Impacts of temperature extremes on European vegetation during the growing season
Temperature is a key factor controlling plant growth and vitality in the temperate climates of the mid-latitudes like in vast parts of the European continent. Beyond the effect of average conditions, the timings and magnitudes of temperature extremes play a particularly crucial role, which needs...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-11-01
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Series: | Biogeosciences |
Online Access: | https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4891/2017/bg-14-4891-2017.pdf |
Summary: | Temperature is a key factor controlling plant growth and vitality in the
temperate climates of the mid-latitudes like in vast parts of the European
continent. Beyond the effect of average conditions, the timings and
magnitudes of temperature extremes play a particularly crucial role, which
needs to be better understood in the context of projected future rises in the
frequency and/or intensity of such events. In this work, we employ event
coincidence analysis (ECA) to quantify the likelihood of simultaneous
occurrences of extremes in daytime land surface temperature anomalies
(LSTAD) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We perform
this analysis for entire Europe based upon remote sensing data,
differentiating between three periods corresponding to different stages of
plant development during the growing season. In addition, we analyze the
typical elevation and land cover type of the regions showing significantly
large event coincidences rates to identify the most severely affected
vegetation types. Our results reveal distinct spatio-temporal impact patterns
in terms of extraordinarily large co-occurrence rates between several
combinations of temperature and NDVI extremes. Croplands are among the most
frequently affected land cover types, while elevation is found to have only a
minor effect on the spatial distribution of corresponding extreme weather
impacts. These findings provide important insights into the vulnerability of
European terrestrial ecosystems to extreme temperature events and demonstrate
how event-based statistics like ECA can provide a valuable perspective on
environmental nexuses. |
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ISSN: | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |