, sequester more carbon if warm season precipitation was above average. Carbon uptake period (number of days with net CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere), which integrates the influence of all ecosystem states and processes, was strongly related to NEE. Results from the Harvard Forest eddy‐covariance site supported our findings. Such dramatically different results from two definitions of ‘growing season length’ highlight the potential for confusion among the many disciplines engaged in phenological research.     

The influence of meteorology and phenology on net ecosystem exchange in an eastern Siberian boreal larch forest

Aims Boreal forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Compared with the boreal forests in North America and Europe, relatively few research studies have been conducted in Siberian boreal forests. Knowledge related to the role of Siberian forests in the global carbon balance is thus essential for a full understanding of global carbon cycle.Methods This study investigated the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) during growing season (May–September) in an eastern Siberian boreal larch forest for a 3-year period in 2004–2006 with contrasting meteorological conditions.Important findings The study found that the forest served as a carbon sink during all of the 3 studied years; in addition, the meteorological conditions essentially influenced the specific annual value of the strength of the carbon sinks in each year. Although 2005 was the warmest year and much wetter than 2004, 2005 also featured the greatest amount of ecosystem respiration, which resulted in a minimum value of NEE. The study also found that the phenological changes observed during the three study years had a relatively small effect on annual NEE. Leaf expansion was 26 days earlier in 2005 than in the other 2 years, which resulted in a longer growing season in 2005. However, the NEE in 2005 was counterbalanced by the large rate of ecosystem respiration that was caused by the higher temperatures in the year. This study showed that meteorological variables had larger influences on the interannual variations in NEE for a Siberian boreal larch forest, as compared with phenological changes. The overall results of this study will improve our understanding of the carbon balance of Siberian boreal larch forests and thus can help to forecast the response of these forests to future climate change.     

Radiation-constrained boundaries cause nonuniform responses of the carbon uptake phenology to climatic warming in the Northern Hemisphere

Climatic warming has lengthened the photosynthetically active season in recent decades, thus affecting the functioning and biogeochemistry of ecosystems, the global carbon cycle and climate. Temperature response of carbon uptake phenology varies spatially and temporally, even within species, and daily total intensity of radiation may play a role. We empirically modelled the thresholds of temperature and radiation under which daily carbon uptake is constrained in the temperate and cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere, which include temperate forests, boreal forests, alpine and tundra biomes. The two-dimensionality of the temperature-radiation constraint was reduced to one single variable, θ, which represents the angle in a polar coordinate system for the temperature-radiation observations during the start and end of the growing season. We found that radiation will constrain the trend towards longer growing seasons with future warming but differently during the start and end of season and depending on the biome type and region. We revealed that radiation is a major factor limiting photosynthetic activity that constrains the phenology response to temperature during the end-of-season. In contrast, the start of the carbon uptake is overall highly sensitive to temperature but not constrained by radiation at the hemispheric scale. This study thus revealed that while at the end-of-season the phenology response to warming is constrained at the hemispheric scale, at the start-of-season the advance of spring onset may continue, even if it is at a slower pace.     

Extension of the growing season due to delayed autumn over mid and high latitudes in North America during 1982–2006

Aim We intend to characterize and understand the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation phenology shifts in North America during the period 1982–2006. Location North America. Methods A piecewise logistic model is used to extract phenological metrics from a time‐series data set of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). An extensive comparison between satellite‐derived phenological metrics and ground‐based phenology observations for 14,179 records of 73 plant species at 802 sites across North America is made to evaluate the information about phenology shifts obtained in this study. Results The spatial pattern of vegetation phenology shows a strong dependence on latitude but a substantial variation along the longitudinal gradient. A delayed dormancy onset date (0.551 days year^?1, P= 0.013) and an extended growing season length (0.683 days year^?1, P= 0.011) are found over the mid and high latitudes in North America during 1982–2006, while no significant trends in greenup onset are observed. The delayed dormancy onset date and extended growing season length are mainly found in the shrubland biome. An extensive validation indicates a strong robustness of the satellite‐derived phenology information. Main conclusions It is the delayed dormancy onset date, rather than an advanced greenup onset date, that has contributed to the prolonged length of the growing season over the mid and high latitudes in North America during recent decades. Shrublands contribute the most to the delayed dormancy onset date and the extended growing season length. This shift of vegetation phenology implies that vegetation activity in North America has been altered by climatic change, which may further affect ecosystem structure and function in the continent.     

辐射变化对中亚热带杉木人工林净CO2交换的影响

太阳总辐射是影响森林生态系统碳交换的重要因子.为认识辐射变化对杉木人工林碳交换的影响,本研究利用开路式涡度相关系统和气象梯度观测系统测得的CO2通量和气象因子长期定位监测数据,用晴空指数(kt)表示太阳辐射情况,分析了kt对中亚热带杉木人工林生长季(4-10月)净C02交换(NEE)的影响.结果 表明:晴天时的太阳总辐...     

Effects of experimental warming on net ecosystem CO2 exchange in Northern Xizang alpine meadow

AimsGlobal warming could have profound effects on ecosystem carbon (C) fluxes in alpine ecosystems. The aim of our study is to examine the effects of gradient warming on net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE).MethodsIn the Northern Tibetan Grassland Ecosystem Research Station (Nagqu station), Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, we conducted various levels of temperature increasing experiments (i.e., 2 °C and 4 °C increments). The warming was achieved using open-top chambers (OTCs). In total, there were three levels of temperature treatments (control, 2 °C and 4 °C increment), and four replicates for each treatment. The ecosystem NEE was monitored every five days during the growing season in 2015.Important findings Our findings highlight the importance of soil moisture in mediating the responses of NEE to climatic warming in alpine meadow ecosystem. The 4 °C warming significantly stimulated NEE,except for July measurements. The 2 °C warming had no effects on NEE during the growing season. Compared to the 2 °C warming, the 4 °C warming significantly stimulated NEE. The results showed that our targeted ecosystem acts as a carbon sink under 2 °C warming, whereas will act as a net carbon source under 4 °C warming in the future. This study provides basic data and theoretical basis for evaluating the alpine ecosystem’s responses to climate change.     

Impact of severe dry season on net ecosystem exchange in the Neotropical rainforest of French Guiana

The lack of information on the ways seasonal drought modifies the CO₂ exchange between Neotropical rainforest ecosystems and the atmosphere and the resulting carbon balance hinders our ability to precisely predict how these ecosystems will respond as global environmental changes force them to face increasingly contrasting conditions in the future. To address this issue, seasonal variations in daily net ecosystem productivity (NEP_d) and two main components of this productivity, daily total ecosystem respiration (R_Ed) and daily gross ecosystem productivity (GEP_d), were estimated over 2 years at a flux tower site in French Guiana, South America (5 °16′54″N, 52 °54′44″W). We compared seasonal variations between wet and dry periods and between dry periods of contrasting levels of intensity (i.e. mild vs. severe) during equivalent 93‐day periods. During the wet periods, the ecosystem was almost in balance with the atmosphere (storage of 9.0 g C m^?2). Seasonal dry periods, regardless of their severity, are associated with higher incident radiation and lower R_Ed combined with reduced soil respiration associated with low soil water availability. During the mild dry period, as is normally the case in this region, the amount of carbon stored in the ecosystem was 32.7 g C m^?2. Severe drought conditions resulted in even lower R_Ed, whereas the photosynthetic activity was only moderately reduced and no change in canopy structure was observed. Thus, the severe dry period was characterized by greater carbon storage (64.6 g C m^?2), emphasizing that environmental conditions, such as during a severe drought, modify the CO₂ exchange between Neotropical rainforest ecosystems and the atmosphere and potentially the resulting carbon balance.