Climate-Ecosystem Feedbacks in Cold and Arid Regions

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154). This special issue belongs to the section "Climate and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 500

Editors


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Guest Editor
Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Interests: oxygen footprint; carbon cycle; ecology-meteorology interaction; soil organic carbon; DNDC model

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Guest Editor
Hebei Key Laboratory of Resource and Environmental Disaster Mechanism and Risk Monitoring, Institute of Disaster Prevention, Sanhe 065201, China
Interests: oxygen cycle; climate change; extreme weather events

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Guest Editor
Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Interests: drylands climate change; desertification risk assessment; drought; land-atmosphere interaction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cold and arid regions—climate change-sensitive ecosystems—are characterized by sophisticated climate-ecosystem feedbacks. Anthropogenic warming triggers permafrost degradation and soil desiccation, altering carbon/oxygen biogeochemical cycles and vegetation functional dynamics; concurrently, vegetation changes mediate surface albedo and modulate local microclimates. Human activities (e.g., fossil-fuel combustion and wildfires) intensify these feedbacks in fragile ecological systems. Understanding this complexity is critical to improving climate model performance and designing science-based adaptive management, underscoring the need for targeted research in these key regions. This Special Issue seeks to deepen understanding of the characteristics, drivers, and ecological-climatic consequences of these feedbacks, filling critical knowledge gaps to enhance climate projections and ecosystem conservation.

Dr. Dongliang Han
Dr. Lei Ding
Dr. Guolong Zhang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • carbon/oxygen cycle
  • extreme heat
  • drought
  • control experiments
  • models

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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10 pages, 649 KB  
Perspective
Oxygen Footprint Regulates Dryland Carbon Cycling
by Dongliang Han, Jianping Huang, Lei Ding and Guolong Zhang
Climate 2026, 14(9), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli14090176 - 26 Aug 2026
Abstract
In the Anthropocene, dryland ecosystems—natural and semi-natural ecosystems—are highly sensitive to anthropogenic warming, and their carbon cycling dynamics are easily disrupted by this trend. In this perspective, we propose a novel yet long-overlooked conceptual framework. It reveals that the oxygen footprint, defined as [...] Read more.
In the Anthropocene, dryland ecosystems—natural and semi-natural ecosystems—are highly sensitive to anthropogenic warming, and their carbon cycling dynamics are easily disrupted by this trend. In this perspective, we propose a novel yet long-overlooked conceptual framework. It reveals that the oxygen footprint, defined as the atmospheric oxygen consumption-to-production ratio, could serve as an important diagnostic indicator for assessing the impacts of anthropogenic warming on dryland carbon cycling. This framework can be divided into three parts, including the increasing oxygen footprint, warming effects on dryland carbon cycling, and direct or indirect links between oxygen footprint and carbon-cycle responses. In short, it centers on the core logical chain: oxygen footprint-anthropogenic warming-dryland carbon cycling. This work strives to enhance dryland sustainability by filling essential knowledge gaps, combining separate research findings, and providing actionable field guidance for ecosystem management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Ecosystem Feedbacks in Cold and Arid Regions)
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