Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

Yuanyuan Fang; Anna M. Michalak; Christopher R. Schwalm; Deborah N. Huntzinger; Joseph A. Berry; Philippe Ciais; Shilong Piao; Benjamin Poulter; Joshua B. Fisher; Robert B. Cook; Daniel Hayes; Maoyi Huang; Akihiko Ito; Atul Jain; Huimin Lei; Chaoqun Lu; Jiafu Mao; Nicholas C. Parazoo; Shushi Peng; Daniel M. Ricciuto; Xiaoying Shi; Bo Tao; Hanqin Tian; Weile Wang; Yaxing Wei; Jia Yang

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa6e8e

Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

Yuanyuan Fang, Anna M. Michalak, Christopher R. Schwalm, Deborah N. Huntzinger, Joseph A. Berry, Philippe Ciais, Shilong Piao, Benjamin Poulter, Joshua B. Fisher, Robert B. Cook, Daniel Hayes, Maoyi Huang, Akihiko Ito, Atul Jain, Huimin Lei, Chaoqun Lu, Jiafu Mao, Nicholas C. Parazoo, Shushi Peng, Daniel M. RicciutoXiaoying Shi, Bo Tao, Hanqin Tian, Weile Wang, Yaxing Wei, Jia Yang

Earth and Sustainability

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

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. Here, we show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. Whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Niño conditions (r _TG,P = 0.59, p < 0.01), the post La Niña sink is driven largely by tropical precipitation (r _PG,T =-0.46, p = 0.04). This finding points to an ENSO-phase-dependent interplay between water availability and temperature in controlling the carbon uptake response to climate variations in tropical ecosystems. We further find that none of a suite of ten contemporary terrestrial biosphere models captures these ENSO-phase-dependent responses, highlighting a key uncertainty in modeling climate impacts on the future of the global land carbon sink.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	064007
Journal	Environmental Research Letters
Volume	12
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6e8e
State	Published - Jun 1 2017

Keywords

Climate-carbon feedback
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
precipitation
temperature
tropical ecosystems

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Environmental Science
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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10.1088/1748-9326/aa6e8e

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Fang, Y., Michalak, A. M., Schwalm, C. R., Huntzinger, D. N., Berry, J. A., Ciais, P., Piao, S., Poulter, B., Fisher, J. B., Cook, R. B., Hayes, D., Huang, M., Ito, A., Jain, A., Lei, H., Lu, C., Mao, J., Parazoo, N. C., Peng, S., ... Yang, J. (2017). Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase. Environmental Research Letters, 12(6), Article 064007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6e8e

Fang, Y, Michalak, AM, Schwalm, CR, Huntzinger, DN, Berry, JA, Ciais, P, Piao, S, Poulter, B, Fisher, JB, Cook, RB, Hayes, D, Huang, M, Ito, A, Jain, A, Lei, H, Lu, C, Mao, J, Parazoo, NC, Peng, S, Ricciuto, DM, Shi, X, Tao, B, Tian, H, Wang, W, Wei, Y & Yang, J 2017, 'Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase', Environmental Research Letters, vol. 12, no. 6, 064007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6e8e

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title = "Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase",

abstract = "Climate variability associated with the El Ni{\~n}o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. Here, we show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. Whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Ni{\~n}o conditions (r TG,P = 0.59, p < 0.01), the post La Ni{\~n}a sink is driven largely by tropical precipitation (r PG,T =-0.46, p = 0.04). This finding points to an ENSO-phase-dependent interplay between water availability and temperature in controlling the carbon uptake response to climate variations in tropical ecosystems. We further find that none of a suite of ten contemporary terrestrial biosphere models captures these ENSO-phase-dependent responses, highlighting a key uncertainty in modeling climate impacts on the future of the global land carbon sink.",

keywords = "Climate-carbon feedback, El Ni{\~n}o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), precipitation, temperature, tropical ecosystems",

author = "Yuanyuan Fang and Michalak, {Anna M.} and Schwalm, {Christopher R.} and Huntzinger, {Deborah N.} and Berry, {Joseph A.} and Philippe Ciais and Shilong Piao and Benjamin Poulter and Fisher, {Joshua B.} and Cook, {Robert B.} and Daniel Hayes and Maoyi Huang and Akihiko Ito and Atul Jain and Huimin Lei and Chaoqun Lu and Jiafu Mao and Parazoo, {Nicholas C.} and Shushi Peng and Ricciuto, {Daniel M.} and Xiaoying Shi and Bo Tao and Hanqin Tian and Weile Wang and Yaxing Wei and Jia Yang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.",

year = "2017",

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doi = "10.1088/1748-9326/aa6e8e",

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T1 - Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

AU - Fang, Yuanyuan

AU - Michalak, Anna M.

AU - Schwalm, Christopher R.

AU - Huntzinger, Deborah N.

AU - Berry, Joseph A.

AU - Ciais, Philippe

AU - Piao, Shilong

AU - Poulter, Benjamin

AU - Fisher, Joshua B.

AU - Cook, Robert B.

AU - Hayes, Daniel

AU - Huang, Maoyi

AU - Ito, Akihiko

AU - Jain, Atul

AU - Lei, Huimin

AU - Lu, Chaoqun

AU - Mao, Jiafu

AU - Parazoo, Nicholas C.

AU - Peng, Shushi

AU - Ricciuto, Daniel M.

AU - Shi, Xiaoying

AU - Tao, Bo

AU - Tian, Hanqin

AU - Wang, Weile

AU - Wei, Yaxing

AU - Yang, Jia

PY - 2017/6/1

Y1 - 2017/6/1

N2 - Climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. Here, we show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. Whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Niño conditions (r TG,P = 0.59, p < 0.01), the post La Niña sink is driven largely by tropical precipitation (r PG,T =-0.46, p = 0.04). This finding points to an ENSO-phase-dependent interplay between water availability and temperature in controlling the carbon uptake response to climate variations in tropical ecosystems. We further find that none of a suite of ten contemporary terrestrial biosphere models captures these ENSO-phase-dependent responses, highlighting a key uncertainty in modeling climate impacts on the future of the global land carbon sink.

AB - Climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. Here, we show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. Whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Niño conditions (r TG,P = 0.59, p < 0.01), the post La Niña sink is driven largely by tropical precipitation (r PG,T =-0.46, p = 0.04). This finding points to an ENSO-phase-dependent interplay between water availability and temperature in controlling the carbon uptake response to climate variations in tropical ecosystems. We further find that none of a suite of ten contemporary terrestrial biosphere models captures these ENSO-phase-dependent responses, highlighting a key uncertainty in modeling climate impacts on the future of the global land carbon sink.

KW - Climate-carbon feedback

KW - El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

KW - precipitation

KW - temperature

KW - tropical ecosystems

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SN - 1748-9318

VL - 12

JO - Environmental Research Letters

JF - Environmental Research Letters

IS - 6

M1 - 064007

ER -

Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

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