Zou et al. (2026) Precipitation and shortwave radiation dominate vegetation recovery times from flash droughts across Köppen–Geiger climate zones

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-06-27
• Authors: Lei Zou, Wenzhe Zhu, Jun Xia, Feiping Wang, Dunxian She, Chengjian Liu, J Q Xu, Lingfeng Zuo
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111325

Research Groups

Key Laboratory of Water Cycle & Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management, Wuhan University; School of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, North China Electric Power University; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Short Summary

This study investigates the global patterns and drivers of vegetation recovery from flash droughts across different climate zones using gross primary productivity (GPP) and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) data. The results show that precipitation and shortwave radiation are the primary drivers of vegetation recovery time, with a global mean recovery time of approximately 55.70 days.

Objective

• Investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation recovery from flash droughts across different climate zones.
• Identify the key drivers of vegetation recovery time using SHAP analysis and partial correlation analysis.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with a focus on K¨oppen–Geiger climate zones.
• Temporal Scale: 2001-2023.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: XGBoost model for SHAP analysis.
• Data sources: Gross primary productivity (GPP) and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) data from satellite observations.

Main Results

• The global mean vegetation recovery time was approximately 55.70 days.
• Tropical climates showed the shortest recovery time, while arid climates and Mediterranean subtypes exhibited longer recovery time.
• Precipitation and shortwave radiation were the primary drivers of vegetation recovery time, jointly explaining 44.54%–56.12% of the variance in the recovery time.

Contributions

• This study provides critical insights into the global patterns and drivers of vegetation recovery from flash droughts across different climate zones.
• The findings have implications for predicting ecosystem responses to climate change and formulating targeted adaptation strategies.

Funding

• Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42175043).

Citation

@article{Zou2026Precipitation,
  author = {Zou, Lei and Zhu, Wenzhe and Xia, Jun and Wang, Feiping and She, Dunxian and Liu, Chengjian and Xu, J Q and Zuo, Lingfeng},
  title = {Precipitation and shortwave radiation dominate vegetation recovery times from flash droughts across Köppen–Geiger climate zones},
  journal = {Agricultural and Forest Meteorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111325},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111325}
}