The optimal temperature of ecosystem respiration homogenizes under global warming

The optimal temperature of ecosystem respiration homogenizes under global warming | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The optimal temperature of ecosystem respiration homogenizes under global warming Shuli Niu, Qinyu Zheng, Song Wang, Weinan Chen, Tao Li, Lìyǐn Liáng, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5577552/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Terrestrial ecosystem respiration (ER) is a key component of the carbon cycle and is highly temperature sensitive. While ER has often been modeled as an exponential function of temperature, recent evidence shows that ER exhibits an optimal temperature (T opt ) and a monotonic response beyond this threshold. However, the temporal dynamics of T opt under climate warming remain poorly understood. This study analyzed data from 135 long-term FLUXNET sites, each with at least five years of observation. Our results show that T opt of ER increased with rising temperatures, indicating thermal acclimation, with a global average acclimation magnitude (T opt change per unit change in maximum temperature across years within the site) of 0.82°C. More interestingly, this acclimation magnitude showed a negative correlation with mean annual temperature. This negative correlation suggests that ecosystems in colder regions exhibit higher acclimation magnitudes compared to warmer regions, potentially reducing the variation in T opt across biomes under future warming. These findings indicate a homogenization of T opt under warming conditions. Our scenario analysis suggested that neglecting thermal acclimation may lead to inaccurate T opt estimates under future climate scenarios, underscoring the need to incorporate variable thermal acclimation responses of T opt into Earth System Models. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Climate-change ecology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5577552","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":392560305,"identity":"47359398-e9d0-4281-aa25-ef77dd70e650","order_by":0,"name":"Shuli Niu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgaGDwakamGcQaIWBgZmHpKUy89ubpO2Kai1N5c++4DhRw2DvDkhLQZ3DrZJ5xgcT9zZl27A2HOMwXBnAyEtEokgLccSDM6wMTDwNjAkGBwg5LAZQC0WBsfsQVoY/xKjheEGUAuDQQ3jBqAWZqJsMbiR2GzZY3AgEaTlsMwxCcMNhB2W/vDGjz91IIcxPnxTYyNP2GEQcBhMAhVLEKceCOqIVjkKRsEoGAUjEAAA7Xw6u3SleHsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2394-2864","institution":"Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuli","middleName":"","lastName":"Niu","suffix":""},{"id":392560306,"identity":"3eb86306-de54-41f7-a4e7-5a3cb515c0e6","order_by":1,"name":"Qinyu Zheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qinyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":392560307,"identity":"2144b6fa-3d4c-4736-ab53-aa23944841f1","order_by":2,"name":"Song Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Song","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":392560308,"identity":"10698915-cdc4-457f-92e2-7e8f1d92cc60","order_by":3,"name":"Weinan Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Soil and Crop Sciences Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Weinan","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":392560309,"identity":"1f49a70e-6b7d-4ea9-b3d7-42c5563037ef","order_by":4,"name":"Tao Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tao","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":392560310,"identity":"8746aee1-7f6d-4e4d-9c5c-02407eca3f55","order_by":5,"name":"Lìyǐn Liáng","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9831-4793","institution":"Manaaki Whenua - 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While ER has often been modeled as an exponential function of temperature, recent evidence shows that ER exhibits an optimal temperature (T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e) and a monotonic response beyond this threshold. However, the temporal dynamics of T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e under climate warming remain poorly understood. This study analyzed data from 135 long-term FLUXNET sites, each with at least five years of observation. Our results show that T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e of ER increased with rising temperatures, indicating thermal acclimation, with a global average acclimation magnitude (T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e change per unit change in maximum temperature across years within the site) of 0.82°C. More interestingly, this acclimation magnitude showed a negative correlation with mean annual temperature. This negative correlation suggests that ecosystems in colder regions exhibit higher acclimation magnitudes compared to warmer regions, potentially reducing the variation in T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e across biomes under future warming. These findings indicate a homogenization of T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e under warming conditions. Our scenario analysis suggested that neglecting thermal acclimation may lead to inaccurate T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e estimates under future climate scenarios, underscoring the need to incorporate variable thermal acclimation responses of T\u003csub\u003eopt\u003c/sub\u003e into Earth System Models.","manuscriptTitle":"The optimal temperature of ecosystem respiration homogenizes under global warming","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-01-03 04:20:14","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5577552/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"5ca29eef-cebc-442b-864d-e997f819d5aa","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 3rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":41850038,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem ecology"},{"id":41850039,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Climate-change ecology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-01-03T04:20:14+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-01-03 04:20:14","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5577552","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5577552","identity":"rs-5577552","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}