Vegetation-heatwave correlations and contrasting energy exchange responses of different vegetation types to summer heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere during the 1982-2011 period

摘要

Heatwave is a serious threat to society and can lead to grave consequences. Although it is well known that persistent large-scale circulation anomalies are the key to generate heatwaves, land-atmosphere interactions have also been suggested to intensify and propagate heatwaves. Vegetation plays a vital role in land-atmosphere interactions, modulating energy and water exchange through various pathways. However, vegetation impacts on surface energy exchange during extreme events such as heatwaves, and the attribution of effects to different vegetation types, is complex and poorly understood. In this study, we found strong interannual correlations between summer heatwaves and various plant function types (PFTs), based on the Global Heatwave and Warm-spell Record (GHWR) and leaf area index (LAI) products from satellites during 1982-2011. In Central Europe and the southern and southeastern part of North America, where the land cover is dominated by grasslands, temperate deciduous forests or temperate needleleaf forests, heatwaves tend to occur more frequently in years with lower LAI. In contrast, in the northwestern and northeastern part of North America, where boreal evergreen forests dominate, higher-than-normal LAI is associated with an increase in heatwave occurrence. These findings are in general supported by composite analyses of extreme LAI years in these PFT regions and heatwave characteristics therein.