Ecosystem decoupled from water as precipitation increases in a warming Tibetan Plateau

Greening induced by warming and wetting in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has given rise to novel questions about whether the ecosystem constrains should be increased. The present manuscript evaluated the impact of vegetation modification on water and energy limitations, and the subsequent attribution of these limitations. Interestingly, water constraint, accompanied by increased evapotranspiration ( ET ) due to greening, was alleviated because of increased precipitation ( Pre ). Water constraint shows asymmetrical trend with vegetation greening in the water- and energy-limited regions, i.e., ecosystem tends to decouple from water limitation in the water-limited regions, whereas it tends to strengthen the water constraint in the energy-limited regions. Attribution analysis indicated the complex interaction between water and energy status in controlling the ecosystem function. Although the water constraint trend tended to be alleviated in most regions in the TP, available water is still the critical role in controlling the ecosystem function. The shift of water constraint induced by the warming and wetting indicated a new equilibrium to partition the Pre . These results provided novel insight to the shift of ecosystem function and its involved hydrological effects in the TP.