Enhanced growth after extreme wetness compensates for post-drought carbon loss in dry forests

Peng Jiang; Hongyan Liu; Shilong Piao; Philippe Ciais; Xiuchen Wu; Yi Yin; Hongya Wang

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-08229-z

Enhanced growth after extreme wetness compensates for post-drought carbon loss in dry forests

Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 14;10(1):195. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08229-z.

Authors

Peng Jiang^{1

2}, Hongyan Liu³, Shilong Piao¹, Philippe Ciais⁴, Xiuchen Wu^{5

6}, Yi Yin⁷, Hongya Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Urban and Environmental Sciences and MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
² Harvard China Project, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
³ College of Urban and Environmental Sciences and MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. lhy@urban.pku.edu.cn.
⁴ IPSL-LSCE, CEA CNRS UVSQ UPSaclay, Centre d'Etudes Orme des Merisiers, 91191, Gif sur Yvette, France.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
⁶ Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
⁷ California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.

Abstract

While many studies have reported that drought events have substantial negative legacy effects on forest growth, it remains unclear whether wetness events conversely have positive growth legacy effects. Here, we report pervasive and substantial growth enhancement after extreme wetness by examining tree radial growth at 1929 forest sites, satellite-derived vegetation greenness, and land surface model simulations. Enhanced growth after extreme wetness lasts for 1 to 5 years and compensates for 93 ± 8% of the growth deficit after extreme drought across global water-limited regions. Remarkable wetness-enhanced growths are observed in dry forests and gymnosperms, whereas the enhanced growths after extreme wetness are much smaller in wet forests and angiosperms. Limited or no enhanced growths are simulated by the land surface models after extreme wetness. These findings provide new evidence for improving climate-vegetation models to include the legacy effects of both drought and wet climate extremes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't