Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020

This study investigated spatiotemporal patterns of growing season gross primary productivity (GPPGS) across three vegetation types in mid-to-high latitude East Asia from 2001-2020.Growing season parameters and GPP were extracted from MODIS satellite data and combined with meteorological data to exam...

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Main Authors: Pingping Zheng, Mark Henderson, Binhui Liu, Mingyang Chen, Kexin Deng, Ruiting Gu, Xiaojing Gong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Plant Science
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1649987/full
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author Pingping Zheng
Mark Henderson
Binhui Liu
Mingyang Chen
Kexin Deng
Ruiting Gu
Xiaojing Gong
Xiaojing Gong
author_facet Pingping Zheng
Mark Henderson
Binhui Liu
Mingyang Chen
Kexin Deng
Ruiting Gu
Xiaojing Gong
Xiaojing Gong
author_sort Pingping Zheng
collection DOAJ
description This study investigated spatiotemporal patterns of growing season gross primary productivity (GPPGS) across three vegetation types in mid-to-high latitude East Asia from 2001-2020.Growing season parameters and GPP were extracted from MODIS satellite data and combined with meteorological data to examine climate-vegetation relationships through trend analysis and correlation methods. GPPGS increased significantly overall (4.12 gC/m2/yr), with deciduous broad-leaved forest (DBF) having highest productivity (1035.52 gC/m2), followed by deciduous needle-leaved forest (DNF) (830.83 gC/m2) and grassland (800.62 gC/m2). A critical divergence occurred around 2014, when grassland and DNF growth rates declined substantially while DBF maintained steady increases. Phenological factors showed limited explanatory power for GPP variations, albeit GPP are sensitive to vegetation peak growth time for all three vegetation types. Climate analysis identified relative humidity (RH) as the dominant driver, with the previous year’s growing season RH showing around 35.91% stronger positive correlations than current year values across all vegetation types; the difference is highest in DNF and the least in grassland. We conclude that the legacy effects of atmospheric moisture conditions explained the 2014 divergence, highlighting the increasing importance of water availability under global warming. Increases in atmospheric dryness accompanied by temperature increases will affect vegetation carbon storage and the societal-economic services provided by these ecosystems.
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spelling doaj-art-c9c051207f6540679047c679aecb8b2f2025-08-20T03:44:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-08-011610.3389/fpls.2025.16499871649987Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020Pingping Zheng0Mark Henderson1Binhui Liu2Mingyang Chen3Kexin Deng4Ruiting Gu5Xiaojing Gong6Xiaojing Gong7College of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaMills College, Northeastern University, Oakland, CA, United StatesCollege of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaCollege of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaCollege of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaCollege of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaCollege of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaChangzhou Architectural Research Institute Group Co., Ltd., Changzhou, ChinaThis study investigated spatiotemporal patterns of growing season gross primary productivity (GPPGS) across three vegetation types in mid-to-high latitude East Asia from 2001-2020.Growing season parameters and GPP were extracted from MODIS satellite data and combined with meteorological data to examine climate-vegetation relationships through trend analysis and correlation methods. GPPGS increased significantly overall (4.12 gC/m2/yr), with deciduous broad-leaved forest (DBF) having highest productivity (1035.52 gC/m2), followed by deciduous needle-leaved forest (DNF) (830.83 gC/m2) and grassland (800.62 gC/m2). A critical divergence occurred around 2014, when grassland and DNF growth rates declined substantially while DBF maintained steady increases. Phenological factors showed limited explanatory power for GPP variations, albeit GPP are sensitive to vegetation peak growth time for all three vegetation types. Climate analysis identified relative humidity (RH) as the dominant driver, with the previous year’s growing season RH showing around 35.91% stronger positive correlations than current year values across all vegetation types; the difference is highest in DNF and the least in grassland. We conclude that the legacy effects of atmospheric moisture conditions explained the 2014 divergence, highlighting the increasing importance of water availability under global warming. Increases in atmospheric dryness accompanied by temperature increases will affect vegetation carbon storage and the societal-economic services provided by these ecosystems.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1649987/fullgross primary productivityvegetation phenologyclimate changerelative humiditysoil moisture
spellingShingle Pingping Zheng
Mark Henderson
Binhui Liu
Mingyang Chen
Kexin Deng
Ruiting Gu
Xiaojing Gong
Xiaojing Gong
Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020
Frontiers in Plant Science
gross primary productivity
vegetation phenology
climate change
relative humidity
soil moisture
title Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020
title_full Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020
title_fullStr Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020
title_full_unstemmed Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020
title_short Moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across East Asia ecosystems, 2001-2020
title_sort moisture legacy effects shape vegetation productivity across east asia ecosystems 2001 2020
topic gross primary productivity
vegetation phenology
climate change
relative humidity
soil moisture
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1649987/full
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