Geophysical Research Letters (Oct 2023)

Enhanced Mid‐Holocene Vegetation Growth and Its Biophysical Feedbacks in China

  • Weizhe Chen,
  • Zhongshi Zhang,
  • Philippe Ciais,
  • Liangcheng Tan,
  • David B. Kemp,
  • Nicolas Viovy

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104702
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 50, no. 20
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract Proxy‐based reconstructions show that the climate during the mid‐Holocene (MH) was warmer and wetter than the present day in most regions of China, characterized by a northwestward extension of the East Asian summer monsoon and an increase in woody cover. However, climate simulations that neglect vegetation shifts yield cooler climates than proxy‐based reconstructions for the MH. Here, we simulate MH vegetation cover, productivity, and terrestrial parameters in China using a state‐of‐the‐art land surface model forced with realistic proxy‐based climate data. Our simulations corroborate MH vegetation cover inferred from 246 pollen sites, and indicate a higher vegetation productivity in China, despite the lower CO2 concentration during the MH compared to the present day. Enhanced vegetation growth during the MH could have affected land surface energy and hydrological budgets through biophysical feedbacks. Our findings highlight the impact of vegetation dynamics on the terrestrial carbon cycle and regional climate in China.