Satellite-Detected Contrasting Responses of Canopy Structure and Leaf Physiology to Drought

Disentangling drought impacts on plant photosynthesis is crucial for projecting future terrestrial carbon dynamics. We examined the separate responses of canopy structure and leaf physiology to an extreme summer drought that occurred in 2011 over Southwest China, where the weather was humid and radiation was the main growth-limiting factor. Canopy structure and leaf physiology were, respectively, represented by near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIRv) derived from MODIS data and leaf scale fluorescence yield (phi(f)) derived from both continuous SIF (CSIF) and global OCO-2 SIF (GOSIF). We detected contrasting responses of canopy structure and leaf physiology to drought with a 14.0% increase in NIRv, compared with 12.6 or 19.3% decreases in phi(f) from CSIF and GOSIF, respectively. The increase in structure resulted in a slight carbon change, due to water deficit-induced physiological constraints. The net ecosystem effect was a 7.5% (CSIF), 1.2% (GOSIF), and -2.96% (EC-LUE GPP) change in photosynthesis. Our study improves understanding of complex vegetation responses of plant photosynthesis to drought and may contribute to the reconciliation of contrasting observed directions in plant responses to drought in cloudy regions via remote sensing.

Automated summary

This study examined the effects of drought on plant photosynthesis in Southwest China and found that drought led to an increase in canopy structure but a decrease in leaf physiology, resulting in a decline in net ecosystem photosynthesis.