Observed different impacts of potential tree restoration on local surface and air temperature

Tree restoration can cool or warm the local climate through biophysical processes. However, the magnitude of these effects remains unconstrained at large scales, as most previous observational studies rely on land surface temperature (Ts) rather than the more policy-relevant air temperature (Ta). Using satellite observations, we show that Ta responds to tree cover change at only 15-30% of the magnitude observed in Ts. This difference is supported by independent evidence from site observations, and can be attributed to the reduced aerodynamic resistance and the resultant flatter near-surface temperature profiles in forests compared to non-forests. At mid- or high-latitudes, the maximum seasonal biophysical Ta warming or cooling only accounts for approximately 10% of the equivalent climate effect of carbon sequestration in terms of magnitude, whereas the biophysical Ts effect can reach 40%. These findings highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate temperature metric in different applications to avoid exaggerating or underestimating the biophysical impacts of forestation.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-03-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57606-y
Citations
18
Primary Topic
Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
19.90

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Observed different impacts of potential tree restoration on local surface and air temperature

Qian Shi, Hua Wu, Wei Zhao, Chenghu Zhou et al.
18 citations
Nature Communications
Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
19.90
article

Observed different impacts of potential tree restoration on local surface and air temperature

Qian Shi, Hua Wu, Wei Zhao, Chenghu Zhou, Enyu Zhao, Xu Lian, Menglin Si, Si‐Bo Duan, Yitao Li, Ronglin Tang, Caixia Gao, Xiaoning Song, Jing Li, Zhao-Liang Li, Xiangyang Liu, Pei Leng
article en
18 citations

Abstract

Tree restoration can cool or warm the local climate through biophysical processes. However, the magnitude of these effects remains unconstrained at large scales, as most previous observational studies rely on land surface temperature (Ts) rather than the more policy-relevant air temperature (Ta). Using satellite observations, we show that Ta responds to tree cover change at only 15-30% of the magnitude observed in Ts. This difference is supported by independent evidence from site observations, and can be attributed to the reduced aerodynamic resistance and the resultant flatter near-surface temperature profiles in forests compared to non-forests. At mid- or high-latitudes, the maximum seasonal biophysical Ta warming or cooling only accounts for approximately 10% of the equivalent climate effect of carbon sequestration in terms of magnitude, whereas the biophysical Ts effect can reach 40%. These findings highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate temperature metric in different applications to avoid exaggerating or underestimating the biophysical impacts of forestation.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN), Sun Yat-sen University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Guangdong Academy of Sciences (CN), Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN), Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (CN), Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (CN), Aerospace Information Research Institute (CN), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), Guangzhou Institute of Geography (CN), Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Dalian Maritime University (CN), Columbia University (US)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
19.90
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.