The global distribution of the optimum air temperature for ecosystem-level gross primary productivity (T-opt(eco))is poorly understood, despite its importance for ecosystem carbon uptake under future warming. We provide empirical evidence for the existence of such an optimum, using measurements of in situ eddy covariance and satellite-derived proxies, and report its global distribution. T-opt(eco) is consistently lower than the physiological optimum temperature of leaf-level photosynthetic capacity, which typically exceeds 30 degrees C. The global average T-opt(eco) is estimated to be 23 +/- 6 degrees C, with warmer regions having higher T-opt(eco) values than colder regions. In tropical forests in particular, T-opt(eco) is close to growing-season air temperature and is projected to fall below it under all scenarios of future climate, suggesting a limited safe operating space for these ecosystems under future warming.
1.Peking Univ, Sinofrench Inst Earth Syst Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Alpine Ecol & Biodivers, Beijing, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Excellence Tibetan Earth Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China 4.Lab Sci Climat & Environm, Gif Sur Yvette, France 5.Ctr Res Ecol & Forestry Applicat, Barcelona, Spain 6.CSIC, Global Ecol Unit CREAF CSIC UAB, Barcelona, Spain 7.Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Berkeley, CA USA 8.Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Environm Sci Policy & Management, Berkeley, CA USA 9.Carnegie Inst Sci, Dept Global Ecol, Stanford, CA USA 10.Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Climate Change Sci Inst, Oak Ridge, TN USA 11.Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Environm Sci Div, Oak Ridge, TN USA 12.European Commiss, Joint Res Ctr, Ispra, Italy 13.Univ Lorraine, INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR Silva, Nancy, France 14.Univ Ghent, CAVElab Computat & Appl Vegetat Ecol, Ghent, Belgium 15.No Arizona Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Box 5640, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA 16.Boston Univ, Dept Earth & Environm, Boston, MA 02215 USA 17.Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Ecosyst Network Observat & Modeling, Beijing, Peoples R China 18.Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Atmospher Sci, Guangzhou, Guangdong, Peoples R China 19.Brookhaven Natl Lab, Environm & Climate Sci Dept, Upton, NY 11973 USA 20.Univ Hong Kong, Sch Biol Sci, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, Peoples R China 21.Univ Antwerp, Ctr Excellence Plants & Vegetat Ecol, Antwerp, Belgium
Recommended Citation:
Huang, Mengtian,Piao, Shilong,Ciais, Philippe,et al. Air temperature optima of vegetation productivity across global biomes[J]. NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,2019-01-01,3(5):772-779