Li et al. (2026) Extreme drought converts grassland carbon sinks to sources in Inner Mongolia, but strong recovery follows: Insights from a 9-year study

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-30
• Authors: Shaoling Li, Rongle Zhang, Juejie Yang, Tai Yang, Cong Wang, Frank Hagedorn, Arthur Geßler, Marcus Schaub, Fei Li, Shikui Dong, Qiang Yu
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111446

Research Groups

• School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, China
• Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RCEES-CAS), China
• Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland
• Grassland Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China

Short Summary

This study evaluates the impact of extreme drought on carbon fluxes in Inner Mongolia's grasslands from 2010 to 2018, finding that the 2017 drought converted carbon sinks into sources, followed by a strong recovery in 2018.

Objective

• To assess the impacts of extreme drought on carbon fluxes (GPP, NPP, and NEP) and the subsequent post-drought recovery capacity of arid and semi-arid grasslands in Inner Mongolia.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Arid and semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China (representative of the eastern Eurasian steppe).
• Temporal Scale: 2010–2018 (9-year period), with a focus on the 2017 extreme drought event.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Remote-sensing-based analysis; a proposed precipitation anomaly-based approach for drought detection utilizing two structural indicators (proportion of affected area and number of impacted stations).
• Data sources: Remote sensing data and station-based precipitation data.

Main Results

• Drought Impact (2017): Gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP) declined by 43 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ and 21.1 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively. Net ecosystem productivity (NEP) turned negative (e.g., -14.5 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in Xilingol League), shifting the region from a carbon sink to a source.
• Recovery (2018): GPP and NPP increased by 29.3 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ and 17.5 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively, exceeding pre-drought levels. NEP rebounded by 80% compared to the drought year.
• Spatial Variability: Central and eastern regions demonstrated higher drought resistance and faster recovery, whereas northern regions exhibited higher sensitivity.

Contributions

• Quantifies the resilience and carbon dynamics of temperate steppes under extreme hydroclimatic stress.
• Introduces a scalable, indicator-based framework for identifying extreme droughts that improves spatial robustness and operational consistency over traditional methods.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Li2026Extreme,
  author = {Li, Shaoling and Zhang, Rongle and Yang, Juejie and Yang, Tai and Wang, Cong and Hagedorn, Frank and Geßler, Arthur and Schaub, Marcus and Li, Fei and Dong, Shikui and Yu, Qiang},
  title = {Extreme drought converts grassland carbon sinks to sources in Inner Mongolia, but strong recovery follows: Insights from a 9-year study},
  journal = {Agricultural and Forest Meteorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111446},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111446}
}