Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration

Qin Zhang; Chuixiang Yi; Georgia Destouni; Georg Wohlfahrt; Yakov Kuzyakov; Runze Li; Eric Kutter; Deliang Chen; Max Rietkerk; Stefano Manzoni; Zhenkun Tian; George Hendrey; Wei Fang; Nir Krakauer; Gustaf Hugelius; Jerker Jarsjo; Jianxu Han; Shiguo Xu

doi:10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w

Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration

Qin Zhang
, Chuixiang Yi^*
, Georgia Destouni
, Georg Wohlfahrt
, Yakov Kuzyakov
, Runze Li
, Eric Kutter
, Deliang Chen
, Max Rietkerk
, Stefano Manzoni
, Zhenkun Tian
, George Hendrey
, Wei Fang
, Nir Krakauer
, Gustaf Hugelius
, Jerker Jarsjo
, Jianxu Han
, Shiguo Xu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Spatial Ecology and Global Change

Dalian University of Technology
Stockholm University
University of Innsbruck
City University of New York
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
University of Göttingen
People's Friendship University of Russia
Pennsylvania State University
University of Gothenburg
China University of Labor Relations
Pace University
City University of New York

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Terrestrial ecosystem respiration increases exponentially with temperature, constituting a positive feedback loop accelerating global warming. However, the response of ecosystem respiration to temperature strongly depends on water availability, yet where and when the water effects are important, is presently poorly constrained, introducing uncertainties in climate–carbon cycle feedback projections. Here, we disentangle the effects of temperature and precipitation (a proxy for water availability) on ecosystem respiration by analysing eddy covariance CO₂ flux measurements across 212 globally distributed sites. We reveal a threshold precipitation function, determined by the balance between precipitation and ecosystem water demand, which separates temperature-limited and water-limited respiration. Respiration is temperature limited for precipitation above that threshold function, whereas in drier areas water limitation reduces the temperature sensitivity of respiration and its positive feedback to global warming. If the trend of expansion of water-limited areas with warming climate over the last decades continues, the positive feedback of ecosystem respiration is likely to be weakened and counteracted by the increasing water limitation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1870-1876
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	8
Issue number	10
Early online date	7 Aug 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w
Publication status	Published - Oct 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024.

Funding

This work used eddy covariance data acquired and shared by the FLUXNET community, including these networks: AmeriFlux, AfriFlux, AsiaFlux, CarboAfrica, CarboEuropeIP, CarboItaly, CarboMont, ChinaFlux, Fluxnet-Canada, GreenGrass, ICOS, KoFlux, LBA, NECC, OzFlux-TERN, TCOS-Siberia and USCCC. The FLUXNET eddy covariance data processing and harmonization were carried out by the ICOS Ecosystem Thematic Center, AmeriFlux Management Project and Fluxdata project of FLUXNET, with the support of CDIAC and the OzFlux, ChinaFlux and AsiaFlux offices. C.Y. completed this research when he was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at University of Innsbruck with support from the US-Austria Fulbright Program. D.C. is supported by the Swedish national strategic research area BECC. G.D. has received support for this research from the Swedish Research Council (VR; grant number 2022-04672). The research of M.R. is supported by the European Research Council (ERC-Synergy project RESILIENCE, proposal no. 101071417) and by the Dutch Research Council (NWO 'Resilience in complex systems through adaptive spatial pattern formation', project no. OCENW.M20.169). S.M. was supported by ERC grant 101001608. G.W. acknowledges support from Austrian Research Promotion Agency grant 878893 and the Austrian Science Fund (10.55776/PAT2661823). N.K. acknowledges funding from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Educational Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions-Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies cooperative agreement grant NA22SEC4810016.DAS:All data used for this study are publicly accessible and downloadable and all results of this study can be reproduced according to the methods provided. The FLUXNET2015 dataset used here are publicly available at https://fluxnet.org/data/fluxnet2015-dataset/. The CMIP6 data are publicly available at https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/cmip6/. Information on the 212 sites used in this paper and their groupings are available on GitHub (https://github.com/chuixiangyi/Water-limitation).

Funders	Funder number
US-Austria Fulbright Program
USCCC
Fluxdata project of FLUXNET
CDIAC
Fulbright Visiting Professor at University of Innsbruck
Swedish national strategic research area BECC
Swedish Research Council	2022-04672
European Research Council (ERC-Synergy project RESILIENCE)
Dutch Research Council (NWO 'Resilience in complex systems through adaptive spatial pattern formation')	OCENW.M20.169
ERC	101001608
Austrian Research Promotion Agency	878893
Austrian Science Fund	10.55776/PAT2661823
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Educational Partnership Program	NA22SEC4810016

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 15 Life on Land

Access to Document

10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w

s41559-024-02501-wFinal published version, 4.06 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

Zhang, Q., Yi, C., Destouni, G., Wohlfahrt, G., Kuzyakov, Y., Li, R., Kutter, E., Chen, D., Rietkerk, M., Manzoni, S., Tian, Z., Hendrey, G., Fang, W., Krakauer, N., Hugelius, G., Jarsjo, J., Han, J., & Xu, S. (2024). Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 8(10), 1870-1876. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w

@article{58a9c0b218d24e6e8a9eaf2d2f955ec1,

title = "Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration",

abstract = "Terrestrial ecosystem respiration increases exponentially with temperature, constituting a positive feedback loop accelerating global warming. However, the response of ecosystem respiration to temperature strongly depends on water availability, yet where and when the water effects are important, is presently poorly constrained, introducing uncertainties in climate–carbon cycle feedback projections. Here, we disentangle the effects of temperature and precipitation (a proxy for water availability) on ecosystem respiration by analysing eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements across 212 globally distributed sites. We reveal a threshold precipitation function, determined by the balance between precipitation and ecosystem water demand, which separates temperature-limited and water-limited respiration. Respiration is temperature limited for precipitation above that threshold function, whereas in drier areas water limitation reduces the temperature sensitivity of respiration and its positive feedback to global warming. If the trend of expansion of water-limited areas with warming climate over the last decades continues, the positive feedback of ecosystem respiration is likely to be weakened and counteracted by the increasing water limitation.",

author = "Qin Zhang and Chuixiang Yi and Georgia Destouni and Georg Wohlfahrt and Yakov Kuzyakov and Runze Li and Eric Kutter and Deliang Chen and Max Rietkerk and Stefano Manzoni and Zhenkun Tian and George Hendrey and Wei Fang and Nir Krakauer and Gustaf Hugelius and Jerker Jarsjo and Jianxu Han and Shiguo Xu",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "1870--1876",

journal = "Nature Ecology and Evolution",

issn = "2397-334X",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "10",

}

Zhang, Q, Yi, C, Destouni, G, Wohlfahrt, G, Kuzyakov, Y, Li, R, Kutter, E, Chen, D, Rietkerk, M, Manzoni, S, Tian, Z, Hendrey, G, Fang, W, Krakauer, N, Hugelius, G, Jarsjo, J, Han, J & Xu, S 2024, 'Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 8, no. 10, pp. 1870-1876. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w

TY - JOUR

T1 - Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration

AU - Zhang, Qin

AU - Yi, Chuixiang

AU - Destouni, Georgia

AU - Wohlfahrt, Georg

AU - Kuzyakov, Yakov

AU - Li, Runze

AU - Kutter, Eric

AU - Chen, Deliang

AU - Rietkerk, Max

AU - Manzoni, Stefano

AU - Tian, Zhenkun

AU - Hendrey, George

AU - Fang, Wei

AU - Krakauer, Nir

AU - Hugelius, Gustaf

AU - Jarsjo, Jerker

AU - Han, Jianxu

AU - Xu, Shiguo

PY - 2024/10

Y1 - 2024/10

N2 - Terrestrial ecosystem respiration increases exponentially with temperature, constituting a positive feedback loop accelerating global warming. However, the response of ecosystem respiration to temperature strongly depends on water availability, yet where and when the water effects are important, is presently poorly constrained, introducing uncertainties in climate–carbon cycle feedback projections. Here, we disentangle the effects of temperature and precipitation (a proxy for water availability) on ecosystem respiration by analysing eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements across 212 globally distributed sites. We reveal a threshold precipitation function, determined by the balance between precipitation and ecosystem water demand, which separates temperature-limited and water-limited respiration. Respiration is temperature limited for precipitation above that threshold function, whereas in drier areas water limitation reduces the temperature sensitivity of respiration and its positive feedback to global warming. If the trend of expansion of water-limited areas with warming climate over the last decades continues, the positive feedback of ecosystem respiration is likely to be weakened and counteracted by the increasing water limitation.

AB - Terrestrial ecosystem respiration increases exponentially with temperature, constituting a positive feedback loop accelerating global warming. However, the response of ecosystem respiration to temperature strongly depends on water availability, yet where and when the water effects are important, is presently poorly constrained, introducing uncertainties in climate–carbon cycle feedback projections. Here, we disentangle the effects of temperature and precipitation (a proxy for water availability) on ecosystem respiration by analysing eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements across 212 globally distributed sites. We reveal a threshold precipitation function, determined by the balance between precipitation and ecosystem water demand, which separates temperature-limited and water-limited respiration. Respiration is temperature limited for precipitation above that threshold function, whereas in drier areas water limitation reduces the temperature sensitivity of respiration and its positive feedback to global warming. If the trend of expansion of water-limited areas with warming climate over the last decades continues, the positive feedback of ecosystem respiration is likely to be weakened and counteracted by the increasing water limitation.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85200696117

U2 - 10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w

DO - 10.1038/s41559-024-02501-w

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85200696117

SN - 2397-334X

VL - 8

SP - 1870

EP - 1876

JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution

IS - 10

ER -

Water limitation regulates positive feedback of increased ecosystem respiration

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this