Increased atmospheric vapor pressure deficit reduces global vegetation growth

Atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is a critical variable in determining plant photosynthesis. Synthesis of four global climate datasets reveals a sharp increase of VPD after the late 1990s. In response, the vegetation greening trend indicated by a satellite-derived vegetation index (GIMMS3g), which was evident before the late 1990s, was subsequently stalled or reversed. Terrestrial gross primary production derived from two satellite-based models (revised EC-LUE and MODIS) exhibits persistent and widespread decreases after the late 1990s due to increased VPD, which offset the positive CO2 fertilization effect. Six Earth system models have consistently projected continuous increases of VPD throughout the current century. Our results highlight that the impacts of VPD on vegetation growth should be adequately considered to assess ecosystem responses to future climate conditions.

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Author Yuan, Wenping
Zheng, Yi
Piao, Shilong
Ciais, Philippe
Lombardozzi, Danica
Wang, Yingping
Ryu, Youngryel
Chen, Guixing
Dong, Wenjie
Hu, Zhongming
Jain, Atul K.
Jiang, Chongya
Kato, Etsushi
Li, Shihua
Lienert, Sebastian
Liu, Shuguang
Nabel, Julia E.M.S.
Qin, Zhangcai
Quine, Timothy
Sitch, Stephen
Smith, William K.
Wang, Fan
Wu, Chaoyang
Xiao, Zhiqiang
Yang, Song
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2019-08-14T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T19:08:07.625598
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:22764
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Yuan, Wenping, Zheng, Yi, Piao, Shilong, Ciais, Philippe, Lombardozzi, Danica, Wang, Yingping, Ryu, Youngryel, Chen, Guixing, Dong, Wenjie, Hu, Zhongming, Jain, Atul K., Jiang, Chongya, Kato, Etsushi, Li, Shihua, Lienert, Sebastian, Liu, Shuguang, Nabel, Julia E.M.S., Qin, Zhangcai, Quine, Timothy, Sitch, Stephen, Smith, William K., Wang, Fan, Wu, Chaoyang, Xiao, Zhiqiang, Yang, Song. (2019). Increased atmospheric vapor pressure deficit reduces global vegetation growth. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7cn76jd. Accessed 05 April 2025.

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