Climate Variability Drives Increasing Gross Primary Production in Europe Since 1772

ABSTRACT Satellite‐based datasets of terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) are available only since the early 1980s, leaving pre‐industrial ecosystem dynamics largely unconstrained. Here, we fill this gap by reconstructing European GPP from 1772 to 2020 using Multivariate nonlinear regression with multiple interactions (MNLRMI). The model was trained with a homogenized GPP dataset derived from eddy‐covariance and FLUXCOM data (1981–2018). We split the dataset into a model calibration (1981–2006) and a validation (2007–2018) period. The reconstruction reveals a continuous increase in European mean annual GPP from 930 to 1140 g C m −2 yr −1 , with two statistically significant shifts in 1926 and 1988, suggesting three major climate‐productivity phases since the late Little Ice Age. Our results show that (i) atmospheric CO 2 and temperature are the dominant long‐term drivers for GPP increase, (ii) GPP variations shifted from natural variability in the past to anthropogenically driven productivity increase during the 20th century, and (iii) drought stress has become an increasing constraint in GPP development under recent warming. Vapor pressure deficit, and large‐scale teleconnections (NAO, AMO) have a nonlinear, episodic influence and modulate—but do not override—the CO 2 ‐driven productivity increase. This study provides the first quantitative, continental‐scale reconstruction of European GPP for the last ~250 years and offers insights into the long‐term coupling between climate variability and terrestrial carbon uptake.