Diverse responses of gross primary production and leaf area index to drought on the Mongolian Plateau

Yu Bai; Menghang Liu; Qun Guo; Genan Wu; Weimin Wang; Shenggong Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166507

Diverse responses of gross primary production and leaf area index to drought on the Mongolian Plateau

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 1:902:166507. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166507. Epub 2023 Aug 22.

Authors

Yu Bai¹, Menghang Liu², Qun Guo³, Genan Wu⁴, Weimin Wang⁵, Shenggong Li⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
⁴ Institute of Spacecraft Application System Engineering, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing 100094, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Ecological Environmental Monitoring Center of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen 518049, China; Guangdong Greater Bay Area, Change and Comprehensive Treatment of Regional Ecology and Environment, National Observation and Research Station, Shenzhen 523722, China; State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecology and Environment of Rapid Urbanization Region, Shenzhen 518000, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. Electronic address: lisg@igsnrr.ac.cn.

PMID: 37619736
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166507

Abstract

Drought is a crucial factor regulating vegetation growth on the Mongolian Plateau (MP). Previous studies of drought effects on the MP have mainly concentrated on drought characterization, while the response of vegetation to drought remains unclear. To close this knowledge gap, we examined the response of MP vegetation to drought in terms of gross primary production (GPP) and leaf area index (LAI) from 1982 to 2018. Our findings show that intra-seasonally the frequency of drought occurrence in autumn had a greater impact on GPP (relative importance over 70 %), while the intensity of drought was more influential for LAI (relative importance approximately 60 %). Inter-seasonally, summer droughts had the most pronounced effect on vegetation (with median standardized anomalies of -0.72 for GPP and -0.4 for LAI, respectively). Additionally, we found that meteorological drought was more consistent with atmospheric aridity (high vapor pressure deficit) than soil drought (low soil moisture). This study advances knowledge of vegetation's susceptibility to climate extremes and improves the precision of predicting ecosystem response to climate change.

Keywords: Drought; GPP; LAI; Mongolian Plateau; SM; VPD.

MeSH terms

Climate Change
Droughts*
Ecosystem*
Plant Leaves / physiology
Seasons
Soil

Substances

Soil