An et al. (2026) Reversal of Temperature Sensitivity in Vegetation Greenness Rates Along Aridity Gradients Across Global Ecoregions

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Earth s Future
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-01
• Authors: Shuai An, Xiaoyang Zhang, Geoffrey M. Henebry, Anping Chen, Yongchang Ye, Yuxia Liu, Khuong H. Tran, Yu Shen, Fangjun Li
• DOI: 10.1029/2026ef008814

Research Groups

• Earth System Science Department, University of California, Irvine
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of aridity on the climatic sensitivities of satellite-derived green-up rate (GR) and senescence rate (SR) in natural ecosystems at a global scale. The research reveals that aridity fundamentally reshapes vegetation-climate interactions, with important implications for ecosystem carbon uptake under climate change.

Objective

• Investigate how aridity modulates the climatic sensitivities of GR and SR in natural ecosystems across different ecoregions

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global (764 ecoregions)
• Temporal Scale: 20-year period (2000-2019)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Satellite observations (e.g., MODIS, Landsat) and climate data sets (e.g., ERA5, PRISM)
• Data sources: Satellite imagery, climate reanalysis products, soil moisture datasets

Main Results

• Decreasing aridity increases GR sensitivity to temperature accumulation rates in arid ecoregions during the green-up phase
• In humid ecoregions, this sensitivity weakens and can become negative as conditions become wetter
• Similar patterns are observed for SR, with asymmetric sensitivity reversal across aridity gradients

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into vegetation-climate interactions under climate change, highlighting critical transitions in climate sensitivities across aridity gradients
• The findings have important implications for predicting ecosystem responses to intensifying drought and assessing risks to carbon sequestration under future climate change

Funding

• NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Program (NNH16ZDA001N)
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Earth System Science Division (EAR-1844517)

Citation

@article{An2026Reversal,
  author = {An, Shuai and Zhang, Xiaoyang and Henebry, Geoffrey M. and Chen, Anping and Ye, Yongchang and Liu, Yuxia and Tran, Khuong H. and Shen, Yu and Li, Fangjun},
  title = {Reversal of Temperature Sensitivity in Vegetation Greenness Rates Along Aridity Gradients Across Global Ecoregions},
  journal = {Earth s Future},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2026ef008814},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2026ef008814}
}