Terrestrial Vegetation Dynamics and Global Climate Controls in North America: 2001–2005

Abstract Monthly composite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor was used to reconstruct vegetation dynamics in response to climate patterns over the period 2001–05 for North America. Results imply that plant growth over extensive land areas were closely coupled to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) effects on regional climate. Areas strongly tied to recent (2002–03) ENSO climate effects were located mainly in northwestern Canada, interior Alaska, the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, and throughout northern Mexico. Localized variations in precipitation were detected as the predominant controllers of monthly values for the MODIS fraction absorbed of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) over these regions.

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Reduced resilience of terrestrial ecosystems locally is not reflected on a global scale

Communications Earth & Environment ◽

10.1038/s43247-021-00163-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yuhao Feng ◽

Haojie Su ◽

Zhiyao Tang ◽

Shaopeng Wang ◽

Xia Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Global Climate ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽

Global Scale ◽

Ecological Resilience ◽

Terrestrial Vegetation ◽

Ecosystem Resilience

AbstractGlobal climate change likely alters the structure and function of vegetation and the stability of terrestrial ecosystems. It is therefore important to assess the factors controlling ecosystem resilience from local to global scales. Here we assess terrestrial vegetation resilience over the past 35 years using early warning indicators calculated from normalized difference vegetation index data. On a local scale we find that climate change reduced the resilience of ecosystems in 64.5% of the global terrestrial vegetated area. Temperature had a greater influence on vegetation resilience than precipitation, while climate mean state had a greater influence than climate variability. However, there is no evidence for decreased ecological resilience on larger scales. Instead, climate warming increased spatial asynchrony of vegetation which buffered the global-scale impacts on resilience. We suggest that the response of terrestrial ecosystem resilience to global climate change is scale-dependent and influenced by spatial asynchrony on the global scale.

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Grassland fire ecology has roots in the late Miocene

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1809758115 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 115 (48) ◽

pp. 12130-12135 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Allison T. Karp ◽

Anna K. Behrensmeyer ◽

Katherine H. Freeman

Keyword(s):

Late Miocene ◽

Fire Ecology ◽

Vegetation Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Indian Subcontinent ◽

Strong Association ◽

Feedback System ◽

Terrestrial Vegetation ◽

Precipitation Seasonality ◽

Seasonal Extremes

That fire facilitated the late Miocene C4grassland expansion is widely suspected but poorly documented. Fire potentially tied global climate to this profound biosphere transition by serving as a regional-to-local driver of vegetation change. In modern environments, seasonal extremes in moisture amplify the occurrence of fire, disturbing forest ecosystems to create niche space for flammable grasses, which in turn provide fuel for frequent fires. On the Indian subcontinent, C4expansion was accompanied by increased seasonal extremes in rainfall (evidenced by δ18Ocarbonate), which set the stage for fuel accumulation and fire-linked clearance during wet-to-dry seasonal transitions. Here, we test the role of fire directly by examining the abundance and distribution patterns of fire-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and terrestrial vegetation signatures inn-alkane carbon isotopes from paleosol samples of the Siwalik Group (Pakistan). Two million years before the C4grassland transition, fire-derived PAH concentrations increased as conifer vegetation declined, as indicated by a decrease in retene. This early increase in molecular fire signatures suggests a transition to more fire-prone vegetation such as a C3grassland and/or dry deciduous woodland. Between 8.0 and 6.0 million years ago, fire, precipitation seasonality, and C4-grass dominance increased simultaneously (within resolution) as marked by sharp increases in fire-derived PAHs, δ18Ocarbonate, and13C enrichment inn-alkanes diagnostic of C4grasses. The strong association of evidence for fire occurrence, vegetation change, and landscape opening indicates that a dynamic fire–grassland feedback system was both a necessary precondition and a driver for grassland ecology during the first emergence of C4grasslands.

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Tendency Bias Correction in Coupled and Uncoupled Global Climate Models with a Focus on Impacts over North America

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-18-0598.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 639-661 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Y. Chang ◽

S. D. Schubert ◽

R. D. Koster ◽

A. M. Molod ◽

H. Wang

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Bias Correction ◽

Climate Models ◽

Global Climate ◽

Storm Track ◽

Coupled Model ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

Forecast Skill ◽

Boreal Summer ◽

Transient Wave

Abstract We revisit the bias correction problem in current climate models, taking advantage of state-of-the-art atmospheric reanalysis data and new data assimilation tools that simplify the estimation of short-term (6 hourly) atmospheric tendency errors. The focus is on the extent to which correcting biases in atmospheric tendencies improves the model’s climatology, variability, and ultimately forecast skill at subseasonal and seasonal time scales. Results are presented for the NASA GMAO GEOS model in both uncoupled (atmosphere only) and coupled (atmosphere–ocean) modes. For the uncoupled model, the focus is on correcting a stunted North Pacific jet and a dry bias over the central United States during boreal summer—long-standing errors that are indeed common to many current AGCMs. The results show that the tendency bias correction (TBC) eliminates the jet bias and substantially increases the precipitation over the Great Plains. These changes are accompanied by much improved (increased) storm-track activity throughout the northern midlatitudes. For the coupled model, the atmospheric TBCs produce substantial improvements in the simulated mean climate and its variability, including a much reduced SST warm bias, more realistic ENSO-related SST variability and teleconnections, and much improved subtropical jets and related submonthly transient wave activity. Despite these improvements, the improvement in subseasonal and seasonal forecast skill over North America is only modest at best. The reasons for this, which are presumably relevant to any forecast system, involve the competing influences of predictability loss with time and the time it takes for climate drift to first have a significant impact on forecast skill.

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High-resolution magnetostratigraphy of the upper Nacimiento Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, USA: implications for basin evolution and mammalian turnover

10.31233/osf.io/qxw4n ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Caitlin Leslie ◽

Daniel J. Peppe ◽

Thomas E. Williamson ◽

Dario Bilardello ◽

Matthew Heizler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Mexico ◽

North America ◽

Accumulation Rate ◽

Global Climate ◽

Sediment Accumulation ◽

San Juan ◽

Accumulation Rates ◽

Fluvial System ◽

San Juan Basin ◽

Geomagnetic Polarity

Lower Paleocene deposits in the San Juan Basin document one of the best records of mammalian change and turnover following the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinctions and are the type section for the Puercan (Pu) and Torrejonian (To) North America Land Mammal age biozones (NALMA). One of the largest mammalian turnover events in the early Paleocene occurs between the Torrejonian 2 (To2) and Torrejonian 3 (To3) NALMA biozones. The Nacimiento Formation are the only deposits in North America where the To2-To3 mammalian turnover can be constrained, however the precise age and duration of the turnover is poorly understood due to the lack of a precise chronostratigraphic framework. We analyzed paleomagnetic samples, produced a 40Ar/39Ar detrital sanidine age, and developed a detailed lithostratigraphy for four sections of the upper Nacimiento Formation in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico (Kutz Canyon, Escavada Wash, Torreon West and East) to constrain the age and duration of the deposits and the To2-To3 turnover. The polarity stratigraphy for the four sections can be correlated to chrons C27r-C26r of the geomagnetic polarity time scale (GPTS). Using the local polarity stratigraphy for each section, we calculated a mean sediment accumulation rate and developed a precise age model, which allows us to determine the age of important late Torrejonian mammalian localities. Using the assigned ages, we estimate the To2-To3 turnover was relatively rapid and occurred over ~120 kyr (-60/+50 kyr) between 62.59 and 62.47 Ma. This rapid duration of the mammalian turnover suggests that it was driven by external forcing factors, such as environmental change driven by the progradation of the distributive fluvial system across the basin and/or changes in regional or global climate. Additionally, comparisons of the mean sediment accumulation rates between the sections that span from the basin margin to the basin center indicate that sediment accumulation rates equalized across the basin from the end of C27r through the start of C26r, suggesting an accommodation minima in the basin associated with the progradation of a distributive fluvial system into the basin. This accommodation minimum also likely led to the long hiatus of deposition between the Paleocene Nacimiento Formation and the overlying Eocene San Jose Formation.

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CLIMATE CONTROLS ON THE STRATIGRAPHY OF A MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN CYCLOTHEM IN NORTH AMERICA

Climate Controls on Stratigraphy ◽

10.2110/pec.03.77.0151 ◽

2003 ◽

pp. 151-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

C. BLAINE CECIL ◽

FRANK T. DULONG ◽

RONALD R. WEST ◽

ROBERT STAMM ◽

BRUCE WARDLAW ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Climate Controls

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Assessment of terrestrial vegetation dynamics from MODIS fAPARchl product and land surface model

2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) ◽

10.1109/igarss.2016.7729327 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Tian Yao ◽

Qingyuan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Land Surface ◽

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Land Surface Model ◽

Surface Model ◽

Terrestrial Vegetation

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Prediction of the Long-Term Potential Distribution of Cryptorhynchus lapathi (L.) under Climate Change

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11010005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 5 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ya Zou ◽

Linjing Zhang ◽

Xuezhen Ge ◽

Siwei Guo ◽

Xue Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

North America ◽

Potential Distribution ◽

Climate Models ◽

Global Climate ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

Prevention Measures ◽

Climate Data ◽

Effective Prevention ◽

Future Global Warming

The poplar and willow borer, Cryptorhynchus lapathi (L.), is a severe worldwide quarantine pest that causes great economic, social, and ecological damage in Europe, North America, and Asia. CLIMEX4.0.0 was used to study the likely impact of climate change on the potential global distribution of C. lapathi based on existing (1987–2016) and predicted (2021–2040, 2041–2080, and 2081–2100) climate data. Future climate data were simulated based on global climate models from Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) under the RCP4.5 projection. The potential distribution of C. lapathi under historical climate conditions mainly includes North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Future global warming may cause a northward shift in the northern boundary of potential distribution. The total suitable area would increase by 2080–2100. Additionally, climatic suitability would change in large regions of the northern hemisphere and decrease in a small region of the southern hemisphere. The projected potential distribution will help determine the impacts of climate change and identify areas at risk of pest invasion in the future. In turn, this will help design and implement effective prevention measures for expanding pest populations, using natural enemies, microorganisms, and physical barriers in very favorable regions to impede the movement and oviposition of C. lapathi.

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Hydrological Condition Constrains Vegetation Dynamics for Wintering Waterfowl in China’s East Dongting Lake Wetland

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11184936 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (18) ◽

pp. 4936 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Min Wang ◽

Qing Gu ◽

Guihua Liu ◽

Jingwei Shen ◽

Xuguang Tang

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Global Climate ◽

Dongting Lake ◽

Plant Resources ◽

Data Set ◽

Wintering Waterfowl ◽

The Government

As an internationally important wintering region for waterfowls on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, the national reserve of China’s East Dongting Lake wetland is abundant in animal and plant resources during winter. The hydrological regimes, as well as vegetation dynamics, in the wetland have experienced substantial changes due to global climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, such as the construction of hydroelectric dams. However, few studies have investigated how the wetland vegetation has changed over time, particularly during the wintering season, and how this has directly affected habitat suitability for migratory waterfowl. Thus, it is necessary to monitor the spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation in the protected wetland and explore the potential factors that alter it. In this study, the data set of time-series Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 2000 to 2018 was used to analyze the seasonal dynamics and interannual trends of vegetation over the wintering period from October to January. The results showed that the average NDVI exhibited an overall increasing trend, with the trend rising slowly in recent years. The largest monthly mean NDVI generally occurred in November, which is pertinent to the quantity of wintering waterfowl in the East Dongting Lake wetland. Meanwhile, the mean NDVI in the wintering season is significantly correlated to temperature and water area, with apparent lagging effects. Long-term stability analysis presented a gradually decreasing pattern from the central body of water to the surrounding area. All analyses will help the government to make appropriate management strategies to protect the habitat of wintering waterfowl in the wetland.

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