Hong et al. (2026) Widespread controls of precipitation sensitivity on drought recovery of global forests

Identification

• Journal: Nature Communications
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-04
• Authors: Yixue Hong, Matthew D. Petrie, Yu Zhang, Yaping Chen, Heng Huang, Hao Chen
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75320-1

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, China
• School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, USA
• Key Laboratory of Urban Ecological Environment Simulation and Protection, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, MEE, China

Short Summary

This study reveals that precipitation sensitivity (SPre) is a pivotal factor shaping global forest recovery following extreme drought years. The relationship between SPre and drought recovery is non-linear, with highest drought recovery at intermediate SPre values.

Objective

• Investigate the effect of precipitation sensitivity on drought recovery across global forests using multiple satellite-derived datasets.
• Elucidate the relative importance of SPre on gross primary productivity (GPP)-based and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)-based measures of drought recovery compared to other established climatic and biotic factors influencing drought recovery.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global forest ecosystems, with a spatial resolution of 0.05°.
• Temporal Scale: Three decades (1985–2000 and 2001–2018) of global-scale remote-sensing observations.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Generalized additive models (GAMs), linear regression models (LMs), and random forest (RF) regression models.
• Data sources: Satellite-derived datasets, including GPP and NDVI from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling Studies (GIMMS).

Main Results

• The relationship between SPre and drought recovery is non-linear across global forests, with highest drought recovery at intermediate SPre values.
• Sub-tropical forests exhibit a significant non-linear pattern between SPre and drought recovery, while tropical, temperate, and boreal forests present positive linear relationships.
• Over the past three decades, climate change increases SPre in 56% of global forests, and 30% experience SPre increases associated with a decline in drought recovery.

Contributions

• This study provides more detailed insights into the relationships between SPre and drought recovery for global forests.
• The findings highlight the importance of incorporating SPre into ecological models to improve predictions of forest resilience under climate change.

Funding

• Not specified.

Citation

@article{Hong2026Widespread,
  author = {Hong, Yixue and Petrie, Matthew D. and Zhang, Yu and Chen, Yaping and Huang, Heng and Chen, Hao},
  title = {Widespread controls of precipitation sensitivity on drought recovery of global forests},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-75320-1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75320-1}
}