Decline in coupling between vegetation photosynthesis and greening in northern ecosystems during the photosynthesis-up period

The maximum seasonal vegetation photosynthesis (Phomax) is crucial to regulating the global carbon dynamics. Among them, the seasonal increments in vegetation photosynthesis (ΔPho) have major implications for understanding Phomax. However, the interannual variability of ΔPho within the photosynthesis-up period (PUP) and its influencing factors remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we identified PUP and quantified the multi-year characteristics of ΔPho using satellite-derived solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. We further investigated the response of ΔPho in northern ecosystems to climate change and vegetation greening by integrating climate data and the normalized difference vegetation index. In the northern ecosystems, longer PUP often spatially correlated with a higher ΔPho. An increasing trend was evident regarding the multi-year variations in ΔPho, suggesting enhanced vegetation photosynthesis within the PUP. This phenomenon is primarily driven by increased solar radiation and intensified vegetation greening. Additionally, based on the results derived from satellite data, we found three pieces of evidence for the decoupling trend between vegetation photosynthesis and greening under the influence of climate change: first, the inconsistent trends between ΔPho and greening; second, the declining moving trend in the correlation coefficient between ΔPho and greening, approximately 9.17 × 10−4; and third, the weakened dominant role of greening on ΔPho. The findings are also partially validated by the results from ecosystem model simulations. This study provides insights into the interannual variability of ΔPho and its influencing factors, and indicates that vegetation dynamics and terrestrial carbon cycle are likely to become more complex under future climate change scenarios.