Stocker, Benjamin D.Tumber-Dávila, Shersingh JosephKonings, Alexandra G.Anderson, Martha B.Hain, ChristopherJackson, Robert B.Tumber2023-08-252023-02-09Stocker, Benjamin D., Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila, Alexandra G. Konings, Martha B. Anderson, Christopher Hain, Robert B. Jackson, Tumber. "Global patterns of water storage in the rooting zones of vegetation." Nat. Geosci. 16, no. 3 (2023): 250-256. DOI: 10.1038/s41561-023-01125-21752-08941752-0908https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37376904The manuscript has been accepted in principle, but nature requested that a waiver is attached for any authors from FAS with the final uploaded manuscript submission.AbstractThe rooting-zone water-storage capacity—the amount of water accessible to plants—controls the sensitivity of land–atmosphere exchange of water and carbon during dry periods. How the rooting-zone water-storage capacity varies spatially is largely unknown and not directly observable. Here we estimate rooting-zone water-storage capacity globally from the relationship between remotely sensed vegetation activity, measured by combining evapotranspiration, sun-induced fluorescence and radiation estimates, and the cumulative water deficit calculated from daily time series of precipitation and evapotranspiration. Our findings indicate plant-available water stores that exceed the storage capacity of 2-m-deep soils across 37% of Earth's vegetated surface. We find that biome-level variations of rooting-zone water-storage capacities correlate with observed rooting-zone depth distributions and reflect the influence of hydroclimate, as measured by the magnitude of annual cumulative water-deficit extremes. Smaller-scale variations are linked to topography and land use. Our findings document large spatial variations in the effective root-zone water-storage capacity and illustrate a tight link among the climatology of water deficits, rooting depth of vegetation and its sensitivity to water stress.en-USGeneral Earth and Planetary SciencesJournal Article2023-08-2510.1038/s41561-023-01125-2