Declining Vegetation Growth Rates in the Eastern United States from 2000 to 2010
- 1 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, USA
- 2 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, USA; California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, USA
- 3 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, USA; California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, USA
Abstract
Negative trends in the monthly MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) time-series were found to be widespread in natural (non-cropland) ecosystems of the eastern United Statesfrom 2000 to 2010. Four sub-regions were detected with significant declines in summed growing season (May-September) EVI, namely theUpper Great Lakes, the Southern Appalachian, the Mid-Atlantic, and the southeastern Coastal Plain forests ecosystems. More than 20% of the undeveloped ecosystem areas in the four sub-regions with significant nega tive EVI growing season trends were classified as forested land cover over the entire study period. We detected rela tionships between annual temperature and precipitation patterns and negative forest EVI trends across these regions. Change patterns in both the climate moisture index (CMI) and growing degree days (GDD) were associated with de clining forest EVI growing season trends. We conclude that temperature warming-induced change and variability of precipitation at local and regional scales may have altered the growth trends of large forested areas of the easternUnited Statesover the past decade.
- C. Boisvenue and S. W. Running, “Impacts of Climate Change on Natural Forest Productivity—Evidence Since the Middle of the 20th Century,” Global Change Biology, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2006, pp. 1-21. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01134.x
- S. McMahon, G. Parker and D. Miller, “Evidence for a Recent Increase in Forest Growth,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 107, No. 8, 2010, pp. 3611-3615. doi:10.1073/pnas.0912376107
- G. J. Nowacki and M. D. Abrams, “The Demise of Fire and ‘Mesophication’ of Forests in the Eastern United States,” BioScience, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2008, pp. 123-138. doi:10.1641/B580207
- K. Hayhoe, C. P. Wake, T. G. Huntington, L. Luo, M. D. Schwartz, J. Sheffield, E. Wood, B. Anderson, J. Bradbury, A. DeGaetano, T. J. Troy and D. Wolfe, “Past and Future Changes in Climate and Hydrological Indicators in the US Northeast,” Climate Dynamics, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2007, pp. 381-407. doi:10.1007/s00382-006-0187-8
- G. M. Lovett, C. D. Canham, M. A. Arthur, K. C. Weathers and R. D. Fitzhugh, “Forest Ecosystem Responses to Exotic Pests and Pathogens in Eastern North America,” Bio-Science, Vol. 56, No. 5, 2006, pp. 395-405. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2006)056[0395:FERTEP]2.0.CO;2
- R. B. Myneni, C. D. Keeling, C. J. Tucker, G. Asrar and R. R. Nemani, “Increased Plant Growth in the Northern High Latitudes from 1981 to 1991,” Nature, Vol. 386, No. 6626, 1997, pp. 698-702. doi:10.1038/386698a0
- C. Potter, S. Klooster and V. Genovese, “Net Primary Production of Terrestrial Ecosystems from 2000 to 2009,” Climatic Change, Vol. 115, No. 2, 2012, pp. 365-378. doi:10.1007/s10584-012-0460-2
- Y. Kim, J. S. Kimball, K. Zhang and K. C. McDonald, “Satellite Detection of Increasing Northern Hemisphere Non-Frozen Seasons from 1979 to 2008: Implications for Regional Vegetation Growth,” Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 121, 2012, pp. 472-487. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2012.02.014
- B. D. Amiro, J. M. Chen and J. Liu, “Net Primary Productivity Following Forest Fire for Canadian Ecoregions,” Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Vol. 30, No. 6, 2000, pp. 939-947. doi:10.1139/x00-025
- J. Epting and D. L. Verbyla, “Landscape Level Interactions of Pre-Fire Vegetation, Burn Severity, and Post-Fire Vegetation over a 16-Year Period in Interior Alaska,” Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Vol. 35, No. 6, 2005, pp. 1367-1377. doi:10.1139/x05-060
- M. Cuevas-GonzALez, F. Gerard, H. Balzter and D. RiaNO, “Analysing forest Recovery after Wildfire Disturbance in Boreal Siberia Using Remotely Sensed Vegetation Indices,” Global Change Biology, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2009, pp. 561-577. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01784.x