Article

Plant phenological responses to the warm island effect in the lake group region of the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China

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Abstract

Plant phenology is a commonly used indicator representing the impacts on vegetation by the climate and other environmental factors. The use of repeated digital photography provides an opportunity to conduct long-term monitoring of plant phenology and to extract phenological transition dates. Here, we tracked the phenological changes in the flowering tree, Elaeagnus angustifolia L., in the Cherigele (CRGL) of the Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) and the nearby Lianggejing (LGJ); using one-year near-surface digital repeat photography and meteorological data, the phenological difference between the two sites was revealed. We found that the use of digital cameras allowed for the monitoring of plant phenology with high temporal and spatial accuracy in these dryland ecosystems. Furthermore, in the lake group region of BJD, the onset of greening occurred 23 days earlier, the onset of dormancy began 13 days later and the growing season was 36 days longer, compared to those of the surrounding area. This difference is partly related to the higher altitude in the LGJ; however, it is dominantly related to the warm island effect in the lake group region. This effect resulted in the mean annual temperature in the CRGL being ~1.6 °C higher than in the LGJ.

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... For example, a study of Landsat satellite remote sensing data by Deng et al. (2018) found that the surface temperature in the lake-group region is higher than that of the non-lake area in the northern part of the desert [10]. Liang et al. (2016Liang et al. ( , 2020 indicated that the annual and seasonal average temperatures in the lake-group region were higher than those of the surrounding area, and believed that the mechanism of the warm island effect was related to two aspects: First, heat is carried by the groundwater recharge to the desert lake groups. Second, due to the sparse vegetation and arid surface of the desert hinterland, most of the net radiation is transferred to the atmosphere through sensible heat flux. ...
... Second, due to the sparse vegetation and arid surface of the desert hinterland, most of the net radiation is transferred to the atmosphere through sensible heat flux. Meteorological observations found that accumulated temperatures of ≥0 • C and ≥10 • C and phenological observations also proved the existence of a warm island effect in the lake-group region [11][12][13]. Zhao et al. (2021) found that the lake region has a warm island effect in winter, and is more intense at night [14]. ...
... The lake surface reflectance is smaller than that of the land surface; the radiation absorbed by the water surface is more than the net radiation absorbed by the land surface which is confirmed. Liang et al. (2020) analysed the annual variation characteristics of monthly net radiation from both land and lake stations in the hinterland of the BJD ( Figure 8); they found that the net radiation at the lake station (E1) was much higher than that of the land station (E2). The total annual net radiation of the E1 station (2937.5 MJ/m 2 ) was more than twice that of the E2 station (1340.3 ...
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... Modern observations suggest that the evaporation of lakes is closely correlated with air temperature and water temperature in the BJD (Han et al., 2018). Due to the warm island effect of lakes in the BJD, the annual temperature in the lake group region is approximately 1.6°C higher than those in other regions (Liang et al., 2020), which may cause a more intense evaporation effect. When the enhancement of the evaporation effect caused by the temperature rise is much greater than the increased precipitation, the effective moisture decreases Wu et al., 2020). ...
... October 2021 | Volume 9 | Article 721724 average rate of 0.34°C decade −1 , and global annual mean lake evaporation rates are forecast to increase 16% by 2,100 relative to (Woolway et al., 2020. Arid zones are more sensitive than other areas to temperature changes during global climate change, especially desert areas (Chen et al., 2015;Huang et al., 2016;Liang et al., 2020). Remote sensing data show that the lake areas in the BJD and central Asia have decreased in recent decades (Zhang et al., 2013;Che et al., 2021). ...
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... While our study primarily focuses on GWS variations and their relation to climatic factors, the findings from Diao et al. (2021) and Liang et al. (2020) showcase the broader significance of ecological interactions driven by climate in different geographic contexts. Understanding these interactions can contribute to assess environmental impacts of climate change, which may indirectly influence groundwater dynamics. ...
... Direct human field observations can provided information on plant phenophases at individual organism level (Menzel et al., 2006), while near-surface measurements (e.g., phenological cameras, sensors on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)) can provide phenological data at both individual organism and plant community level (Berra et al., 2019;Liang et al., 2020;Richardson, 2019). These phenological approaches based on a more detailed scale could therefore improve the understanding of the phenological behaviour of species in these heterogeneous subtropical forests. ...
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Plant phenology is a commonly used and suitable indicator of the impact of climate change on vegetation. In mountainous areas, phenology is governed by environmental drivers such as air temperature, photoperiod and the presence of snow. In this study, digital images collected over 3 years (2009, 2010 and 2011) in a subalpine grassland site were used to investigate the relationship between the timing of snowmelt and the beginning of the growing season in both the spatial and the temporal dimension.
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Recent studies have shown that the greenness index derived from digital camera imagery has high spatial and temporal resolution. These findings indicate that it can not only provide a reasonable characterization of canopy seasonal variation but also make it possible to optimize ecological models. To examine this possi-bility, we evaluated the application of digital camera imagery for monitoring winter wheat phenology and modeling gross primary production (GPP). By combining the data for the green cover fraction and for GPP, we first compared 2 different indices (the ratio greenness index (green-to-red ratio, G/R) and the relative greenness index (green to sum value, G%)) extracted from digital images obtained repeatedly over time and confirmed that G/R was best suited for tracking canopy status. Second, the key phenological stages were estimated using a time series of G/R values. The mean difference between the observed phenological dates and the dates determined from field data was 3.3 days in 2011 and 4 days in 2012, suggesting that digital camera imagery can provide high-quality ground phenological data. Furthermore, we attempted to use the data (greenness index and meteorological data in 2011) to optimize a light use efficiency (LUE) model and to use the optimal parameters to simulate the daily GPP in 2012. A high correlation (R 2 = 0.90) was found between the values of LUE-based GPP and eddy covariance (EC) tower-based GPP, showing that the greenness index and meteorological data can be used to predict the daily GPP. This finding provides a new method for interpolating GPP data and an approach to the estimation of the temporal and spatial distributions of photosynthetic productivity. In this study, we expanded the potential use of the greenness index derived from digital camera imagery by combining it with the LUE model in an analysis of well-managed cropland. The successful application of digital camera imagery will improve our knowledge of ecosystem processes at the temporal and spatial levels.
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Geometrical optical (GO) modelling applies to canopies with distinct architecture and is particularly appropriate for forest canopies. Although sophisticated 3‐dimensional radiative transfer models are developed, GO models remain attractive tools for remote sensing applications for their ability to capture the angular and spatial variabilities of reflectances using simple geometries defined by canopy architecture. In this paper, we review recent developments in GO modelling methodology and a wide range of applications of GO models for vegetation information retrieval. This review covers GO applications in both optical and thermal spectral regions. Existing problems and limitations of GO models will be discussed and future research directions are thus suggested.
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Phenological timing of leaf budburst in plants is important for growth, since early budburst timing extends the growth period of the plant. We estimated the effect of climate change on the phenological budburst timing of four trees throughout four sites in Japan, a region with few studies on this topic. The leaf budburst date of plants has advanced or been stable during the last five decades in these four Japanese localities. This fact is due to the negative relationship between dates and temperature using multiple regression models, observed at all sites. Climate change has shifted budburst phenology in Japan with the increase of spring temperatures. However, precipitation did not show any effect on budburst timing. At two sites, budburst dates of three tree species had not remarkably changed or delayed throughout the past five decades. There were differences between localities at the same latitude.
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The Badain Jaran Desert features the highest megadunes on Earth, and a unique megadune-lake alternation landscape. Based on field survey and interpretation of aerial photographs, this paper examines the general characteristics of the Badain Jaran megadunes, their morphometry and formation, as well as the formation of megadune-lake alternation landscape. It is suggested that the megadunes in the Badain Jaran Desert were developed in a low wind energy environment. The compound transverse megadunes, the dominant megadune type, have a similar wind regime to barchanoid dunes, and the compound star megadunes, which occur near the mountains, have a similar wind regime to star dunes. Similar to the barchanoid dunes, the height, base area and spacing of the compound transverse megadunes show reasonably good inter-correlation. The base area of the megadunes and the area of the leeward interdune lake basins are also inter-correlated. The alignment and spacing of the Badain Jaran megadunes implies that wind is the most important factor in their development; the morphology underneath the megadunes does not determine the general pattern of the megadunes as previously suggested. Repetitions of dune fixation and reactivation in the development process played an important role in increasing the megadunes' height, hence their size. The interdune lakes in the megadune area were mainly formed by talus springs and are only partly fed by atmospheric precipitation.
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Summary • Climatic warming produces significant gradual alterations in the timing of life- cycle events , and here we study the phenological effects of rainfall-pattern changes. •W e conducted ecosystem field experiments that partially excluded rain and runoff during the growing season in a Mediterranean forest and in a mediterranean shrub- land. Studies of time-series of leaf-unfolding, flowering and fruiting over the last 50 yr in central Catalonia were carried out, and greenup onset in the Iberian Peninsula was monitored by satellite images. • Experimental, historical and geographical changes in rainfall produced significant, complex and strongly species-specific, as well as spatially and temporally variable, phenological effects. Among these changes, it was found that in the Iberian Penin- sula, greenup onset changes from spring (triggered by rising temperatures) in the northern cool-wet regions to autumn (triggered by the arrival of autumn rainfalls) in the southern warm-dry regions. Even in the mesic Mediterranean central Catalo- nia (NE of the peninsula) rainfall had a stronger relative influence than temperature on fruiting phenology. • The results show that changes in rainfall and water availability, an important driver of climate change, can cause complex phenological changes with likely far-reaching consequences for ecosystem and biosphere functioning and structure. The seasonal shift in the Iberian Peninsula further highlights this importance and indicates that vegetation may respond to climate change not only with gradual, but also with abrupt temporal and spatial, changes in the timing of greenup onset.
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The available data on climate over the past century indicate that the earth is warming. Important biological effects, including changes of plant and animal life cycle events, have already been reported. However, evidence of such effects is still scarce and has been mostly limited to northern latitudes. Here we provide the first long-term (1952–2000) evidence of altered life cycles for some of the most abundant Mediterranean plants and birds, and one butterfly species. Average annual temperatures in the study area (Cardedeu, NE Spain) have increased by 1.4 °C over the observation period while precipitation remained unchanged. A conservative linear treatment of the data shows that leaves unfold on average 16 days earlier, leaves fall on average 13 days later, and plants flower on average 6 days earlier than in 1952. Fruiting occurs on average 9 days earlier than in 1974. Butterflies appear 11 days earlier, but spring migratory birds arrive 15 days later than in 1952. The stronger changes both in temperature and in phenophases timing occurred in the last 25 years. There are no significant relationships among changes in phenophases and the average date for each phenophase and species. There are not either significant differences among species with different Raunkiaer life-forms or different origin (native, exotic or agricultural). However, there is a wide range of phenological alterations among the different species, which may alter their competitive ability, and thus, their ecology and conservation, and the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Moreover, the lengthening of plant growing season in this and other northern hemisphere regions may contribute to a global increase in biospheric activity.
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The timing of spring leaf development, trajectories of summer leaf area, and the timing of autumn senescence have profound impacts to the water, carbon, and energy balance of ecosystems, and are likely influenced by global climate change. Limited field-based and remote-sensing observations have suggested complex spatial patterns related to geographic features that influence climate. However, much of this variability occurs at spatial scales that inhibit a detailed understanding of even the dominant drivers. Recognizing these limitations, we used nonlinear inverse modeling of medium-resolution remote sensing data, organized by day of year, to explore the influence of climate-related landscape factors on the timing of spring and autumn leaf-area trajectories in mid-Atlantic, USA forests. We also examined the extent to which declining summer greenness (greendown) degrades the precision and accuracy of observations of autumn offset of greenness. Of the dominant drivers of landscape phenology, elevation was the strongest, explaining up to 70% of the spatial variation in the onset of greenness. Urban land cover was second in importance, influencing spring onset and autumn offset to a distance of 32 km from large cities. Distance to tidal water also influenced phenological timing, but only within ~5 km of shorelines. Additionally, we observed that (i) growing season length unexpectedly increases with increasing elevation at elevations below 275 m; (ii) along gradients in urban land cover, timing of autumn offset has a stronger effect on growing season length than does timing of spring onset; and (iii) summer greendown introduces bias and uncertainty into observations of the autumn offset of greenness. These results demonstrate the power of medium grain analyses of landscape-scale phenology for understanding environmental controls on growing season length, and predicting how these might be affected by climate change.
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To understand the effects of climate change on the growing season of plants in Japan, we conducted trend analysis of phenological phases and examined the relationship between phenology and air temperatures. We used phenological data for Ginkgo biloba L., collected from 1953 to 2000. We defined the beginning and the end of the growing season (BGS and EGS) as the dates of budding and leaf fall, respectively. Changes in the air temperature in the 45 days before the date of BGS affected annual variation in BGS. The annual variation in air temperature over the 85 days before EGS affected the date of EGS. The average annual air temperature in Japan has increased by 1.3°C over the last four decades (1961–2000), and this increase has caused changes in ginkgo phenology. In the last five decades (1953–2000), BGS has occurred approximately 4 days earlier than previously, and EGS has occurred about 8 days later. Consequently, since 1953 the length of the growing season (LGS) has been extended by 12 days. Since around 1970, LGS and air temperatures have shown increasing trends. Although many researchers have stated that phenological events are not affected by the air temperature in the fall, we found high correlations not only between budding dates and air temperatures in spring but also between leaf-fall dates and air temperatures in autumn. If the mean annual air temperature increases by 1°C, LGS could be extended by 10 days. We also examined the spatial distribution of the rate of LGS extension, but we did not find an obvious relationship between LGS extension and latitude.
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Global climate change impacts can already be tracked in many physical and biological systems; in particular, terrestrial ecosystems provide a consistent picture of observed changes. One of the preferred indicators is phenology, the science of natural recurring events, as their recorded dates provide a high-temporal resolution of ongoing changes. Thus, numerous analyses have demonstrated an earlier onset of spring events for mid and higher latitudes and a lengthening of the growing season. However, published single-site or single-species studies are particularly open to suspicion of being biased towards predominantly reporting climate change-induced impacts. No comprehensive study or meta-analysis has so far examined the possible lack of evidence for changes or shifts at sites where no temperature change is observed. We used an enormous systematic phenological network data set of more than 125 000 observational series of 542 plant and 19 animal species in 21 European countries (1971–2000). Our results showed that 78% of all leafing, flowering and fruiting records advanced (30% significantly) and only 3% were significantly delayed, whereas the signal of leaf colouring/fall is ambiguous. We conclude that previously published results of phenological changes were not biased by reporting or publication predisposition: the average advance of spring/summer was 2.5 days decade−1 in Europe. Our analysis of 254 mean national time series undoubtedly demonstrates that species' phenology is responsive to temperature of the preceding months (mean advance of spring/summer by 2.5 days°C−1, delay of leaf colouring and fall by 1.0 day°C−1). The pattern of observed change in spring efficiently matches measured national warming across 19 European countries (correlation coefficient r=−0.69, P<0.001).
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We evaluated variability in cover estimation data obtained by (1) two sampling teams who double sampled plots and (2) one team that used two methods (line intercepts and visual estimation of cover classes) to characterize vegetation of herbaceous wetlands. Species richness and cover estimates were similar among teams and among methods, but one sampling team scored cover higher than the other. The line intercept technique yielded higher cover estimates but lower species richness estimates than the cover class method. Cluster analyses of plots revealed that 36% and 11% of plots sampled consecutively by two teams or using two methods, respectively, were similar enough in species composition and abundance to be paired together in the resulting clustering tree. Simplifying cover estimate data to presence/absence increased the similarity among both teams and methods at the plot scale. Teams were very similar in their overall characterization of sites when cover estimation data were used, as assessed by cluster analysis, but methods agreed best on their overall characterization of sites when only presence/absence data were considered. Differences in abundance estimates as well as pseudoturnover contribute to variability. For double sampled plots, pseudoturnover was 19.1%, but 57.7% of pseudo-turnover cases involved taxa with ≤ 0.5% cover while only 3.4% involved taxa with > 8% cover. We suggest that vegetation scientists incorporate quality control, calibrate observers and publish their results.
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The amount and timing of aquifer recharge and the evolution of lakes and groundwater in the southeastern Badain Jaran desert of Inner Mongolia, with high megadunes, has been investigated using stable isotopes and hydrochemistry. Unsaturated zone moisture profiles down to 22 in have recorded recharge over 1185 years. Small but finite amounts of recharge are recorded with mean recharge rates of 0.95-1.33 mm year(-1), determined using a chloride mass balance technique. The unsaturated profile also acts as a unique archive of hydrological and climate change. Before 1300, it was relatively dry but distinct wet periods may be recognised during 1340-1450, 1500-1610 and 1710-1820. Since the mid 1800s, the climate shows a trend towards greater aridity. The interdune lakes are generally fresh but locally, hypersaline lakes are found in juxtaposition. This implies that in general, the lakes have low residence times and flow back into the dune system, but sedimentary obstruction locally prevents outflow and extreme evaporation occurs. The stable isotope records show that the lakes are fed by palaeowaters which on the basis of other proxy data must predate the Last Glacial Maximum. Their recharge source is problematic but most likely this derives from a diminishing water table extending some 30 in south to the Yabulai Mountains.
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The continued spread of invasive weeds is threatening ecosystem health throughout North America. Understanding the relationships between invasive weeds' key phenological phases and structural and/or functional canopy development is an essential step for making informed decisions regarding their management. We analyzed a three-year image archive obtained from an inexpensive webcam overlooking a perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium L) infestation in California to explore the ability of red (R)-green (G)-blue (B) color space information to track the structural and functional development of the pepperweed. We characterized structural and functional canopy development through surface roughness length (z(0m); a proxy for canopy height and leaf area index) and canopy photosynthesis (F-A), respectively, both of which we derived from eddy covariance measurements. Here we demonstrate the use of cross-correlation functions to determine the temporal lags between chromatic coordinates and two color indices, all calculated from RGB brightness levels, with z(0m) and F-A. We found that these color metrics fail to represent the structural and/or functional state of the canopy. In contrast, relative luminance (CIE Y) appears to be a better indicator for z(0m), and especially for F-A. We calculated CIE Y from pepperweed RGB brightness levels in relation to hypothetical horizontal reference RGB brightness levels. We obtained the latter by applying the ratio between horizontally measured and hypothetical incoming solar radiation on a vertical surface to RGB brightness levels of a vertically oriented reference of invariant light-grey color. We conclude that webcam image archives may provide an inexpensive tool for making informed decisions regarding the timing but not for assessing the effectiveness of invasive plant control measures such as mowing.
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To investigate the impact of recent climatic changes on the plant development in Europe, this study uses phenological data of the International Phenological Gardens for the period 1969–1998. For this study, the leafing dates of four tree species (Betula pubescens, Prunus avium, Sorbus aucuparia and Ribes alpinum) were combined in an annual leaf unfolding index to define the beginning of growing season. The end of growing season was defined using the average leaf fall of B. pubescens, P. avium, Salix smithiana and R. alpinum. A nearly Europe-wide warming in the early spring (February–April) over the last 30 years (1969–1998) led to an earlier beginning of growing season by 8 days. The observed trends in the onset of spring corresponded well with changes in air temperature and circulation ( North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAO-index)) across Europe. In late winter and early spring, the positive phase of NAO increased clearly, leading to prevailing westerly winds and thus to higher temperatures in the period February–April. Since the end of the 1980s the changes in circulation, air temperature and the beginning of spring time were striking. The investigation showed that a warming in the early spring (February–April) by 1°C causes an advance in the beginning of growing season of 7 days. The observed extension of growing season was mainly the result of an earlier onset of spring. An increase of mean annual air temperature by 1°C led to an extension of 5 days.
Article
Climate change is predicted to alter the canopy phenology of temperate and boreal forests, which will affect carbon, water, and energy budgets. Therefore, there is a great need to evaluate remotely sensed products for their potential to accurately capture canopy dynamics. The objective of this study was to compare several products derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to field measurements of fraction photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) and plant area index (PAI) for a deciduous broadleaf forest in northern Wisconsin in 2002. MODIS products captured the general phenological development of the canopy although MODIS products overestimated the leaf area during the overstory leaf out period. Field data suggest that the period from budburst to canopy maturity, or maximum PAI, occurred in 10 to 12 days while MODIS products predicted onset of greenness and maturity from 1 to 21 days and 0 to 19 days earlier than that from field observations, respectively. Temporal compositing of MODIS data and understory development are likely key factors explaining differences with field data. Maximum PAI estimates differed only by 7% between field derived and MODIS-based estimates of LAI. Implications for ecosystem modeling of carbon and water exchange and future research needs are discussed.
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Sources of groundwater recharge to the Badain Jaran Desert in China have been investigated using geochemical and isotopic techniques. Stable isotope compositions (δ18O and δ2H) of shallow groundwater and surface water from oasis lakes evolve from a starting composition considerably depleted compared to local unsaturated zone moisture, confirming inferences from chloride mass balance that direct infiltration of precipitation is not a volumetrically important source of recharge to the shallow aquifer in the study area. Shallow phreatic and deeper confined groundwater bodies appear unconnected based on chemical composition and radiocarbon activities. Hydrogeologic evidence points toward a bordering mountain range (Yabulai) as a likely recharge zone, which is consistent with tracer results. A mean residence time in the range of 1–2 ka for the desert’s southeastern margin is inferred from radiocarbon. These results reveal that some replenishment to the desert aquifer is occurring but at a rate much lower than previously suggested, which is relevant for water resources planning in this ecologically sensitive area.
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The concept of light-use efficiency (LUE) is the underlying basis for estimating carbon exchange in many ecosystem models, especially those models that utilize remote sensing to constrain estimates of canopy photosynthesis. An understanding of the factors that control the efficiency with which forest canopies harvest available light to fix carbon via photosynthesis is therefore necessary for the development of useful production efficiency models. We present an analysis of observations of daily LUE for 2004 in a northern hardwood stand at the Bartlett Experimental Forest CO2 flux tower, White Mountains, New Hampshire (USA). We used eddy covariance measurements to estimate gross carbon exchange (GCE), and radiometric instruments mounted above and below the canopy to estimate the fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the canopy (fAPAR). Both GCE and fAPAR show strong seasonal and day-to-day variability that contribute to temporal variation in LUE. During the middle of the growing season, when fAPAR is relatively constant, day-to-day variation in LUE is largely explained (r2 = 0.85) by changes in the ratio of diffuse to total downwelling radiation, but is not strongly correlated with any other measured meteorological variable.We also calculated top-of-canopy NDVI based on measurements of reflected radiation at 400–700 and 305–2800 nm. Seasonal variation in this broadband NDVI paralleled that of the 500 m MODIS pixel containing the flux tower. The relationship between broadband NDVI and fAPAR is approximately linear during green-up, but non-linear during autumn senescence. This seasonal hysteresis has implications for the use of remote sensing indices (such as NDVI or EVI) in satellite estimation of fAPAR for production efficiency modeling.