Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019

Chongyang Xu; Hongyan Liu; Dan Yakir; Boyi Liang; Xinrong Zhu; Yu Zhou; Luca Belelli Marchesini; Damien Bonal; Nina Buchmann; Christian Brümmer; Jamie Cleverly; Siwen Feng; Mika Korkiakoski; Michael J. Liddell; Matthias Mauder; Leonardo Montagnani; Andrej Varlagin; Luca Vitale; Songhan Wang; William Woodgate; José M. Grünzweig

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703

Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019

Chongyang Xu^*
, Hongyan Liu
, Dan Yakir
, Boyi Liang
, Xinrong Zhu
, Yu Zhou
, Luca Belelli Marchesini
, Damien Bonal
, Nina Buchmann
, Christian Brümmer
, Jamie Cleverly
, Siwen Feng
, Mika Korkiakoski
, Michael J. Liddell
, Matthias Mauder
, Leonardo Montagnani
, Andrej Varlagin
, Luca Vitale
, Songhan Wang
, William Woodgate

José M. Grünzweig^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Gross primary productivity (GPP; ecosystem-level photosynthesis) represents the largest terrestrial carbon flux and is highly sensitive to temperature. Despite global warming, the trends and controlling factors of optimum temperature ((Formula presented) ) and maximum rates of GPP ((Formula presented) ) remain uncertain. We investigated the drivers of (Formula presented) and (Formula presented) trends during 2000–2019 using global observations of ground-based eddy covariance and satellite-based sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Although (Formula presented) increased worldwide, (Formula presented) increased only in tropical and temperate regions but remained unchanged globally and in arid and cold regions. Thermal acclimation via shifting (Formula presented) was constrained by atmospheric and soil dryness, explaining less than 20% of the global (Formula presented) rise. In contrast, (Formula presented) trends were more strongly driven by stomatal regulation improving water-use efficiency and by enhanced canopy development under dryness constraints. These findings challenge the expectation that thermal acclimation is central to projecting GPP under warming and highlight dynamic physiological-structural shifts that sustain terrestrial carbon uptake.

Original language	English
Article number	101703
Journal	One Earth
Volume	9
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703
State	Published - 15 May 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

Keywords

SIF
canopy development
carbon uptake
eddy-covariance measurements
global warming
intrinsic water-use efficiency
optimum temperature for gross primary productivity
solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence
thermal acclimation

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10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703

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Xu, C., Liu, H., Yakir, D., Liang, B., Zhu, X., Zhou, Y., Belelli Marchesini, L., Bonal, D., Buchmann, N., Brümmer, C., Cleverly, J., Feng, S., Korkiakoski, M., Liddell, M. J., Mauder, M., Montagnani, L., Varlagin, A., Vitale, L., Wang, S., ... Grünzweig, J. M. (2026). Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019. One Earth, 9(5), Article 101703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703

@article{c293e13d763a4d2aac952ed6af3f53f1,

title = "Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019",

abstract = "Gross primary productivity (GPP; ecosystem-level photosynthesis) represents the largest terrestrial carbon flux and is highly sensitive to temperature. Despite global warming, the trends and controlling factors of optimum temperature ((Formula presented) ) and maximum rates of GPP ((Formula presented) ) remain uncertain. We investigated the drivers of (Formula presented) and (Formula presented) trends during 2000–2019 using global observations of ground-based eddy covariance and satellite-based sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Although (Formula presented) increased worldwide, (Formula presented) increased only in tropical and temperate regions but remained unchanged globally and in arid and cold regions. Thermal acclimation via shifting (Formula presented) was constrained by atmospheric and soil dryness, explaining less than 20\% of the global (Formula presented) rise. In contrast, (Formula presented) trends were more strongly driven by stomatal regulation improving water-use efficiency and by enhanced canopy development under dryness constraints. These findings challenge the expectation that thermal acclimation is central to projecting GPP under warming and highlight dynamic physiological-structural shifts that sustain terrestrial carbon uptake.",

keywords = "SIF, canopy development, carbon uptake, eddy-covariance measurements, global warming, intrinsic water-use efficiency, optimum temperature for gross primary productivity, solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, thermal acclimation",

author = "Chongyang Xu and Hongyan Liu and Dan Yakir and Boyi Liang and Xinrong Zhu and Yu Zhou and \{Belelli Marchesini\}, Luca and Damien Bonal and Nina Buchmann and Christian Br{\"u}mmer and Jamie Cleverly and Siwen Feng and Mika Korkiakoski and Liddell, \{Michael J.\} and Matthias Mauder and Leonardo Montagnani and Andrej Varlagin and Luca Vitale and Songhan Wang and William Woodgate and Gr{\"u}nzweig, \{Jos{\'e} M.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.",

year = "2026",

month = may,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703",

language = "אנגלית",

volume = "9",

journal = "One Earth",

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Xu, C, Liu, H, Yakir, D, Liang, B, Zhu, X, Zhou, Y, Belelli Marchesini, L, Bonal, D, Buchmann, N, Brümmer, C, Cleverly, J, Feng, S, Korkiakoski, M, Liddell, MJ, Mauder, M, Montagnani, L, Varlagin, A, Vitale, L, Wang, S, Woodgate, W & Grünzweig, JM 2026, 'Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019', One Earth, vol. 9, no. 5, 101703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703

TY - JOUR

T1 - Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019

AU - Xu, Chongyang

AU - Liu, Hongyan

AU - Yakir, Dan

AU - Liang, Boyi

AU - Zhu, Xinrong

AU - Zhou, Yu

AU - Belelli Marchesini, Luca

AU - Bonal, Damien

AU - Buchmann, Nina

AU - Brümmer, Christian

AU - Cleverly, Jamie

AU - Feng, Siwen

AU - Korkiakoski, Mika

AU - Liddell, Michael J.

AU - Mauder, Matthias

AU - Montagnani, Leonardo

AU - Varlagin, Andrej

AU - Vitale, Luca

AU - Wang, Songhan

AU - Woodgate, William

AU - Grünzweig, José M.

PY - 2026/5/15

Y1 - 2026/5/15

N2 - Gross primary productivity (GPP; ecosystem-level photosynthesis) represents the largest terrestrial carbon flux and is highly sensitive to temperature. Despite global warming, the trends and controlling factors of optimum temperature ((Formula presented) ) and maximum rates of GPP ((Formula presented) ) remain uncertain. We investigated the drivers of (Formula presented) and (Formula presented) trends during 2000–2019 using global observations of ground-based eddy covariance and satellite-based sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Although (Formula presented) increased worldwide, (Formula presented) increased only in tropical and temperate regions but remained unchanged globally and in arid and cold regions. Thermal acclimation via shifting (Formula presented) was constrained by atmospheric and soil dryness, explaining less than 20% of the global (Formula presented) rise. In contrast, (Formula presented) trends were more strongly driven by stomatal regulation improving water-use efficiency and by enhanced canopy development under dryness constraints. These findings challenge the expectation that thermal acclimation is central to projecting GPP under warming and highlight dynamic physiological-structural shifts that sustain terrestrial carbon uptake.

AB - Gross primary productivity (GPP; ecosystem-level photosynthesis) represents the largest terrestrial carbon flux and is highly sensitive to temperature. Despite global warming, the trends and controlling factors of optimum temperature ((Formula presented) ) and maximum rates of GPP ((Formula presented) ) remain uncertain. We investigated the drivers of (Formula presented) and (Formula presented) trends during 2000–2019 using global observations of ground-based eddy covariance and satellite-based sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Although (Formula presented) increased worldwide, (Formula presented) increased only in tropical and temperate regions but remained unchanged globally and in arid and cold regions. Thermal acclimation via shifting (Formula presented) was constrained by atmospheric and soil dryness, explaining less than 20% of the global (Formula presented) rise. In contrast, (Formula presented) trends were more strongly driven by stomatal regulation improving water-use efficiency and by enhanced canopy development under dryness constraints. These findings challenge the expectation that thermal acclimation is central to projecting GPP under warming and highlight dynamic physiological-structural shifts that sustain terrestrial carbon uptake.

KW - SIF

KW - canopy development

KW - carbon uptake

KW - eddy-covariance measurements

KW - global warming

KW - intrinsic water-use efficiency

KW - optimum temperature for gross primary productivity

KW - solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence

KW - thermal acclimation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038651105

U2 - 10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703

DO - 10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101703

M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???

AN - SCOPUS:105038651105

SN - 2590-3330

VL - 9

JO - One Earth

JF - One Earth

IS - 5

M1 - 101703

ER -

Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019

Abstract

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Keywords

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