Freeze-thaw-driven soil moisture return significantly contributes to spring phenology on the warming Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
exhibits ~31% higher sensitivity to surface soil moisture compared to sites with thinner active layer thickness. As active layer thickness deepens, the influence of soil moisture dynamics in the middle and lower active layers, associated with permafrost degradation, may gradually weaken in regulating start of the growing season. Our findings identify freeze-thaw soil moisture dynamics as an important, previously underappreciated control on start of the growing season and spring carbon uptake on the warming Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Authors
- Genxu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3403-0983)
- Linmao Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4892-8735)
- Jinlong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0509-8118)
- Hanrui Zhao
- Chunlin Song
- Zhaoyong Hu
- Shan Lin
- Xianhong Meng
- Shouqin Sun
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Sichuan University (CN)
- Chang'an University (CN)
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (CN)
- Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (CN)
- Yalong Hydro (China) (CN)
- Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-04-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71956-1
- Primary Topic
- Climate change and permafrost
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China