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Global response of terrestrial gross primary productivity to climate extremes

January 1, 2021

Extreme climate events undoubtedly have essential impacts on ecosystem gross primary productivity (GPP), but the global spatio-temporal patterns of GPP responses to climate extremes are unclear. In this study, we analyzed the responses of GPP to temperature and precipitation extremes during historical (1901–2016) and future (2006–2100) periods using climate extreme indices (CEIs) developed by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices. Eight temperature-related CEIs and eight precipitation-related CEIs were used for this analysis, along with three future greenhouse gas concentration trajectory scenarios generated by the IPCC: RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5. Our results show that under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, most climate extremes are increasing from the historical period into the future, indicating a warming globe with more frequent and more intense extreme climate events. But the increasing rate is only persistently enhanced with time under scenario RCP 8.5. GPP shows a continuous negative relationship with cold CEIs and positive relationship with wet CEIs from the historical period into the future. In all zonal scales, the changed magnitude of GPP responds strongly to extreme value-related temperature extremes under different scenarios. However, the precipitation-related extremes with the strongest GPP response are various in different regions. In the future, GPP is most sensitive to temperature extremes in upper northern latitudes and in high-altitude regions (e.g., Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) and to precipitation extremes in the tropical zone. This study may provide a basis for predicting how GPP responds to climate extremes and explaining the underlying changes in the carbon cycle.

Publication Year 2021
Title Global response of terrestrial gross primary productivity to climate extremes
DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142337
Authors Minshu Yuan, Qiuan Zhu, Jiang Zhang, Jinxun Liu, Huai Chen, Changhui Peng, Peng Li, Mingxu Li, Meng Wang, Pengxiang Zhao
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Science of the Total Environment
Index ID 70243725
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Western Geographic Science Center
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