A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends
Abstract Vegetation cover regulates the exchanges of energy, water and carbon between land and atmosphere. Remotely-sensed fractional absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), a land-surface greenness measure, depends on carbon allocation to foliage while also controlling photon flux for...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-01992-0 |
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| _version_ | 1841544279390945280 |
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| author | Wenjia Cai Ziqi Zhu Sandy P. Harrison Youngryel Ryu Han Wang Boya Zhou Iain Colin Prentice |
| author_facet | Wenjia Cai Ziqi Zhu Sandy P. Harrison Youngryel Ryu Han Wang Boya Zhou Iain Colin Prentice |
| author_sort | Wenjia Cai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Vegetation cover regulates the exchanges of energy, water and carbon between land and atmosphere. Remotely-sensed fractional absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), a land-surface greenness measure, depends on carbon allocation to foliage while also controlling photon flux for photosynthesis. Here we use an equation with just two globally fitted parameters to describe annual maximum fAPAR as the smaller of a water-limited value transpiring a constant fraction of annual precipitation, and an energy-limited value maximizing annual plant growth. This minimalist description reproduces global greenness patterns and temporal trends in remote-sensing data, comparable to the best-performing dynamic global vegetation models. Widely observed greening is attributed principally to the influence of rising carbon dioxide on the light- and water-use efficiencies of photosynthesis; limited browning regions are attributed to drying. This research provides one key component of ecosystem function as a step towards more robust foundations for new-generation land ecosystem models. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-581028b02c5d4f4ab98c0b9588b798b8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-581028b02c5d4f4ab98c0b9588b798b82025-01-12T12:41:04ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-01-016111110.1038/s43247-025-01992-0A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trendsWenjia Cai0Ziqi Zhu1Sandy P. Harrison2Youngryel Ryu3Han Wang4Boya Zhou5Iain Colin Prentice6Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College LondonDepartment of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modelling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua UniversityDepartment of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modelling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua UniversityDepartment of Landscape Architecture and Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National UniversityDepartment of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modelling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua UniversityGeorgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College LondonGeorgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College LondonAbstract Vegetation cover regulates the exchanges of energy, water and carbon between land and atmosphere. Remotely-sensed fractional absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), a land-surface greenness measure, depends on carbon allocation to foliage while also controlling photon flux for photosynthesis. Here we use an equation with just two globally fitted parameters to describe annual maximum fAPAR as the smaller of a water-limited value transpiring a constant fraction of annual precipitation, and an energy-limited value maximizing annual plant growth. This minimalist description reproduces global greenness patterns and temporal trends in remote-sensing data, comparable to the best-performing dynamic global vegetation models. Widely observed greening is attributed principally to the influence of rising carbon dioxide on the light- and water-use efficiencies of photosynthesis; limited browning regions are attributed to drying. This research provides one key component of ecosystem function as a step towards more robust foundations for new-generation land ecosystem models.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-01992-0 |
| spellingShingle | Wenjia Cai Ziqi Zhu Sandy P. Harrison Youngryel Ryu Han Wang Boya Zhou Iain Colin Prentice A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends |
| title_full | A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends |
| title_fullStr | A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends |
| title_full_unstemmed | A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends |
| title_short | A unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends |
| title_sort | unifying principle for global greenness patterns and trends |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-01992-0 |
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