Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands

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

doi:10.1038/nclimate3277

Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands

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 YaoZaichun Zhu, Pieter P. Tans

Earth Systems Modeling

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

217 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	359-363
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	7
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3277
State	Published - May 1 2017

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41530528), the International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 131C11KYSB20160061), the BELSPO STEREO project ECOPROPHET (SR00334), the 111 Project (B14001), and National Youth Top-notch Talent Support Program in China. P.C., I.A.J. and J.P. acknowledge support from the European Research Council through Synergy grant ERC-2013-SyG-610028 'P-IMBALANCE'. Analysis of FLEXPART was conducted within the LATICE project at the University of Oslo. J.Mao and X.Shi are supported by the Biogeochemistry-Climate Feedbacks Scientific Focus Area project funded through the Regional and Global Climate Modeling Program in the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) of the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Program in the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-BATTELLE for DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

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Piao, S., Liu, Z., Wang, T., Peng, S., Ciais, P., Huang, M., Ahlstrom, A., Burkhart, J. F., Chevallier, F., Janssens, I. A., Jeong, S. J., Lin, X., Mao, J., Miller, J., Mohammat, A., Myneni, R. B., Peñuelas, J., Shi, X., Stohl, A., ... Tans, P. P. (2017). Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands. Nature Climate Change, 7(5), 359-363. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3277

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title = "Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands",

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 {\^a} € warmer spring-bigger sink' mechanism.",

author = "Shilong Piao and Zhuo Liu and Tao Wang and Shushi Peng and Philippe Ciais and Mengtian Huang and Anders Ahlstrom and Burkhart, {John F.} and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Chevallier and Janssens, {Ivan A.} and Jeong, {Su Jong} and Xin Lin and Jiafu Mao and John Miller and Anwar Mohammat and Myneni, {Ranga B.} and Josep Pe{\~n}uelas and Xiaoying Shi and Andreas Stohl and Yitong Yao and Zaichun Zhu and Tans, {Pieter P.}",

year = "2017",

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doi = "10.1038/nclimate3277",

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Piao, S, Liu, Z, Wang, T, Peng, S, Ciais, P, Huang, M, Ahlstrom, A, Burkhart, JF, Chevallier, F, Janssens, IA, Jeong, SJ, Lin, X, Mao, J, Miller, J, Mohammat, A, Myneni, RB, Peñuelas, J, Shi, X, Stohl, A, Yao, Y, Zhu, Z & Tans, PP 2017, 'Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands', Nature Climate Change, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 359-363. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3277

TY - JOUR

T1 - Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands

AU - Piao, Shilong

AU - Liu, Zhuo

AU - Wang, Tao

AU - Peng, Shushi

AU - Ciais, Philippe

AU - Huang, Mengtian

AU - Ahlstrom, Anders

AU - Burkhart, John F.

AU - Chevallier, Frédéric

AU - Janssens, Ivan A.

AU - Jeong, Su Jong

AU - Lin, Xin

AU - Mao, Jiafu

AU - Miller, John

AU - Mohammat, Anwar

AU - Myneni, Ranga B.

AU - Peñuelas, Josep

AU - Shi, Xiaoying

AU - Stohl, Andreas

AU - Yao, Yitong

AU - Zhu, Zaichun

AU - Tans, Pieter P.

PY - 2017/5/1

Y1 - 2017/5/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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U2 - 10.1038/nclimate3277

DO - 10.1038/nclimate3277

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VL - 7

SP - 359

EP - 363

JO - Nature Climate Change

JF - Nature Climate Change

IS - 5

ER -

Weakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands

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