Air temperature optima of vegetation productivity across global biomes
The global distribution of the optimum air temperature for ecosystem-level gross primary productivity ([Formula: see text]) is poorly understood, despite its importance for ecosystem carbon uptake under future warming. We provide empirical evidence for the existence of such an optimum, using measure...
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Published in | Nature ecology & evolution Vol. 3; no. 5; pp. 772 - 779 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Nature Publishing Group
01.05.2019
Nature |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The global distribution of the optimum air temperature for ecosystem-level gross primary productivity ([Formula: see text]) is poorly understood, despite its importance for ecosystem carbon uptake under future warming. We provide empirical evidence for the existence of such an optimum, using measurements of in situ eddy covariance and satellite-derived proxies, and report its global distribution. [Formula: see text] is consistently lower than the physiological optimum temperature of leaf-level photosynthetic capacity, which typically exceeds 30 °C. The global average [Formula: see text] is estimated to be 23 ± 6 °C, with warmer regions having higher [Formula: see text] values than colder regions. In tropical forests in particular, [Formula: see text] is close to growing-season air temperature and is projected to fall below it under all scenarios of future climate, suggesting a limited safe operating space for these ecosystems under future warming. |
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Bibliography: | PMCID: PMC6491223 AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231 USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) National Aeronautics and Space Administration Author contributions: S.L.P. designed the research; M.T.H. performed the analysis; S.L.P. drafted the paper; and all authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and to the text. |
ISSN: | 2397-334X 2397-334X |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41559-019-0838-x |