Net carbon dioxide losses of northern ecosystems in response to autumn warming

Shilong Piao (), Philippe Ciais (), Pierre Friedlingstein, Philippe Peylin, Markus Reichstein, Sebastiaan Luyssaert, Hank Margolis, Jingyun Fang, Alan Barr, Anping Chen, Achim Grelle, David Y. Hollinger, Tuomas Laurila, Anders Lindroth, Andrew D. Richardson and Timo Vesala
Additional contact information
Shilong Piao: LSCE, UMR CEA-CNRS, Bâtiment 709, CE, L’Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Philippe Ciais: LSCE, UMR CEA-CNRS, Bâtiment 709, CE, L’Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Pierre Friedlingstein: LSCE, UMR CEA-CNRS, Bâtiment 709, CE, L’Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Philippe Peylin: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie Isotopique, LBI, Bâtiment EGER, F-78026 Thiverval-Grignon, France
Markus Reichstein: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, PO Box 100164, 07701 Jena, Germany
Sebastiaan Luyssaert: University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1
Hank Margolis: Faculté de foresterie et de géomatique, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec G1K 7P4, Canada
Jingyun Fang: Peking University
Alan Barr: Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 3H5, Canada
Anping Chen: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Achim Grelle: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
David Y. Hollinger: USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, 271 Mast Road, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
Tuomas Laurila: Finnish Meteorological Institute
Anders Lindroth: Lund University
Andrew D. Richardson: Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
Timo Vesala: University of Helsinki, PO Box 64, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland

Nature, 2008, vol. 451, issue 7174, 49-52

Abstract: Autumn warming An analysis of variations in atmospheric CO2 and ecosystem CO2 fluxes in the Northern Hemisphere shows that warmer autumns have been associated with an earlier autumn-to-winter CO2 build-up in the atmosphere. This seems counter-intuitive: warm autumns surely imply long growing seasons and a beneficial effect on terrestrial carbon sinks as trees and plants make more biomass. An explanation is provided by satellite observations and numerical modelling. Enhanced respiration caused by higher temperatures causes carbon losses that offset photosynthetic gains, limiting the potential of these ecosystems to act as carbon sinks. And CO2 loss due to autumn warming may offset most of the increased CO2 uptake during spring. If future warming occurs more rapidly in autumn than in spring, the ability of northern ecosystems to sequester carbon may diminish more rapidly than previously predicted.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06444

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