Lin et al. (2025) Heatwaves exacerbate the effects of early-season drought on peak vegetation growth in the Northern Hemisphere

Identification

• Journal: Global and Planetary Change
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-30
• Authors: Shaozhi Lin, Huanjiong Wang, Wenrui Bai, Chengxi Gao, Quansheng Ge
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105139

Research Groups

• Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Short Summary

This study investigates how compound drought-heatwave events exacerbate the effects of early-season drought on peak vegetation growth in the Northern Hemisphere, finding that CDHWs intensify negative impacts in arid/semi-arid biomes and positive impacts in wetter/colder biomes.

Objective

• To determine whether compound drought-heatwave (CDHW) events exacerbate the effects of individual droughts on peak vegetation growth, and to compare these responses across different biomes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Northern Hemisphere (≥23.5°N)
• Temporal Scale: 2000 to 2020

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random forest model
• Data sources: MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), spatial-continuous Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) datasets

Main Results

• Individual droughts negatively affected peak vegetation growth across most biomes, particularly in arid and semi-arid grasslands and desert biomes.
• The negative impact of individual drought was diminished or even reversed in wetter or colder biomes.
• Compound drought-heatwave (CDHW) events intensified the negative effects of individual drought on peak growth in arid and semi-arid biomes.
• CDHW events intensified the positive influence of individual drought in wetter or colder biomes.
• Key factors influencing vegetation response to early-season drought or CDHW included solar radiation, daily maximum temperature, and anomalies in atmospheric CO2 concentration (ΔCO2).
• Vegetation in regions with higher temperatures, stronger radiation, and lower CO2 concentrations exhibited decreased resistance to individual drought and CDHW.

Contributions

• Quantifies the exacerbating effects of compound drought-heatwave events on peak vegetation growth compared to individual droughts.
• Provides a biome-specific analysis of these effects across the Northern Hemisphere.
• Identifies key climatic and biological factors influencing vegetation response to drought and CDHW.
• Underscores the need to mitigate the adverse effects of CDHW events on terrestrial ecosystems.

Funding

• [No funding information provided in the excerpt.]

Citation

@article{Lin2025Heatwaves,
  author = {Lin, Shaozhi and Wang, Huanjiong and Bai, Wenrui and Gao, Chengxi and Ge, Quansheng},
  title = {Heatwaves exacerbate the effects of early-season drought on peak vegetation growth in the Northern Hemisphere},
  journal = {Global and Planetary Change},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105139},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105139}
}