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Arctic wetlands play a key role in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Recent studies have shown a greening trend and indicated an increase in CO2 uptake in boreal and sub- to low-arctic areas. Our aim was to combine satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) with ground-based flux measurements of CO2 to investigate a possible greening trend and potential changes in gross primary production (GPP) between 1992 and 2008 in a high arctic fen area. The study took place in Rylekaerene in the Zackenberg Research Area (74°28' N 20°34' W), located in the National park of North Eastern Greenland. We estimated the light use efficiency (ϵ) for the dominant vegetation types from field measured fractions of photosynthetic active radiation (FAPAR) and ground-based flux measurements of GPP. Measured FAPAR were correlated to satellite-based NDVI. The FAPAR-NDVI relationship in combination with ϵ was applied to satellite data to model GPP 1992-2008. The model was evaluated against field measured GPP. The model was a useful tool for up-scaling GPP and all basic requirements for the model were well met, e.g., FAPAR was well correlated to NDVI and modeled GPP was well correlated to field measurements. The studied high arctic fen area has experienced a strong increase in GPP between 1992 and 2008. The area has during this period also experienced a substantial increase in local air temperature. Consequently, the observed greening trend is most likely due to ongoing climatic change possibly in combination with CO2 fertilization, due to increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent rapid warming has caused uneven impacts on the composition, structure, and functioning of northern ecosystems. It remains unknown how climatic drivers control linear and non-linear trends in ecosystem productivity. Based on a plant phenology index (PPI) product at a spatial resolution of 0.05° over 2000-2018, we used an automated polynomial fitting scheme to detect and characterize trend types (i.e., polynomial trends and no-trends) in the yearly-integrated PPI (PPI INT ) for northern (> 30°N) ecosystems and their dependence on climatic drivers and ecosystem types. The averaged slope for the linear trends (p < 0.05) of PPI INT was positive across all the ecosystems, among which deciduous broadleaved forests and evergreen needle-leaved forests (ENF) showed the highest and lowest mean slopes, respectively. More than 50% of the pixels in ENF, arctic and boreal shrublands, and permanent wetlands (PW) had linear trends. A large fraction of PW also showed quadratic and cubic trends. These trend patterns agreed well with estimates of global vegetation productivity based on solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Across all the biomes, PPI INT in pixels with linear trends showed lower mean values and higher partial correlation coefficients with temperature or precipitation than in pixels without linear trends. Overall, our study revealed the emergence of latitudinal convergence and divergence in climatic controls on the linear and non-linear trends of PPI INT , implying that northern shifts of vegetation and climate change may potentially increase the non-linear nature of climatic controls on ecosystem productivity. These results can improve our understanding and prediction of climate-induced changes in plant phenology and productivity and facilitate sustainable management of ecosystems by accounting for their resilience and vulnerability to future climate change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)