Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India
Variations in the uptake of atmospheric carbon by vegetation over India, the second-highest contributor to global greening, have enormous implications for climate change mitigation. Global studies conclude that temperature and total water storage (TWS) cause interannual variations of carbon uptake b...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac7c7f |
| _version_ | 1827869819764998144 |
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| author | Akash Verma Vikram Chandel Subimal Ghosh |
| author_facet | Akash Verma Vikram Chandel Subimal Ghosh |
| author_sort | Akash Verma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Variations in the uptake of atmospheric carbon by vegetation over India, the second-highest contributor to global greening, have enormous implications for climate change mitigation. Global studies conclude that temperature and total water storage (TWS) cause interannual variations of carbon uptake based on the correlation coefficient, which is not a causality measure. Here, we apply a statistically rigorous causality approach, Peter Clark momentary conditional independence, to the monthly observed satellite and station-based gridded dataset of India’s climate and carbon uptake variables. We find no existence of causal connections from TWS to gross primary production (GPP) or net photosynthesis (PSN). Causal relationships exist from precipitation to GPP and PSN. Since shallow-rooted croplands dominate India’s green cover, impacts of precipitation on carbon capture of the the land ecosystem are immediate and not via TWS. Our results identify the key climate drivers of GPP/PSN variability and highlight interactions between water and the carbon cycle in India. Our results also highlight the need for formal causal analysis using climate and earth sciences observations rather than the conventional practices of inferring causality from correlations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:49:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0607b96e7c6d4739a47a5610e926a351 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:49:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-0607b96e7c6d4739a47a5610e926a3512023-08-09T15:14:11ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117808402310.1088/1748-9326/ac7c7fClimate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in IndiaAkash Verma0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4938-5648Vikram Chandel1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1991-5596Subimal Ghosh2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5722-1440Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay , Powai, Mumbai 400076, IndiaInterdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay , Powai, Mumbai 400076, IndiaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay , Powai, Mumbai 400076, India; Interdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay , Powai, Mumbai 400076, IndiaVariations in the uptake of atmospheric carbon by vegetation over India, the second-highest contributor to global greening, have enormous implications for climate change mitigation. Global studies conclude that temperature and total water storage (TWS) cause interannual variations of carbon uptake based on the correlation coefficient, which is not a causality measure. Here, we apply a statistically rigorous causality approach, Peter Clark momentary conditional independence, to the monthly observed satellite and station-based gridded dataset of India’s climate and carbon uptake variables. We find no existence of causal connections from TWS to gross primary production (GPP) or net photosynthesis (PSN). Causal relationships exist from precipitation to GPP and PSN. Since shallow-rooted croplands dominate India’s green cover, impacts of precipitation on carbon capture of the the land ecosystem are immediate and not via TWS. Our results identify the key climate drivers of GPP/PSN variability and highlight interactions between water and the carbon cycle in India. Our results also highlight the need for formal causal analysis using climate and earth sciences observations rather than the conventional practices of inferring causality from correlations.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac7c7fcausal discoverycarbon cyclevegetation–atmosphere interactions |
| spellingShingle | Akash Verma Vikram Chandel Subimal Ghosh Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India Environmental Research Letters causal discovery carbon cycle vegetation–atmosphere interactions |
| title | Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India |
| title_full | Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India |
| title_fullStr | Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India |
| title_short | Climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in India |
| title_sort | climate drivers of the variations of vegetation productivity in india |
| topic | causal discovery carbon cycle vegetation–atmosphere interactions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac7c7f |
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