Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change
Abstract Solar farms play an integral role in the global energy transition and climate change mitigation. However, criticism has emerged, arguing that mitigating climate change cannot come at the expense of ecosystem degradation due to an ambiguous understanding of solar farms’ environmental impacts...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02121-7 |
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| author | Chuandong Wu Hu Liu Lemin Wei Yang Yu Wenzhi Zhao Li Guo Zhibin He Omer Yetemen Dawen Yang |
| author_facet | Chuandong Wu Hu Liu Lemin Wei Yang Yu Wenzhi Zhao Li Guo Zhibin He Omer Yetemen Dawen Yang |
| author_sort | Chuandong Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Solar farms play an integral role in the global energy transition and climate change mitigation. However, criticism has emerged, arguing that mitigating climate change cannot come at the expense of ecosystem degradation due to an ambiguous understanding of solar farms’ environmental impacts. Here we developed a harmonic regression model to conduct a nuanced global analysis of solar farms’ influences on vegetation. Results show that 52% of solar farms exhibited beneficial effects on vegetation coverage, with the highest enhancement (136.72%) found in regions where the aridity index is 0.39. However, changes in coverage are not triggered solely by solar farms; rather, there is a counterbalance between the contributions from climate change and from solar farms, implying that observed coverage changes could be stalled or even reversed in the future. Furthermore, plant functional type transition is an additional potential driver. Our findings could improve solar farm site selection and policies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-59f4d51e44734e35b9e44f86b4b8856d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-59f4d51e44734e35b9e44f86b4b8856d2025-08-20T03:13:12ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-02-01611910.1038/s43247-025-02121-7Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate changeChuandong Wu0Hu Liu1Lemin Wei2Yang Yu3Wenzhi Zhao4Li Guo5Zhibin He6Omer Yetemen7Dawen Yang8Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of SciencesKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of SciencesKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry UniversityKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan UniversityKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of SciencesEurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, MaslakState Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua UniversityAbstract Solar farms play an integral role in the global energy transition and climate change mitigation. However, criticism has emerged, arguing that mitigating climate change cannot come at the expense of ecosystem degradation due to an ambiguous understanding of solar farms’ environmental impacts. Here we developed a harmonic regression model to conduct a nuanced global analysis of solar farms’ influences on vegetation. Results show that 52% of solar farms exhibited beneficial effects on vegetation coverage, with the highest enhancement (136.72%) found in regions where the aridity index is 0.39. However, changes in coverage are not triggered solely by solar farms; rather, there is a counterbalance between the contributions from climate change and from solar farms, implying that observed coverage changes could be stalled or even reversed in the future. Furthermore, plant functional type transition is an additional potential driver. Our findings could improve solar farm site selection and policies.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02121-7 |
| spellingShingle | Chuandong Wu Hu Liu Lemin Wei Yang Yu Wenzhi Zhao Li Guo Zhibin He Omer Yetemen Dawen Yang Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change |
| title_full | Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change |
| title_fullStr | Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change |
| title_short | Diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change |
| title_sort | diverse vegetation responses to solar farm installation are also driven by climate change |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02121-7 |
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