Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery

Lei Fan; Tianxiang Cui; Jean-Pierre Wigneron; Philippe Ciais; Stephen Sitch; Martin Brandt; Xin Li; Shuli Niu; Xiangming Xiao; Jérome Chave; Chaoyang Wu; Wei Li; Wenping Yuan; Zanpin Xing; Xiaojun Li; Mengjia Wang; Xiangzhuo Liu; Xiuzhi Chen; Yuanwei Qin; Hui Yang; Qiang Tang; Yuechen Li; Mingguo Ma; Rasmus Fensholt

doi:10.1111/gcb.17423

Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery

Lei Fan, Tianxiang Cui^*, Jean-Pierre Wigneron, Philippe Ciais, Stephen Sitch, Martin Brandt, Xin Li, Shuli Niu, Xiangming Xiao, Jérome Chave, Chaoyang Wu, Wei Li, Wenping Yuan, Zanpin Xing, Xiaojun Li, Mengjia Wang, Xiangzhuo Liu, Xiuzhi Chen, Yuanwei Qin, Hui YangQiang Tang, Yuechen Li, Mingguo Ma, Rasmus Fensholt

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography, Land, Environment and Society

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The extreme dry and hot 2015/16 El Niño episode caused large losses in tropical live aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. Followed by climatic conditions conducive to high vegetation productivity since 2016, tropical AGC are expected to recover from large losses during the El Niño episode; however, the recovery rate and its spatial distribution remain unknown. Here, we used low-frequency microwave satellite data to track AGC changes, and showed that tropical AGC stocks returned to pre-El Niño levels by the end of 2020, resulting in an AGC sink of (Formula presented.) Pg C year⁻¹ during 2014–2020. This sink was dominated by strong AGC increases ((Formula presented.) Pg C year⁻¹) in non-forest woody vegetation during 2016–2020, compensating the forest AGC losses attributed to the El Niño event, forest loss, and degradation. Our findings highlight that non-forest woody vegetation is an increasingly important contributor to interannual to decadal variability in the global carbon cycle.

Original language	English
Article number	e17423
Journal	Global Change Biology
Volume	30
Issue number	7
Number of pages	13
ISSN	1354-1013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17423
Publication status	Published - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords

aboveground carbon
El Niño
non-forest woody vegetation
recovery
remote sensing
tropics

Access to Document

10.1111/gcb.17423

Cite this

Fan, L., Cui, T., Wigneron, J-P., Ciais, P., Sitch, S., Brandt, M., Li, X., Niu, S., Xiao, X., Chave, J., Wu, C., Li, W., Yuan, W., Xing, Z., Li, X., Wang, M., Liu, X., Chen, X., Qin, Y., ... Fensholt, R. (2024). Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery. Global Change Biology, 30(7), [e17423]. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17423

Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery. / Fan, Lei; Cui, Tianxiang; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre; Ciais, Philippe; Sitch, Stephen; Brandt, Martin; Li, Xin; Niu, Shuli; Xiao, Xiangming; Chave, Jérome; Wu, Chaoyang; Li, Wei; Yuan, Wenping; Xing, Zanpin; Li, Xiaojun; Wang, Mengjia; Liu, Xiangzhuo; Chen, Xiuzhi; Qin, Yuanwei; Yang, Hui; Tang, Qiang; Li, Yuechen; Ma, Mingguo; Fensholt, Rasmus.

In: Global Change Biology, Vol. 30, No. 7, e17423, 2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Fan, L, Cui, T, Wigneron, J-P, Ciais, P, Sitch, S, Brandt, M, Li, X, Niu, S, Xiao, X, Chave, J, Wu, C, Li, W, Yuan, W, Xing, Z, Li, X, Wang, M, Liu, X, Chen, X, Qin, Y, Yang, H, Tang, Q, Li, Y, Ma, M & Fensholt, R 2024, 'Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery', Global Change Biology, vol. 30, no. 7, e17423. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17423

Fan, Lei ; Cui, Tianxiang ; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre ; Ciais, Philippe ; Sitch, Stephen ; Brandt, Martin ; Li, Xin ; Niu, Shuli ; Xiao, Xiangming ; Chave, Jérome ; Wu, Chaoyang ; Li, Wei ; Yuan, Wenping ; Xing, Zanpin ; Li, Xiaojun ; Wang, Mengjia ; Liu, Xiangzhuo ; Chen, Xiuzhi ; Qin, Yuanwei ; Yang, Hui ; Tang, Qiang ; Li, Yuechen ; Ma, Mingguo ; Fensholt, Rasmus. / Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery. In: Global Change Biology. 2024 ; Vol. 30, No. 7.

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title = "Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Ni{\~n}o tropical carbon recovery",

abstract = "The extreme dry and hot 2015/16 El Ni{\~n}o episode caused large losses in tropical live aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. Followed by climatic conditions conducive to high vegetation productivity since 2016, tropical AGC are expected to recover from large losses during the El Ni{\~n}o episode; however, the recovery rate and its spatial distribution remain unknown. Here, we used low-frequency microwave satellite data to track AGC changes, and showed that tropical AGC stocks returned to pre-El Ni{\~n}o levels by the end of 2020, resulting in an AGC sink of (Formula presented.) Pg C year−1 during 2014–2020. This sink was dominated by strong AGC increases ((Formula presented.) Pg C year−1) in non-forest woody vegetation during 2016–2020, compensating the forest AGC losses attributed to the El Ni{\~n}o event, forest loss, and degradation. Our findings highlight that non-forest woody vegetation is an increasingly important contributor to interannual to decadal variability in the global carbon cycle.",

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AU - Sitch, Stephen

AU - Brandt, Martin

AU - Li, Xin

AU - Niu, Shuli

AU - Xiao, Xiangming

AU - Chave, Jérome

AU - Wu, Chaoyang

AU - Li, Wei

AU - Yuan, Wenping

AU - Xing, Zanpin

AU - Li, Xiaojun

AU - Wang, Mengjia

AU - Liu, Xiangzhuo

AU - Chen, Xiuzhi

AU - Qin, Yuanwei

AU - Yang, Hui

AU - Tang, Qiang

AU - Li, Yuechen

AU - Ma, Mingguo

AU - Fensholt, Rasmus

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N2 - The extreme dry and hot 2015/16 El Niño episode caused large losses in tropical live aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. Followed by climatic conditions conducive to high vegetation productivity since 2016, tropical AGC are expected to recover from large losses during the El Niño episode; however, the recovery rate and its spatial distribution remain unknown. Here, we used low-frequency microwave satellite data to track AGC changes, and showed that tropical AGC stocks returned to pre-El Niño levels by the end of 2020, resulting in an AGC sink of (Formula presented.) Pg C year−1 during 2014–2020. This sink was dominated by strong AGC increases ((Formula presented.) Pg C year−1) in non-forest woody vegetation during 2016–2020, compensating the forest AGC losses attributed to the El Niño event, forest loss, and degradation. Our findings highlight that non-forest woody vegetation is an increasingly important contributor to interannual to decadal variability in the global carbon cycle.

AB - The extreme dry and hot 2015/16 El Niño episode caused large losses in tropical live aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. Followed by climatic conditions conducive to high vegetation productivity since 2016, tropical AGC are expected to recover from large losses during the El Niño episode; however, the recovery rate and its spatial distribution remain unknown. Here, we used low-frequency microwave satellite data to track AGC changes, and showed that tropical AGC stocks returned to pre-El Niño levels by the end of 2020, resulting in an AGC sink of (Formula presented.) Pg C year−1 during 2014–2020. This sink was dominated by strong AGC increases ((Formula presented.) Pg C year−1) in non-forest woody vegetation during 2016–2020, compensating the forest AGC losses attributed to the El Niño event, forest loss, and degradation. Our findings highlight that non-forest woody vegetation is an increasingly important contributor to interannual to decadal variability in the global carbon cycle.

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