Premium
Impact of CO 2 fertilization on maximum foliage cover across the globe's warm, arid environments
Author(s) -
Donohue Randall J.,
Roderick Michael L.,
McVicar Tim R.,
Farquhar Graham D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/grl.50563
Subject(s) - arid , environmental science , greening , precipitation , vegetation (pathology) , human fertilization , satellite , atmospheric sciences , climatology , agronomy , ecology , meteorology , geography , geology , biology , medicine , engineering , pathology , aerospace engineering
Satellite observations reveal a greening of the globe over recent decades. The role in this greening of the “CO 2 fertilization” effect—the enhancement of photosynthesis due to rising CO 2 levels—is yet to be established. The direct CO 2 effect on vegetation should be most clearly expressed in warm, arid environments where water is the dominant limit to vegetation growth. Using gas exchange theory, we predict that the 14% increase in atmospheric CO 2 (1982–2010) led to a 5 to 10% increase in green foliage cover in warm, arid environments. Satellite observations, analyzed to remove the effect of variations in precipitation, show that cover across these environments has increased by 11%. Our results confirm that the anticipated CO 2 fertilization effect is occurring alongside ongoing anthropogenic perturbations to the carbon cycle and that the fertilization effect is now a significant land surface process.