Wang et al. (2025) Aridification enhancing vegetation sensitivities to soil and atmospheric dryness in Northeast Asia

Identification

• Journal: Global and Planetary Change
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-08
• Authors: Zhikai Wang, Wen Chen, Jinling Piao, Shangfeng Chen, Changhao Wu
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105244

Research Groups

• Center for Monsoon System Research, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• Yunnan Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disasters and Climate Resources in the Greater Mekong Subregion, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
• Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
• Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Monsoon and Climate Disasters, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
• National Key Laboratory of Earth System Numerical Modeling and Application, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Short Summary

This study investigates how vegetation gross primary production (GPP) sensitivity to soil moisture (SM) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) shifts across aridity gradients in Northeast Asia, finding that aridification enhances GPP vulnerability, especially to VPD in semi-arid to humid zones.

Objective

• To explore the relative dominance of soil moisture (SM) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on gross primary production (GPP) variations and understand the shifting sensitivity of vegetation productivity to a warming climate across aridity gradients in Northeast Asia.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Northeast Asia (NEA), encompassing northern China and the Mongolian Plateau.
• Temporal Scale: Focuses on changes observed since the early 2000s, reflecting a period of warming and drying conditions.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random Forest (RF) algorithm.
• Data sources: Not explicitly detailed in the provided text, but implied observational or reanalysis data for gross primary production (GPP), soil moisture (SM), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD).

Main Results

• Vegetation growth in arid regions is predominantly influenced by soil moisture (SM).
• Vapor pressure deficit (VPD) exerts a stronger influence on vegetation growth in semi-arid to humid zones.
• Under warming and drying conditions (aridification), the sensitivity of GPP to water availability intensified.
• Vegetation in semi-arid to humid zones became increasingly vulnerable to VPD under these aridifying conditions.

Contributions

• Demonstrates distinct and varied responses of vegetation growth to soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit across different aridity gradients.
• Quantifies the intensification of GPP sensitivity to water availability under ongoing warming and drying conditions in Northeast Asia.
• Highlights the increased vulnerability of vegetation in semi-arid to humid zones to vapor pressure deficit due to aridification.
• Provides crucial insights for predicting ecosystem vulnerability and assessing vegetation responses to future climate scenarios, particularly in regions experiencing dryland expansion and intensified climate variability.

Funding

• Not explicitly detailed in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Wang2025Aridification,
  author = {Wang, Zhikai and Chen, Wen and Piao, Jinling and Chen, Shangfeng and Wu, Changhao},
  title = {Aridification enhancing vegetation sensitivities to soil and atmospheric dryness in Northeast Asia},
  journal = {Global and Planetary Change},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105244},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105244}
}