Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century
Gaining a deep understanding of how climate change affects the carbon cycle in dryland vegetation is of utmost importance, as it plays a pivotal role in shaping the overall carbon cycle in global ecosystems. It is currently not clear how plant communities at varying elevations in arid mountainous re...
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/11/2189 |
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| author | Yong Zhang Chengbang An Lai Jiang Liyuan Zheng Bo Tan Chao Lu Wensheng Zhang Yanzhen Zhang |
| author_facet | Yong Zhang Chengbang An Lai Jiang Liyuan Zheng Bo Tan Chao Lu Wensheng Zhang Yanzhen Zhang |
| author_sort | Yong Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gaining a deep understanding of how climate change affects the carbon cycle in dryland vegetation is of utmost importance, as it plays a pivotal role in shaping the overall carbon cycle in global ecosystems. It is currently not clear how plant communities at varying elevations in arid mountainous regions will respond to climate change in terms of their productivity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of climate change on vegetation productivity in different altitudinal vegetation belts of the Tianshan Mountains between 2000 and 2021, utilizing satellite-derived vegetation productivity and climate data. The findings suggest a notable increase in vegetation productivity across diverse altitudinal vegetation belts. The productivity of vegetation in the coniferous forest and alpine meadow belts displayed a notably higher interannual trend compared to other vegetation belts. Notably, an increase in vegetation productivity was accompanied by warming and drying. The productivity of altitudinal vegetation belts, however, appears to be resilient to current climate trends and was not significantly impacted by the severity of atmospheric drought. The trend of increased vegetation productivity was primarily driven by CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization. Our results highlight that the extent of climate change may need to reach a threshold to noticeably affect variations in vegetation productivity in arid mountainous. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:50:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f5f081bc766b4210a7c49555a0306b05 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:50:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-f5f081bc766b4210a7c49555a0306b052023-11-24T14:42:37ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-11-011411218910.3390/f14112189Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st CenturyYong Zhang0Chengbang An1Lai Jiang2Liyuan Zheng3Bo Tan4Chao Lu5Wensheng Zhang6Yanzhen Zhang7Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaGaining a deep understanding of how climate change affects the carbon cycle in dryland vegetation is of utmost importance, as it plays a pivotal role in shaping the overall carbon cycle in global ecosystems. It is currently not clear how plant communities at varying elevations in arid mountainous regions will respond to climate change in terms of their productivity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of climate change on vegetation productivity in different altitudinal vegetation belts of the Tianshan Mountains between 2000 and 2021, utilizing satellite-derived vegetation productivity and climate data. The findings suggest a notable increase in vegetation productivity across diverse altitudinal vegetation belts. The productivity of vegetation in the coniferous forest and alpine meadow belts displayed a notably higher interannual trend compared to other vegetation belts. Notably, an increase in vegetation productivity was accompanied by warming and drying. The productivity of altitudinal vegetation belts, however, appears to be resilient to current climate trends and was not significantly impacted by the severity of atmospheric drought. The trend of increased vegetation productivity was primarily driven by CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization. Our results highlight that the extent of climate change may need to reach a threshold to noticeably affect variations in vegetation productivity in arid mountainous.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/11/2189atmospheric droughtCO<sub>2</sub> fertilizationmountain ecosystemvegetation carbon fluxglobal warming hiatus |
| spellingShingle | Yong Zhang Chengbang An Lai Jiang Liyuan Zheng Bo Tan Chao Lu Wensheng Zhang Yanzhen Zhang Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century Forests atmospheric drought CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization mountain ecosystem vegetation carbon flux global warming hiatus |
| title | Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century |
| title_full | Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century |
| title_fullStr | Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century |
| title_short | Increased Vegetation Productivity of Altitudinal Vegetation Belts in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains despite Warming and Drying since the Early 21st Century |
| title_sort | increased vegetation productivity of altitudinal vegetation belts in the chinese tianshan mountains despite warming and drying since the early 21st century |
| topic | atmospheric drought CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization mountain ecosystem vegetation carbon flux global warming hiatus |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/11/2189 |
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