Assessing recovery time of ecosystems in China: insights into flash drought impacts on gross primary productivity

Lu, Mengge; Sun, Huaiwei; Yang, Yong; Xue, Jie; Ling, Hongbo; Zhang, Hong; Zhang, Wenxin

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-613-2025

Articles | Volume 29, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-613-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-613-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 29, issue 3

Research article

|

04 Feb 2025

Research article |

| 04 Feb 2025

Assessing recovery time of ecosystems in China: insights into flash drought impacts on gross primary productivity

Mengge Lu, Huaiwei Sun, Yong Yang, Jie Xue, Hongbo Ling, Hong Zhang, and Wenxin Zhang

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-613-2025-supplement

Data sets

Method GLEAM, Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model GLEAM https://www.gleam.eu/#downloads

The first high-resolution meteorological forcing dataset for land process studies over China (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4557599.v1) J. He et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0369-y

Global MODIS and FLUXNET-derived Daily Gross Primary Production, V2 J. Joiner and Y. Yoshida https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1835

MCD12C1 MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Cover Type Yearly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006 M. Friedl and D. Sulla-Menashe https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD12C1.006

Short summary

Our study explores how ecosystems recover after flash droughts. Using vegetation and soil moisture data, we found that recovery takes about 37.5 d on average (longer in central and southern regions) in China. Factors like post-drought radiation and temperature affect recovery, with extreme temperatures prolonging it. Herbaceous plants recover faster than forests. Our findings aid water resource management and drought monitoring on a large scale, offering insights into ecosystem resilience.