Responses of Forest Carbon Cycle to Drought and Elevated CO2

Forests play a pivotal role in mitigating global warming as an important carbon sink. Recent global greening trends reflect a positive influence of elevated atmospheric CO2 on terrestrial carbon uptake. However, increasingly frequent and intense drought events endanger the carbon sequestration function of forests. This review integrates previous studies across scales to identify potential global trends in forest responses to drought and elevated CO2 as well as to identify data needs in this important research field. The inconsistent responses of ecosystem respiration to drought contributes to the change of forest net CO2 exchange, which depends on the balance of opposite effects of warming and water stress on respiration. Whether CO2 fertilization can offset the effects of drought remains controversial, however, we found a potential overestimation of global CO2 fertilization effects because of increasing water stress and other limitations such as light and nutrients (N, P) as well as the possibility of photosynthetic acclimation.

Automated summary

Forests play a crucial role in mitigating global warming as a vital carbon sink, but the increasing frequency of drought events may jeopardize the carbon sequestration function of forests. The inconsistent responses of ecosystem respiration to drought can alter forest net CO2 exchange, which relies on the balance between the warming and water stress effects on respiration.