Forest sensitivity change in response to disturbances

Forests are a primary terrestrial carbon (C) pool. The increasing frequency and intensity of climate-sensitive disturbances, such as droughts, fires, and biotic agent outbreaks, is threatening the long-term uptake and sequestration of C. It is crucial to determine how climate-sensitive disturbances may alter the capacity of forest C sinks in a changing climate. Here, we quantified the change in the sensitivity of forest productivity to water stress due to severe droughts, fires, and insect outbreaks. We found that the sensitivity of gross primary productivity to subsequent water stress increased significantly after initial drought and fire disturbances in the conterminous United States.<br><br>Citation: Meng Liu, Anna T. Trugman, Josep Peñuelas, William R. L. Anderegg. Climate-driven disturbances amplify forest drought sensitivity. 2024. Nature Climate Change. (In press)<br>森林是陆地主要的碳（C）库。气候敏感型扰动（如干旱、火灾、生物因子暴发）的发生频率与强度持续攀升，正威胁着碳的长期吸收与固存。明确在气候变化背景下，气候敏感型扰动如何改变森林碳汇的容量，至关重要。本研究针对严重干旱、火灾与虫害暴发引发的森林生产力对水分胁迫的敏感性变化开展了量化分析。研究发现，在美国本土范围内，初始干旱与火灾扰动后，总初级生产力（gross primary productivity, GPP）对后续水分胁迫的敏感性显著提升。<br><br>引用：刘梦，Anna T. Trugman，Josep Peñuelas，William R. L. Anderegg. 《气候驱动的扰动加剧森林干旱敏感性》. 2024，《自然·气候变化》（"Nature Climate Change"），已录用（In press）