Article
Environmental Sciences
So-Won Park, Jong-Seong Kug
Summary: Negative emissions are important for achieving the goals of the Paris agreement, but their impact on the terrestrial carbon cycle is uncertain. This study found that the response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to CO2 forcing is delayed, with the greatest lag observed in high latitudes due to long carbon residence time and enhanced vegetation productivity. Additionally, in the pan-Arctic region, permafrost processes play a crucial role in terrestrial carbon dynamics under negative emissions.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Jiaqi Zhang, Xiangjin Shen, Yanji Wang, Ming Jiang, Xianguo Lu
Summary: The area and vegetation coverage of forests in Changbai Mountain of China have increased in recent years, leading to a cooling effect on the summer temperature mainly by increasing latent heat flux.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Remus Pravalie, Igor Sirodoev, Ion-Andrei Nita, Cristian Patriche, Monica Dumitrascu, Bogdan Rosca, Adrian Tiscovschi, Georgeta Bandoc, Ionut Savulescu, Valentina Manoiu, Marius-Victor Birsan
Summary: This study analyzed recent ecological changes in forests across Romania in relation to climate dynamics. The results showed a general greening trend in forests nationally, particularly in the Carpathians region, while a browning trend was found in the Extra-Carpathians region. The analysis also suggested that warming in the Carpathians may be driving the forest greening, while increased evapotranspiration may contribute to forest browning in lowland areas.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Gbenga Abayomi Afuye, Ahmed Mukalazi Kalumba, Emmanuel Tolulope Busayo, Israel Ropo Orimoloye
Summary: The study used bibliometrics to assess global research on vegetation response to climate change, revealing China's dominance in the field. Most studies on VRCC were supported by single-country publications, with relatively fewer articles from multi-country collaborations.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Jonas Hinze, Axel Albrecht, Hans-Gerhard Michiels
Summary: Climate change will impact the site conditions for European vegetation, leading to shifts in the potential distribution of species and habitats. A multiclass model was used to predict future vegetation potentials based on current climate data and projections for 2061-2080. The results suggest significant changes in vegetation potentials across Europe, with boreal forests losing potential area and Mediterranean forests and steppes expanding. The predicted alterations in vegetation potentials have important implications for nature conservation strategies and forest management.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Xiangjin Shen, Binhui Liu, Mark Henderson, Lei Wang, Ming Jiang, Xianguo Lu
Summary: Changes in vegetation activity and phenology have significant impacts on climate, especially in temperate grasslands. The increasing vegetation activity and extended growing seasons in the temperate grasslands of China contribute to regional warming, highlighting the importance of considering these factors in climate models.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Roman J. Dial, Colin T. Maher, Rebecca E. Hewitt, Patrick F. Sullivan
Summary: Through studying a population of white spruce in the Arctic region, it has been discovered that they are expanding at unprecedented rates in areas far from established treelines. This expansion is facilitated by surpassing temperature thresholds, winter winds for long-distance dispersal, deeper snowpack, and increased soil nutrient availability. These observations provide important insights for forecast modeling and understanding the conversion of biomes.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mohd Zeeshan, Zhou Wenjun, Wu Chuansheng, Lin Yan, P. A. Azeez, Song Qinghai, Liu Yuntong, Zhang Yiping, Lu Zhiyun, Sha Liqing
Summary: One-third of terrestrial carbon is stored in tropical soils. The response of soil heterotrophic respiration to temperature and soil water content varies across different altitudes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Haijiang Zhao, Ning Jin, Xiurong Wang, Guiqin Fu, Kunlun Xiang, Liang Wang, Jie Zhao
Summary: This study evaluates the temporal trends of the relationships between temperature factors (T-mean and DTR) and vegetation activity in the boreal regions. The results show a significant decreasing trend in the correlation between growing season NDVI and T-mean over the past 34 years. The correlation between NDVI and DTR exhibits similar temporal trend characteristics.
Article
Ecology
Oluwabunmi J. Akande, Zilong Ma, Chenyan Huang, Fangliang He, Scott X. Chang
Summary: Based on 1240 observations from 380 studies, the effects of disturbance regimes on forest soil CO2 efflux (FCO2) were quantified across various forest biomes. Climatic perturbations such as elevated CO2 concentration, warming, and increased precipitation were found to increase FCO2 by 13% to 25%. Forest conversion to grassland and elevated carbon input by forest management practices increased FCO2, while decreased carbon input, fire, and acid rain reduced FCO2. Disturbance also affected soil temperature and water content, which influenced the direction and magnitude of the disturbance effects on FCO2. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating disturbance and biome-specific effects into earth system models for better prediction of the feedback between terrestrial carbon cycling and climate change.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiangjin Shen, Yiwen Liu, Liyuan Wu, Rong Ma, Yanji Wang, Jiaqi Zhang, Lei Wang, Binhui Liu, Xianguo Lu, Ming Jiang
Summary: This study shows that global grassland greening has significant effects on surface temperatures, with cooling effects in areas south of 50 degrees N and warming effects in areas north of 50 degrees N.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Melissa A. Boyd, Xanthe J. Walker, Jennifer Barnes, Gerardo Celis, Scott J. Goetz, Jill F. Johnstone, Nicholas T. Link, April M. Melvin, Lisa Saperstein, Edward A. G. Schuur, Michelle C. Mack
Summary: As climate warms and fires become more common in boreal forests, fuel reduction treatments are used to mitigate fire risks. However, these treatments introduce uncertainties to ecosystem structure and fire behavior. This study evaluated the long-term effects of fuel reduction treatments in Interior Alaska and found that they can promote low flammability and deciduous tree dominance, but their effectiveness in reducing fire spread and behavior varies depending on the treatment methods and locations. The study highlights the importance of considering these factors in the design and management of fuel reduction treatments.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rongrong Zhang, Junyu Qi, Song Leng, Qianfeng Wang
Summary: This study investigates the long-term trends of phenological parameters of different vegetation types in China north of 30 degrees N and their responses to preseason temperature and precipitation. The results indicate that preseason temperature has a strong controlling effect on vegetation phenology. Crop phenology is greatly influenced by human activities, while preseason precipitation has a stronger impact on the end date of the growing season.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Heather Kropp, Michael M. Loranty, Susan M. Natali, Alexander L. Kholodov, Adrian Rocha, Isla Myers-Smith, Benjamin W. Abbot, Jakob Abermann, Elena Blanc-Betes, Daan Blok, Gesche Blume-Werry, Julia Boike, Amy L. Breen, Sean M. P. Cahoon, Casper T. Christiansen, Thomas A. Douglas, Howard E. Epstein, Gerald Frost, Mathias Goeckede, Toke T. Hoye, Steven D. Mamet, Jonathan A. O'Donnell, David Olefeldt, Gareth K. Phoenix, Verity G. Salmon, A. Britta K. Sannel, Sharon L. Smith, Oliver Sonnentag, Lydia Smith Vaughn, Mathew Williams, Bo Elberling, Laura Gough, Jan Hjort, Peter M. Lafleur, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Monique M. P. D. Heijmans, Elyn R. Humphreys, Hiroki Iwata, Benjamin M. Jones, M. Torre Jorgenson, Inge Gruenberg, Yongwon Kim, James Laundre, Marguerite Mauritz, Anders Michelsen, Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Ken D. Tape, Masahito Ueyama, Bang-Yong Lee, Kirsty Langley, Magnus Lund
Summary: Soils are warming in the Arctic and Boreal region as temperature rises, with tall shrubs and trees expanding in the tundra. Ecosystems with tall-statured shrubs and trees have warmer shallow soils compared to short-statured tundra vegetation, indicating that ground thermal regimes in the cold season are critical for predicting soil warming. The expansion of tall shrubs and trees into tundra regions can amplify shallow soil warming and increase potential for increased seasonal thaw depth, soil carbon cycling rates, carbon dioxide loss, and permafrost thaw.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mingxing Li, Peili Wu, Zhuguo Ma, Jiandong Liu
Summary: This study examines the seasonal characteristics of vegetation greening in China and its association with soil moisture and temperature changes. Using high-resolution datasets, the study finds that 56.8% of land area in China experienced a greening trend while 6.6% experienced a browning trend. The findings suggest that soil heat and water conditions play a significant role in translating global warming signals.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Martin D. Venturas, Henry N. Todd, Anna T. Trugman, William R. L. Anderegg
Summary: The study found that predicting tree mortality remains a scientific challenge, but hydraulic damage and carbon assimilation diagnostics can improve mortality prediction across broad spatial areas. Factors such as stand density and tree size play critical roles in explaining mortality patterns.
Review
Plant Sciences
Anna T. Trugman
Summary: The author suggests a framework that utilizes differences in model predictive skill across spatial scales, mismatches between model predictions and observations, and differences in the mechanisms included and absent across models to advance the understanding of the physiological and ecological processes driving observed patterns of drought-driven mortality.
Article
Ecology
William R. L. Anderegg, Oriana S. Chegwidden, Grayson Badgley, Anna T. Trugman, Danny Cullenward, John T. Abatzoglou, Jeffrey A. Hicke, Jeremy Freeman, Joseph J. Hamman
Summary: The study quantifies the impact of climate drivers on wildfire, climate stress-driven tree mortality, and insect-driven tree mortality in the United States, finding that current forest disturbance risks are widespread and projected to increase in the future. These results have important implications for improving carbon cycle modeling, conservation efforts, and climate policy.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alyssa M. Willson, Anna T. Trugman, Jennifer S. Powers, Chris M. Smith-Martin, David Medvigy
Summary: Lianas, a key component of tropical forests, are more sensitive to drying atmospheric conditions and more susceptible to reaching a hydraulic threshold for viability compared to trees under future climate change.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kelsey N. Bryant, Jeffrey Stenzel, Justin Mathias, Hyojung Kwon, Crystal A. Kolden, Laurel Lynch, Tara Hudiburg
Summary: Forests play an important role in mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration, but increased wildfire activity poses a threat to carbon storage. This study investigates the impact of wildfires on mature ponderosa pine trees and finds that the severity of damage is positively correlated with photosynthetic capacity. Burned trees are able to compensate for damage by increasing the efficiency of carbon uptake at the leaf-level. The study also suggests that the heightened photosynthetic capacity in remaining needles on burned trees is linked to reduced water stress and leaf nitrogen content. These findings have implications for Earth system modeling efforts and land management practices.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Justin M. Mathias, Tara W. Hudiburg
Summary: The use of stable isotopes to understand plant physiological processes has become common in ecology. However, there is currently no standardized tool to calculate isotope-derived plant physiological indices. In response, we developed isocalcR, an R package that provides functions and reference data to simplify the use of stable isotope data in plant tissues.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gregory R. Quetin, Leander D. L. Anderegg, Alexandra G. Konings, Anna T. Trugman
Summary: This study calculates the energy consumed by plants for sap ascent across the world's terrestrial vegetation using field measurements and global estimates. The findings show that globally, 0.06 W/m(2) of energy is consumed in sap ascent in forest dominated ecosystems, equivalent to global hydropower energy production. The study highlights the significant role of sap ascent in plant function, representing a considerable portion of the energy consumed for photosynthesis in forests.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gregory R. Quetin, Caroline A. Famiglietti, Nathan C. Dadap, A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, Noah S. Diffenbaugh, Junjie Liu, Anna T. Trugman, Alexandra G. Konings
Summary: Increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations have enhanced photosynthesis globally, but also led to greater respiration rates. The change in carbon flux due to increasing CO2 and climate change remains unknown. Using a model-data fusion system, we found that photosynthesis and respiration response to atmospheric CO2 dominates their response to climate alone. The respiration response plays a crucial role in regulating the land carbon sink.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xiaonan Tai, Anna T. Trugman, William R. L. Anderegg
Summary: Episodes of forest mortality associated with climate change have global implications for species composition and ecosystem services. While satellite imagery can capture ecosystem resilience globally, its effectiveness in predicting forest mortality across continental, multi-biome scales remains uncertain.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Chao Wu, Shane R. Coffield, Michael L. Goulden, James T. Randerson, Anna T. Trugman, William R. L. Anderegg
Summary: A comparison of modelling results reveals divergent projections of forest aboveground carbon storage potential in the United States due to uncertainties in the estimated impact of climate risks. Forests have the capacity to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, but climate change risks could compromise the permanence of forest carbon storage.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
A. T. Trugman, G. R. Quetin
Summary: Forests sequester a significant amount of anthropogenic carbon emissions and are gaining attention as Nature-based Climate Solutions. However, the comparison of carbon distributions across different products and the utilization of cross-product uncertainty in estimating terrestrial carbon have not been systematically explored. Alaniz et al. synthesized multiple published products to constrain the distribution of forest carbon stocks and fluxes globally.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
G. R. Quetin, L. D. L. Anderegg, I. Boving, W. R. L. Anderegg, A. T. Trugman
Summary: The extent of future climate change effects on forests and their ability to adapt is uncertain. Using maps of tree drought tolerance, a tree model, and forest inventory data, we found that forests are likely to experience increased hydraulic stress with climate change. Regional diversity in hydraulic traits can buffer against increased stress in 88% of forested areas, but trait velocities are not keeping up in 81% of forested areas without leaf area acclimation.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Angelica Wu, Leander D. L. Anderegg, Todd E. Dawson, Anna T. Trugman
Summary: Trees have a diverse range of functions that impact the environment, but there is still a lack of understanding when it comes to within-tree variability in leaf traits and how they are affected by microclimatic variations and changes over a growing season. This study conducted extensive measurements on leaf traits in California's blue oak trees and found high levels of variation in leaf area and sapwood area within a tree crown. However, there was limited evidence of adaptive trait plasticity in leaf morphological traits in response to water availability gradients.
