Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands
- Author(s)
- Shilong Piao, Zhuo Liu, Tao Wang, Shushi Peng, Philippe Ciais, Mengtian Huang, Anders Ahlstrom, John F. Burkhart, Frédéric Chevallier, Ivan A. Janssens, Su Jong Jeong, Xin Lin, Jiafu Mao, John Miller, Anwar Mohammat, Ranga B. Myneni, Josep Peñuelas, Xiaoying Shi, Andreas Stohl, Yitong Yao, Zaichun Zhu, Pieter P. Tans
- Abstract
Ongoing spring warming allows the growing season to begin earlier, enhancing carbon uptake in northern ecosystems. Here we use 34 years of atmospheric CO 2 concentration measurements at Barrow, Alaska (BRW, 71° N) to show that the interannual relationship between spring temperature and carbon uptake has recently shifted. We use two indicators: the spring zero-crossing date of atmospheric CO 2 (SZC) and the magnitude of CO 2 drawdown between May and June (SCC). The previously reported strong correlation between SZC, SCC and spring land temperature (ST) was found in the first 17 years of measurements, but disappeared in the last 17 years. As a result, the sensitivity of both SZC and SCC to warming decreased. Simulations with an atmospheric transport model coupled to a terrestrial ecosystem model suggest that the weakened interannual correlation of SZC and SCC with ST in the last 17 years is attributable to the declining temperature response of spring net primary productivity (NPP) rather than to changes in heterotrophic respiration or in atmospheric transport patterns. Reduced chilling during dormancy and emerging light limitation are possible mechanisms that may have contributed to the loss of NPP response to ST. Our results thus challenge the â € warmer spring-bigger sink' mechanism.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Meteorology and Geophysics
- External organisation(s)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Stanford University, University of Oslo, University of Antwerp, Southern University of Science and Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory , James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boston University, Centro de Investigacion Ecologica y Aplicaciones Forestales (CREAF), CSIC - Real Jardin Botanico (RJB), Norwegian Institute for Air Research
- Journal
- Nature Climate Change
- Volume
- 7
- Pages
- 359-363
- No. of pages
- 5
- ISSN
- 1758-678X
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3277
- Publication date
- 05-2017
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105206 Meteorology
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous), Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 15 - Life on Land
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/d9b6bf29-a628-4479-9eff-009df4989665