Abstract
Global environmental change is reshaping phenological patterns across ecosystems, yet belowground phenological responses remain poorly characterized. Using a flux-based framework, we derived phenological metrics from 2100 site-years of paired root and microbial respiration time series across 163 sites worldwide. Our meta-analysis shows that root and microbial phenology typically shift asymmetrically in direction and magnitude under global change, except for a warming-induced symmetric advance in season onset. Warming and nitrogen addition extended root growing season, whereas microbial season lengthened under warming and reduced precipitation but shortened following partial vegetation removal. These phenological shifts were largely decoupled from changes in respiration fluxes, indicating a distinct dimension of ecosystem responses to global change. Such phenological adjustments critically influence carbon dynamics, as warming-driven extensions of the microbial season alone could increase global heterotrophic respiration by 2.5 ± 0.8 Pg C yr−1 (mean ± SE). Our results provide flux-based empirical guidance for representing root and microbial phenology as distinct, driver-sensitive processes in Earth system models, thereby improving projections of ecosystem carbon dynamics.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Jingyun Fang (VegLab, Peking University) for his generous review and constructive suggestions on an earlier version of this manuscript. W.C. discloses support for the research of this work from the National Key R&D Program of China [2022YFF1301700], National Natural Science Foundation of China [32271623 and 32571807], Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province [LZ25C030001], Global-ERCaN Project of the International Cooperation Bureau, Chinese Academy of Sciences [177GJH2022020BS], Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province (Lingyan Project) [2024C03244], Hangzhou West Corridor Science and Technology Innovation and Development Fund, and Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough Plan of the Ministry of Education of China [JYB2025XDXM909]. S.L. discloses support for the research of this work from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [32571848] and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province [LY23C030004].
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Zhao, C., Qian, Z., Liang, S. et al. Meta-analysis reveals asymmetric root and microbial phenology shifts under global change.
Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73761-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73761-2
Source: Ecology - nature.com
