Asymmetric influence of forest cover gain and loss on land surface temperature

Su，Yongxian1,2; Zhang，Chaoqun1,2; Ciais，Philippe3; Zeng，Zhenzhong4; Cescatti，Alessandro5; Shang，Jiali6; Chen，Jing Ming7; Liu，Jane7; Wang，Ying Ping8; Yuan，Wenping2; Peng，Shushi9; Lee，Xuhui10; Zhu，Zaichun11,12; Fan，Lei13; Liu，Xiaoping2; Liu，Liyang1,2,3; Lafortezza，Raffaele14,15; Li，Yan16; Ren，Jiashun1,2; Yang，Xueqin1,2; Chen，Xiuzhi2

2023-08-01

10.1038/s41558-023-01757-7

Nature Climate Change   Impact Factor & Quartile

1758-678X

1758-6798

The direct biophysical effects of fine-scale tree cover changes on temperature are not well understood. Here, we show how land surface temperature responds to subgrid gross tree cover changes. We find that in many forests, the biophysical cooling induced by enhanced evapotranspiration due to tree cover gain is greater in magnitude than the warming from tree cover loss. Therefore, the goal of no biophysical warming effects from tree cover changes could be achieved by regaining a fraction of previously lost tree cover areas. This percentage differs between different forest biomes, ranging from 75% in tropical to 83% in temperate forests. Neglecting this asymmetric temperature effect of fine-scale tree cover change ignores the fact that biophysical feedbacks continue to cause surface temperature changes even under net-zero tree cover changes. Thus, it is necessary to account for gross, rather than net, tree cover changes when quantifying the biophysical effects of forests.

SCI ; SSCI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

WOS:001048665400023

2-s2.0-85167417712

Scopus

1.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System,Guangdong Open Laboratory of Geospatial Information Technology and Application,Guangzhou Institute of Geography,Guangdong Academy of Sciences,Guangzhou,China
2.Guangdong Province Data Center of Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems Carbon Cycle,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Climate Change and Natural Disaster Studies,School of Ecology,School of Atmospheric Sciences,School of Geography and Planning,Sun Yat-sen University,Guangzhou,China
3.Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement,IPSL,CEA-CNRS-UVSQ,Université Paris-Saclay,Gif sur Yvette,France
4.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
5.European Commission,Joint Research Centre,Ispra,Italy
6.Ottawa Research and Development Centre,Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,Ottawa,Canada
7.Department of Geography and Planning,University of Toronto,Toronto,Canada
8.CSIRO Environment,Clayton South,Australia
9.College of Urban and Environmental Sciences,Peking University,Beijing,China
10.School of the Environment,Yale University,New Haven,United States
11.School of Urban Planning and Design,Shenzhen Graduate School,Peking University,Shenzhen,China
12.Key Laboratory of Earth Surface System and Human-Earth Relations,Ministry of Natural Resources of China,Shenzhen Graduate School,Peking University,Shenzhen,China
13.School of Geographical Sciences,Southwest University,Chongqing,China
14.Department of Soil,Plant and Food Sciences,University of Bari “Aldo Moro”,Bari,Italy
15.Beijing Forestry University,Beijing,China
16.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resources Ecology,Beijing Normal University,Beijing,China

Su，Yongxian,Zhang，Chaoqun,Ciais，Philippe,et al. Asymmetric influence of forest cover gain and loss on land surface temperature[J]. Nature Climate Change,2023,13(8):823-831.

Su，Yongxian.,Zhang，Chaoqun.,Ciais，Philippe.,Zeng，Zhenzhong.,Cescatti，Alessandro.,...&Chen，Xiuzhi.(2023).Asymmetric influence of forest cover gain and loss on land surface temperature.Nature Climate Change,13(8),823-831.

Su，Yongxian,et al."Asymmetric influence of forest cover gain and loss on land surface temperature".Nature Climate Change 13.8(2023):823-831.