---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '22569'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Despite their size and contribution to the global carbon cycle, we have limited
    understanding of tropical savannas and their current trajectory with climate change
    and anthropogenic pressures. Here we examined interannual variability and externally
    forced long-term changes in carbon and water exchange from a high rainfall savanna
    site in the seasonal tropics of north Australia. We used an 18-year flux data
    time series (2001–2019) to detect trends and drivers of fluxes of carbon and water.
    Significant positive trends in gross primary productivity (GPP, 15.4 g C m2 year−2),
    ecosystem respiration (Reco, 8.0 g C m2 year−2), net ecosystem productivity (NEE,
    7.4 g C m2 year−2) and ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE, 0.0077 g C kg H2O−1
    year−1) were computed. There was a weaker, non-significant trend in latent energy
    exchange (LE, 0.34 W m−2 year−1). Rainfall from a nearby site increased statistically
    over a 45-year period during the observation period. To examine the dominant drivers
    of changes in GPP and WUE, we used a random forest approach and a terrestrial
    biosphere model to conduct an attribution experiment. Radiant energy was the dominant
    driver of wet season fluxes, whereas soil water content dominated dry season fluxes.
    The model attribution suggested that [CO2], precipitation and Tair accounting
    for 90% of the modelled trend in GPP and WUE. Positive trends in fluxes were largest
    in the dry season implying tree components were a larger contributor than the
    grassy understorey. Fluxes and environmental drivers were not significant during
    the wet season, the period when grasses are active. The site is potentially still
    recovering from a cyclone 45 years ago and regrowth from this event may also be
    contributing to the observed trends in sequestration, highlighting the need to
    understand fluxes and their drivers from sub-diurnal to decadal scales.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Lindsay B.
  full_name: Hutley, Lindsay B.
  last_name: Hutley
- first_name: Jason
  full_name: Beringer, Jason
  last_name: Beringer
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
- first_name: Stanislaus J.
  full_name: Schymanski, Stanislaus J.
  last_name: Schymanski
- first_name: Matthew
  full_name: Northwood, Matthew
  last_name: Northwood
citation:
  ama: Hutley LB, Beringer J, Fatichi S, Schymanski SJ, Northwood M. Gross primary
    productivity and water use efficiency are increasing in a high rainfall tropical
    savanna. <i>Global Change Biology</i>. 2022;28(7):2360-2380. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012">10.1111/gcb.16012</a>
  apa: Hutley, L. B., Beringer, J., Fatichi, S., Schymanski, S. J., &#38; Northwood,
    M. (2022). Gross primary productivity and water use efficiency are increasing
    in a high rainfall tropical savanna. <i>Global Change Biology</i>. Wiley. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012">https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012</a>
  chicago: Hutley, Lindsay B., Jason Beringer, Simone Fatichi, Stanislaus J. Schymanski,
    and Matthew Northwood. “Gross Primary Productivity and Water Use Efficiency Are
    Increasing in a High Rainfall Tropical Savanna.” <i>Global Change Biology</i>.
    Wiley, 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012">https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012</a>.
  ieee: L. B. Hutley, J. Beringer, S. Fatichi, S. J. Schymanski, and M. Northwood,
    “Gross primary productivity and water use efficiency are increasing in a high
    rainfall tropical savanna,” <i>Global Change Biology</i>, vol. 28, no. 7. Wiley,
    pp. 2360–2380, 2022.
  ista: Hutley LB, Beringer J, Fatichi S, Schymanski SJ, Northwood M. 2022. Gross
    primary productivity and water use efficiency are increasing in a high rainfall
    tropical savanna. Global Change Biology. 28(7), 2360–2380.
  mla: Hutley, Lindsay B., et al. “Gross Primary Productivity and Water Use Efficiency
    Are Increasing in a High Rainfall Tropical Savanna.” <i>Global Change Biology</i>,
    vol. 28, no. 7, Wiley, 2022, pp. 2360–80, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012">10.1111/gcb.16012</a>.
  short: L.B. Hutley, J. Beringer, S. Fatichi, S.J. Schymanski, M. Northwood, Global
    Change Biology 28 (2022) 2360–2380.
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:24Z
date_published: 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-06T08:27:17Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1111/gcb.16012
extern: '1'
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '34854173'
intvolume: '        28'
issue: '7'
keyword:
- CO2 fertilization
- Ecosystem model
- Eddy covariance
- Howard Springs
- Water use efficiency
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16012
month: '04'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 2360-2380
pmid: 1
publication: Global Change Biology
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1365-2486
  issn:
  - 1354-1013
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Gross primary productivity and water use efficiency are increasing in a high
  rainfall tropical savanna
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 28
year: '2022'
...