Changing Sensitivity of Diverse Tropical Biomes to Precipitation Consistent with the Expected Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Effect

Abstract Global environmental changes have implications for the terrestrial ecosystem functioning, but disentangling individual effects remains elusive. The impact of vegetation responses to increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations is particularly poorly understood. As concentration increases, acts as a fertilizer plant growth. An increase in reduces amount water needed produce an equivalent biomass due closing or narrowing stomata that transpired by plants. To study impacts climate change and fertilization on growth, we analyzed growing season sensitivity growth climatic forcing from alpine semi-desert eco-climatic zones Ethiopia various functional types over period 1982–2011. Growing 3 rd generation Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Inventory Modeling Mapping Studies (NDVI) was used proxy while mean precipitation (prec), temperature (temp), solar radiation (sr) forcing. sensitivities are calculated partial correlation, derivative NDVI with respect prec, temp sr earliest recent 15-year periods satellite records, using moving window 15-year. Our results show trends not explained any variables. We also find prec leads larger since 1980s. This result implies given has sustained greater amounts foliage materials time decreasing transpiration expected effect use efficiency Increasing shallow-rooted tend be associated woody encroachment.