Unusual characteristics of the carbon cycle during the 2015–2016 El Niño

Wang, Kai; Wang, Xuhui; Piao, Shilong; Chevallier, Frédéric; Mao, Jiafu; Shi, Xiaoying; Huntingford, Chris; Bastos, Ana; Ciais, Philippe; Xu, Hao; Keeling, Ralph F.; Pacala, Stephen W.; Chen, Anping

doi:10.1111/gcb.15669

Title: Unusual characteristics of the carbon cycle during the 2015–2016 El Niño

Journal Article · Tue May 25 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Global Change Biology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15669· OSTI ID:1818664

^[1];

^[2]; Chevallier, Frédéric ^[3];

^[4]; Shi, Xiaoying ^[4];

^[5];

^[6]; Ciais, Philippe ^[3]; Xu, Hao ^[7]; Keeling, Ralph F. ^[8]; Pacala, Stephen W. ^[9];

^[10]

Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
Peking Univ., Beijing (China); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Lab. des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Gif‐sur‐Yvette (France)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford (United Kingdom)
Max Planck Inst. for Biogeochemistry, Jena (Germany)
Peking Univ. Beijing (China)
Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

Abstract The 2015−2016 El Niño was one of the strongest on record, but its influence on the carbon balance is less clear. Using Northern Hemisphere atmospheric CO ₂ observations, we found both detrended atmospheric CO ₂ growth rate (CGR) and CO ₂ seasonal‐cycle amplitude (SCA) of 2015−2016 were much higher than that of other El Niño events. The simultaneous high CGR and SCA were unusual, because our analysis of long‐term CO ₂ observations at Mauna Loa revealed a significantly negative correlation between CGR and SCA. Atmospheric inversions and terrestrial ecosystem models indicate strong northern land carbon uptake during spring but substantially reduced carbon uptake (or high emissions) during early autumn, which amplified SCA but also resulted in a small anomaly in annual carbon uptake of northern ecosystems in 2015−2016. This negative ecosystem carbon uptake anomaly in early autumn was primarily due to soil water deficits and more litter decomposition caused by enhanced spring productivity. Our study demonstrates a decoupling between seasonality and annual carbon cycle balance in northern ecosystems over 2015−2016, which is unprecedented in the past five decades of El Niño events.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; DE‐AC05‐00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1818664

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1784772

Journal Information:: Global Change Biology, Vol. 27, Issue 16; ISSN 1354-1013

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (40)

Interannual variation of terrestrial carbon cycle: Issues and perspectives Piao, Shilong; Wang, Xuhui; Wang, Kai Global Change Biology, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14884	journal	November 2019
Empirical evidence of El Niño–Southern Oscillation influence on land surface phenology and productivity in the western United States Dannenberg, Matthew P.; Song, Conghe; Hwang, Taehee Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 159 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2014.11.026	journal	March 2015
Contrasting terrestrial carbon cycle responses to the 1997/98 and 2015/16 extreme El Niño events Wang, Jun; Zeng, Ning; Wang, Meirong Earth System Dynamics, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-1-2018	journal	January 2018
Moisture availability mediates the relationship between terrestrial gross primary production and solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence: Insights from global‐scale variations Chen, Anping; Mao, Jiafu; Ricciuto, Daniel Global Change Biology, Vol. 27, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15373	journal	October 2020
Variations in atmospheric CO2 growth rates coupled with tropical temperature Wang, W.; Ciais, P.; Nemani, R. R. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 32 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219683110	journal	July 2013
Earlier springs decrease peak summer productivity in North American boreal forests Buermann, Wolfgang; Bikash, Parida R.; Jung, Martin Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024027	journal	May 2013
Inferring CO ₂ sources and sinks from satellite observations: Method and application to TOVS data Chevallier, F.; Fisher, M.; Peylin, P. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 110, Issue D24 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006390	journal	January 2005
New insights into the variability of the tropical land carbon cycle from the El Niño of 2015/2016 Malhi, Yadvinder; Rowland, Lucy; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 373, Issue 1760 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0298	journal	October 2018
On the causes of trends in the seasonal amplitude of atmospheric CO ₂ Piao, Shilong; Liu, Zhuo; Wang, Yilong Global Change Biology, Vol. 24, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13909	journal	September 2017
Widespread seasonal compensation effects of spring warming on northern plant productivity Buermann, Wolfgang; Forkel, Matthias; O’Sullivan, Michael Nature, Vol. 562, Issue 7725 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0555-7	journal	October 2018
Contrasting carbon cycle responses of the tropical continents to the 2015–2016 El Niño Liu, Junjie; Bowman, Kevin W.; Schimel, David S. Science, Vol. 358, Issue 6360 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam5690	journal	October 2017
El Niño–Southern Oscillation complexity Timmermann, Axel; An, Soon-Il; Kug, Jong-Seong Nature, Vol. 559, Issue 7715 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0252-6	journal	July 2018
Recent trends and drivers of regional sources and sinks of carbon dioxide Sitch, S.; Friedlingstein, P.; Gruber, N. Biogeosciences, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-653-2015	journal	January 2015
Vegetation greenness and land carbon-flux anomalies associated with climate variations: a focus on the year 2015 Yue, Chao; Ciais, Philippe; Bastos, Ana Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13903-2017	journal	January 2017
Enhanced seasonal CO2 exchange caused by amplified plant productivity in northern ecosystems Forkel, M.; Carvalhais, N.; Rodenbeck, C. Science, Vol. 351, Issue 6274 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4971	journal	January 2016
The Defining Characteristics of ENSO Extremes and the Strong 2015/2016 El Niño: ENSO Extremes Santoso, Agus; Mcphaden, Michael J.; Cai, Wenju Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 55, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017RG000560	journal	December 2017
ENSO as an Integrating Concept in Earth Science McPhaden, M. J.; Zebiak, S. E.; Glantz, M. H. Science, Vol. 314, Issue 5806 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1132588	journal	December 2006
Atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory: 2. Analysis of the NOAA GMCC data, 1974-1985 Thoning, Kirk W.; Tans, Pieter P.; Komhyr, Walter D. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 94, Issue D6 https://doi.org/10.1029/JD094iD06p08549	journal	June 1989
Historical change of El Niño properties sheds light on future changes of extreme El Niño Wang, Bin; Luo, Xiao; Yang, Young-Min Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 45 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911130116	journal	October 2019
Objective evaluation of surface- and satellite-driven carbon dioxide atmospheric inversions Chevallier, Frédéric; Remaud, Marine; O'Dell, Christopher W. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 19, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14233-2019	journal	January 2019
Summer soil drying exacerbated by earlier spring greening of northern vegetation Lian, Xu; Piao, Shilong; Li, Laurent Z. X. Science Advances, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0255	journal	January 2020
Causes of slowing‐down seasonal CO ₂ amplitude at Mauna Loa Wang, Kai; Wang, Yilong; Wang, Xuhui Global Change Biology, Vol. 26, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15162	journal	June 2020
Interannual covariability in Northern Hemisphere air temperatures and greenness associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation: NORTHERN LATITUDE GREENING Buermann, Wolfgang; Anderson, Bruce; Tucker, Compton J. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 108, Issue D13 https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002630	journal	July 2003
Enhanced Seasonal Exchange of CO2 by Northern Ecosystems Since 1960 Graven, H. D.; Keeling, R. F.; Piper, S. C. Science, Vol. 341, Issue 6150 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239207	journal	August 2013
Net carbon uptake has increased through warming-induced changes in temperate forest phenology Keenan, Trevor F.; Gray, Josh; Friedl, Mark A. Nature Climate Change, Vol. 4, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2253	journal	June 2014
Intensification of terrestrial carbon cycle related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation under greenhouse warming Kim, Jin-Soo; Kug, Jong-Seong; Jeong, Su-Jong Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01831-7	journal	November 2017
Increases in early season ecosystem uptake explain recent changes in the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO ₂ at high northern latitudes Randerson, J. T.; Field, C. B.; Fung, I. Y. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 26, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL900500	journal	September 1999
Global monitoring of terrestrial chlorophyll fluorescence from moderate-spectral-resolution near-infrared satellite measurements: methodology, simulations, and application to GOME-2 Joiner, J.; Guanter, L.; Lindstrot, R. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 6, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2803-2013	journal	January 2013
CO<sub>2</sub> flux history 1982–2001 inferred from atmospheric data using a global inversion of atmospheric transport Rödenbeck, C.; Houweling, S.; Gloor, M. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 3, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-3-1919-2003	journal	January 2003
Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset: UPDATED HIGH-RESOLUTION GRIDS OF MONTHLY CLIMATIC OBSERVATIONS Harris, I.; Jones, P. D.; Osborn, T. J. International Journal of Climatology, Vol. 34, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3711	journal	May 2013
Identifying Critical Climate Periods for Vegetation Growth in the Northern Hemisphere Chen, Chen; He, Bin; Guo, Lanlan Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 123, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004443	journal	August 2018
Enhanced North American carbon uptake associated with El Niño Hu, Lei; Andrews, Arlyn E.; Thoning, Kirk W. Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw0076	journal	June 2019
A Non-Stationary 1981–2012 AVHRR NDVI3g Time Series Pinzon, Jorge; Tucker, Compton Remote Sensing, Vol. 6, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6086929	journal	July 2014
Drier summers cancel out the CO2 uptake enhancement induced by warmer springs Angert, A.; Biraud, S.; Bonfils, C. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 102, Issue 31 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0501647102	journal	July 2005
Impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial carbon cycle constrained by bottom-up and top-down approaches Bastos, Ana; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Sitch, Stephen Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 373, Issue 1760 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0304	journal	October 2018
Hydrological and biogeochemical constraints on terrestrial carbon cycle feedbacks Mystakidis, Stefanos; Seneviratne, Sonia I.; Gruber, Nicolas Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/12/1/014009	journal	January 2017
Light limitation regulates the response of autumn terrestrial carbon uptake to warming Zhang, Yao; Commane, Róisín; Zhou, Sha Nature Climate Change, Vol. 10, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0806-0	journal	July 2020
Global Carbon Budget 2017 Le Quéré, Corinne; Andrew, Robbie M.; Friedlingstein, Pierre Earth System Science Data, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-405-2018	journal	January 2018
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 early science investigations of regional carbon dioxide fluxes Eldering, A.; Wennberg, P. O.; Crisp, D. Science, Vol. 358, Issue 6360 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam5745	journal	October 2017
Accelerating rates of Arctic carbon cycling revealed by long-term atmospheric CO ₂ measurements Jeong, Su-Jong; Bloom, A. Anthony; Schimel, David Science Advances, Vol. 4, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao1167	journal	July 2018

Similar Records

Enhanced North American carbon uptake associated with El Niño

Journal Article · Wed Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Science Advances · OSTI ID:1818664

Hu, Lei; Andrews, Arlyn E.; Thoning, Kirk W.; +21 more

Impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial carbon cycle constrained by bottom-up and top-down approaches

Journal Article · Mon Oct 08 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences · OSTI ID:1818664

Bastos, Ana; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Sitch, Stephen; +33 more

The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on global photosynthesis using satellite remote sensing

Journal Article · Mon Oct 08 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences · OSTI ID:1818664

Luo, Xiangzhong; Keenan, Trevor F.; Fisher, Joshua B.; +7 more

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Title: Unusual characteristics of the carbon cycle during the 2015–2016 El Niño

Citation Formats

References (40)

Similar Records

Related Subjects