Recent leveling off of vegetation greenness and primary production reveals the increasing soil water limitations on the greening Earth
Global vegetation photosynthesis and productivity have increased substantially since the
1980s, but this trend is heterogeneous in both time and space. Here, we categorize the
secular trend in global vegetation greenness into sustained greening, sustained browning
and greening-to-browning. We found that by 2016, increased global vegetation greenness
had begun to level off, with the area of browning increasing in the last decade, reaching 39.0
million km 2 (35.9% of the world's vegetated area). This area is larger than the area with …
1980s, but this trend is heterogeneous in both time and space. Here, we categorize the
secular trend in global vegetation greenness into sustained greening, sustained browning
and greening-to-browning. We found that by 2016, increased global vegetation greenness
had begun to level off, with the area of browning increasing in the last decade, reaching 39.0
million km 2 (35.9% of the world's vegetated area). This area is larger than the area with …
