title: Seasonal divergence in the interannual responses of Northern Hemisphere vegetation activity to variations in diurnal climate.
abstract: Seasonal asymmetry in the interannual variations in the daytime and nighttime climate in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) is well documented, but its consequences for vegetation activity remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate the interannual responses of vegetation activity to variations of seasonal mean daytime and nighttime climate in NH (>30 °N) during the past decades using remote sensing retrievals, FLUXNET and tree ring data. Despite a generally significant and positive response of vegetation activity to seasonal mean maximum temperature (Tmax) in ~22-25% of the boreal (>50 °N) NH between spring and autumn, spring-summer progressive water limitations appear to decouple vegetation activity from the mean summer Tmax, particularly in climate zones with dry summers. Drought alleviation during autumn results in vegetation recovery from the marked warming-induced drought limitations observed in spring and summer across 24-26% of the temperate NH. Vegetation activity exhibits a pervasively negative correlation with the autumn mean minimum temperature, which is in contrast to the ambiguous patterns observed in spring and summer. Our findings provide new insights into how seasonal asymmetry in the interannual variations in the mean daytime and nighttime climate interacts with water limitations to produce spatiotemporally variable responses of vegetation growth.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.|Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Beijing, 100875, China.|College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
authors.forename: Xiuchen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.|Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Beijing, 100875, China.|College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
authors.forename: Eryuan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Forest Resources and Climate Unit, Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission, Ispra, VA, Italy.
authors.forename: Pieter S A
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.|College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
authors.forename: Yongmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D002980:Climate; D005843:Geography; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012621:Seasons