Recent global decline of CO2 fertilization effects on vegetation photosynthesis

Songhan Wang; Yongguang Zhang; Weimin Ju; Jing M Chen; Philippe Ciais; Alessandro Cescatti; Jordi Sardans; Ivan A Janssens; Mousong Wu; Joseph A Berry; Elliott Campbell; Marcos Fernández-Martínez; Ramdane Alkama; Stephen Sitch; Pierre Friedlingstein; William K Smith; Wenping Yuan; Wei He; Danica Lombardozzi; Markus Kautz; Dan Zhu; Sebastian Lienert; Etsushi Kato; Benjamin Poulter; Tanja G M Sanders; Inken Krüger; Rong Wang; Ning Zeng; Hanqin Tian; Nicolas Vuichard; Atul K Jain; Andy Wiltshire; Vanessa Haverd; Daniel S Goll; Josep Peñuelas

doi:10.1126/science.abb7772

Recent global decline of CO₂ fertilization effects on vegetation photosynthesis

Science. 2020 Dec 11;370(6522):1295-1300. doi: 10.1126/science.abb7772.

Authors

Songhan Wang^{1

2}, Yongguang Zhang^{3

2

4}, Weimin Ju^{1

2}, Jing M Chen^{1

5}, Philippe Ciais⁶, Alessandro Cescatti⁷, Jordi Sardans^{8

9}, Ivan A Janssens¹⁰, Mousong Wu^{1

2}, Joseph A Berry¹¹, Elliott Campbell¹², Marcos Fernández-Martínez¹⁰, Ramdane Alkama⁷, Stephen Sitch¹³, Pierre Friedlingstein¹⁴, William K Smith¹⁵, Wenping Yuan¹⁶, Wei He^{1

2}, Danica Lombardozzi¹⁷, Markus Kautz¹⁸, Dan Zhu⁶, Sebastian Lienert¹⁹, Etsushi Kato²⁰, Benjamin Poulter²¹, Tanja G M Sanders²², Inken Krüger²², Rong Wang²³, Ning Zeng^{24

25}, Hanqin Tian²⁶, Nicolas Vuichard⁶, Atul K Jain²⁷, Andy Wiltshire¹³, Vanessa Haverd²⁸, Daniel S Goll^{6

29}, Josep Peñuelas^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China.
² Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Technology, Key Laboratory for Land Satellite Remote Sensing Applications of Ministry of Natural Resources, School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China.
³ International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China. [email protected].
⁴ Huangshan Park Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Ministry of Education, Huangshan, China.
⁵ Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA CNRS UVSQ, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
⁷ European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy.
⁸ CSIC, Global ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
⁹ CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
¹¹ Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
¹² Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
¹³ College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
¹⁴ College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
¹⁵ School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹⁶ School of Atmospheric Sciences, Center for Monsoon and Environment Research, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
¹⁷ Terrestrial Sciences Section, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA.
¹⁸ Forest Research Institute Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg, Germany.
¹⁹ Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Institute of Applied Energy, Tokyo, Japan.
²¹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
²² Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems, Alfred-Möller-Str. 1, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany.
²³ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
²⁴ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
²⁵ LASG, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China.
²⁶ International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
²⁷ Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, 105 South Gregory Street, Urbana, IL 61801-3070, USA.
²⁸ CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
²⁹ Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.

PMID: 33303610
DOI: 10.1126/science.abb7772

Abstract

The enhanced vegetation productivity driven by increased concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) [i.e., the CO₂ fertilization effect (CFE)] sustains an important negative feedback on climate warming, but the temporal dynamics of CFE remain unclear. Using multiple long-term satellite- and ground-based datasets, we showed that global CFE has declined across most terrestrial regions of the globe from 1982 to 2015, correlating well with changing nutrient concentrations and availability of soil water. Current carbon cycle models also demonstrate a declining CFE trend, albeit one substantially weaker than that from the global observations. This declining trend in the forcing of terrestrial carbon sinks by increasing amounts of atmospheric CO₂ implies a weakening negative feedback on the climatic system and increased societal dependence on future strategies to mitigate climate warming.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Atmosphere / chemistry
Carbon Cycle*
Carbon Dioxide / analysis
Carbon Dioxide / metabolism*
Global Warming*
Photosynthesis*

Substances

Carbon Dioxide