Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs
Abstract Soil moisture is coupled with vegetation and atmosphere, influencing global cycling of water, carbon, and energy. However, it remains unclear how soil moisture-atmosphere interactions affect land-atmosphere carbon and water exchanges simultaneously. Using Earth system model experiments, we...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02145-z |
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| author | Wenqi Sun Sha Zhou Bofu Yu Yao Zhang Trevor Keenan Bojie Fu |
| author_facet | Wenqi Sun Sha Zhou Bofu Yu Yao Zhang Trevor Keenan Bojie Fu |
| author_sort | Wenqi Sun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Soil moisture is coupled with vegetation and atmosphere, influencing global cycling of water, carbon, and energy. However, it remains unclear how soil moisture-atmosphere interactions affect land-atmosphere carbon and water exchanges simultaneously. Using Earth system model experiments, we show widespread carbon-water trade-offs between net ecosystem production and precipitation-minus-evapotranspiration driven by soil moisture dynamics. Soil moisture positively controls net ecosystem production and negatively affects precipitation-minus-evapotranspiration, through direct soil water stress and indirect soil moisture-atmosphere feedbacks. While soil moisture variability magnifies the interannual variability of net ecosystem production, it moderates that of precipitation-minus-evapotranspiration over land. These opposing effects lead to a pronounced carbon-water trade-off, which originates from the interplay between carbon acquisition through photosynthesis and water extraction through evapotranspiration. This trade-off is projected to intensify in a warming and drying future, as soil moisture increasingly regulates carbon and water exchanges, posing a serious challenge to sustaining both terrestrial carbon sink and water supply. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9ca4742f2531439cb48d5a3adf0494ef |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-9ca4742f2531439cb48d5a3adf0494ef2025-08-20T03:03:40ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-03-016111010.1038/s43247-025-02145-zSoil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offsWenqi Sun0Sha Zhou1Bofu Yu2Yao Zhang3Trevor Keenan4Bojie Fu5State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance (ESPHR), Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal UniversityState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance (ESPHR), Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal UniversitySchool of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith UniversityInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking UniversityDepartment of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California BerkeleyState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Soil moisture is coupled with vegetation and atmosphere, influencing global cycling of water, carbon, and energy. However, it remains unclear how soil moisture-atmosphere interactions affect land-atmosphere carbon and water exchanges simultaneously. Using Earth system model experiments, we show widespread carbon-water trade-offs between net ecosystem production and precipitation-minus-evapotranspiration driven by soil moisture dynamics. Soil moisture positively controls net ecosystem production and negatively affects precipitation-minus-evapotranspiration, through direct soil water stress and indirect soil moisture-atmosphere feedbacks. While soil moisture variability magnifies the interannual variability of net ecosystem production, it moderates that of precipitation-minus-evapotranspiration over land. These opposing effects lead to a pronounced carbon-water trade-off, which originates from the interplay between carbon acquisition through photosynthesis and water extraction through evapotranspiration. This trade-off is projected to intensify in a warming and drying future, as soil moisture increasingly regulates carbon and water exchanges, posing a serious challenge to sustaining both terrestrial carbon sink and water supply.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02145-z |
| spellingShingle | Wenqi Sun Sha Zhou Bofu Yu Yao Zhang Trevor Keenan Bojie Fu Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs |
| title_full | Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs |
| title_fullStr | Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs |
| title_short | Soil moisture-atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon-water trade-offs |
| title_sort | soil moisture atmosphere interactions drive terrestrial carbon water trade offs |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02145-z |
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