Speed of thermal adaptation of terrestrial vegetation alters Earth's long-term climate.
Sci Adv
; 10(9): eadj4408, 2024 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38427727
ABSTRACT
Earth's long-term climate is driven by the cycling of carbon between geologic reservoirs and the atmosphere-ocean system. Our understanding of carbon-climate regulation remains incomplete, with large discrepancies remaining between biogeochemical model predictions and the geologic record. Here, we evaluate the importance of the continuous biological climate adaptation of vegetation as a regulation mechanism in the geologic carbon cycle since the establishment of forest ecosystems. Using a model, we show that the vegetation's speed of adaptation to temperature changes through eco-evolutionary processes can strongly influence global rates of organic carbon burial and silicate weathering. Considering a limited thermal adaptation capacity of the vegetation results in a closer balance of reconstructed carbon fluxes into and out of the atmosphere-ocean system, which is a prerequisite to maintain habitable conditions on Earth's surface on a multimillion-year timescale. We conclude that the long-term carbon-climate system is more sensitive to biological dynamics than previously expected, which may help to explain large shifts in Phanerozoic climate.
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1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Adv
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suiza