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Soil moisture dominates dryness stress on ecosystem production globally

Author

Listed:
  • Laibao Liu

    (ETH Zurich
    Peking University)

  • Lukas Gudmundsson

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Mathias Hauser

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Dahe Qin

    (Peking University)

  • Shuangcheng Li

    (Peking University)

  • Sonia I. Seneviratne

    (ETH Zurich)

Abstract

Dryness stress can limit vegetation growth and is often characterized by low soil moisture (SM) and high atmospheric water demand (vapor pressure deficit, VPD). However, the relative role of SM and VPD in limiting ecosystem production remains debated and is difficult to disentangle, as SM and VPD are coupled through land-atmosphere interactions, hindering the ability to predict ecosystem responses to dryness. Here, we combine satellite observations of solar-induced fluorescence with estimates of SM and VPD and show that SM is the dominant driver of dryness stress on ecosystem production across more than 70% of vegetated land areas with valid data. Moreover, after accounting for SM-VPD coupling, VPD effects on ecosystem production are much smaller across large areas. We also find that SM stress is strongest in semi-arid ecosystems. Our results clarify a longstanding question and open new avenues for improving models to allow a better management of drought risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Laibao Liu & Lukas Gudmundsson & Mathias Hauser & Dahe Qin & Shuangcheng Li & Sonia I. Seneviratne, 2020. "Soil moisture dominates dryness stress on ecosystem production globally," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-18631-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18631-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Ariane Mirabel & Martin P. Girardin & Juha Metsaranta & Danielle Way & Peter B. Reich, 2023. "Increasing atmospheric dryness reduces boreal forest tree growth," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Ning Chen & Yifei Zhang & Fenghui Yuan & Changchun Song & Mingjie Xu & Qingwei Wang & Guangyou Hao & Tao Bao & Yunjiang Zuo & Jianzhao Liu & Tao Zhang & Yanyu Song & Li Sun & Yuedong Guo & Hao Zhang &, 2023. "Warming-induced vapor pressure deficit suppression of vegetation growth diminished in northern peatlands," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Riao, Dao & Guga, Suri & Bao, Yongbin & Liu, Xingping & Tong, Zhijun & Zhang, Jiquan, 2023. "Non-overlap of suitable areas of agro-climatic resources and main planting areas is the main reason for potato drought disaster in Inner Mongolia, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    4. Peiwen Yao & Hong Fan & Qilong Wu, 2025. "Optimal Drought Index Selection for Soil Moisture Monitoring at Multiple Depths in China’s Agricultural Regions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Wang, Chunyu & Li, Sien & Wu, Mousong & Zhang, Wenxin & Guo, Zhenyu & Huang, Siyu & Yang, Danni, 2023. "Co-regulation of temperature and moisture in the irrigated agricultural ecosystem productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    6. Zhang, Yuanhong & Peng, Xingxing & Ning, Fang & Dong, Zhaoyang & Wang, Rui & Li, Jun, 2022. "Assessing the response of orchard productivity to soil water depletion using field sampling and modeling methods," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    7. Lei Han & Zheyuan Miao & Zhao Liu & Hongliang Kang & Han Zhang & Shaoan Gan & Yuxuan Ren & Guiming Hu, 2025. "An Improved Soil Moisture Downscaling Method Based on Soil Properties and Geographical Divisions over the Loess Plateau," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-22, February.
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    9. Haibo Lu & Zhangcai Qin & Shangrong Lin & Xiuzhi Chen & Baozhang Chen & Bin He & Jing Wei & Wenping Yuan, 2022. "Large influence of atmospheric vapor pressure deficit on ecosystem production efficiency," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-4, December.
    10. Sourav Mukherjee & Ashok Kumar Mishra & Jakob Zscheischler & Dara Entekhabi, 2023. "Interaction between dry and hot extremes at a global scale using a cascade modeling framework," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    11. Arias, María & Notarnicola, Claudia & Campo-Bescós, Miguel Ángel & Arregui, Luis Miguel & Álvarez-Mozos, Jesús, 2023. "Evaluation of soil moisture estimation techniques based on Sentinel-1 observations over wheat fields," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    12. Yaoping Wang & Jiafu Mao & Forrest M. Hoffman & Céline J. W. Bonfils & Hervé Douville & Mingzhou Jin & Peter E. Thornton & Daniel M. Ricciuto & Xiaoying Shi & Haishan Chen & Stan D. Wullschleger & Shi, 2022. "Quantification of human contribution to soil moisture-based terrestrial aridity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Guo, Youzheng & Ma, Yingjun & Ding, Changjun & Di, Nan & Liu, Yang & Tan, Jianbiao & Zhang, Shusen & Yu, Weichen & Gao, Guixi & Duan, Jie & Xi, Benye & Li, Ximeng, 2023. "Plant hydraulics provide guidance for irrigation management in mature polar plantation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    14. Xue, Shouye & Wu, Guocan, 2024. "Causal inference of root zone soil moisture performance in drought," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    15. Yamin Qing & Shuo Wang & Brian C. Ancell & Zong-Liang Yang, 2022. "Accelerating flash droughts induced by the joint influence of soil moisture depletion and atmospheric aridity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Zhu, Jie & Chen, Shanghong & Zhang, Qingwen & Mei, Xurong, 2023. "Multi-year vertical and life cycle impacts of C-N management on soil moisture regimes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    17. Zhang, Yong-Rong & Shang, Guo-Fei & Leng, Pei & Ma, Chunfeng & Ma, Jianwei & Zhang, Xia & Li, Zhao-Liang, 2023. "Estimation of quasi-full spatial coverage soil moisture with fine resolution in China from the combined use of ERA5-Land reanalysis and TRIMS land surface temperature product," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    18. Cailin Wang & Enliang Guo & Yongfang Wang & Buren Jirigala & Yao Kang & Ye Zhang, 2023. "Spatiotemporal variations in drought and waterlogging and their effects on maize yields at different growth stages in Jilin Province, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 118(1), pages 155-180, August.
    19. Wei Wei & Jiping Wang & Libang Ma & Xufeng Wang & Binbin Xie & Junju Zhou & Haoyan Zhang, 2024. "Global Drought-Wetness Conditions Monitoring Based on Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.
    20. Zheng Fu & Philippe Ciais & I. Colin Prentice & Pierre Gentine & David Makowski & Ana Bastos & Xiangzhong Luo & Julia K. Green & Paul C. Stoy & Hui Yang & Tomohiro Hajima, 2022. "Atmospheric dryness reduces photosynthesis along a large range of soil water deficits," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    21. Zheng, Han & Sun, Yuchen & Bao, Han & Niu, Panpan & Jin, Zhao & Niu, Zhongen, 2024. "Drought effects on evapotranspiration and energy exchange over a rain-fed maize cropland in the Chinese Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    22. Li, Bingbing & Yang, Yi & Li, Zhi, 2021. "Combined effects of multiple factors on spatiotemporally varied soil moisture in China’s Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    23. Jing Peng & Fuqiang Yang & Li Dan & Xiba Tang, 2022. "Estimation of China’s Contribution to Global Greening over the Past Three Decades," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, March.
    24. Laibao Liu & Lukas Gudmundsson & Mathias Hauser & Sonia I. Seneviratne, 2022. "Reply to: Large influence of atmospheric vapor pressure deficit on ecosystem production efficiency," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-2, December.
    25. Ouyang, Lei & Lu, Longwei & Wang, Chunlin & Li, Yanqiong & Wang, Jingyi & Zhao, Xiuhua & Gao, Lei & Zhu, Liwei & Ni, Guangyan & Zhao, Ping, 2022. "A 14-year experiment emphasizes the important role of heat factors in regulating tree transpiration, growth, and water use efficiency of Schima superba in South China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).

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