Work

Photosynthetic Recovery Dynamics Reveal Declining Vegetation Functional Resilience in Tropical Ecosystems

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Ecosystem resilience, the ability to recover from disturbances, is crucial for sustaining ecosystem health and functionality. Traditional greenness‐based resilience measures often overlook early physiological stress. Here, we use solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), an indicator for photosynthesis, to assess global vegetation functional resilience from 2000 to 2019. Using indicators of critical slowing down, we derive recovery rates as a measure of resilience from variance and autocorrelation in SIF time series across natural vegetation. Our results reveal marked latitudinal contrasts, with faster recovery in boreal regions and persistent vulnerability in tropical and low‐latitude ecosystems. Long‐term trends show resilience loss in the Eurasian high latitudes, while short‐term trends indicate accelerating resilience decline in 60.7% of the global tropics, driven by heat, vapor pressure deficit, and soil moisture stress. These findings highlights the need to monitor ecosystem functional resilience through physiological indicators to anticipate ecological tipping points and inform conservation and climate adaptation strategies.

Source: Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: 10.1029/2025gl119875

Authors: Subhrasita Behera, Chan Diao, Sebastian Bathiany, Niklas Boers, Debsunder Dutta

Institutions: Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Beijing Normal University, Technical University of Munich, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Language: English

Topic: Ecosystem dynamics and resilience

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,190